Skier Adam Hall added home-town recognition to his lengthy list of awards won in the past year when he was named the ASB Otago Sportsperson of the Year at the Dunedin Town Hall on Friday night.

Named as the Speight's Sportsman of the Year earlier in the evening, Adam spoke of his drive to continue competing on the world stage and achieving at the highest levels.  He dedicated his win to his supporters and family, including mother and number one fan, Gayle Hall.  The win was strongly welcomed by the audience, which included a large number of Hall family members who came to support Adam.

(Speight's Sportsman of the Year Finalists:  Adam Hall, Brendon McCullum, Hamish Bond.)

Last year’s Newstalk ZB Sportswoman of the Year, Alison Shanks, took that title again this year to popular acclaim.  Alison continues to be the leading female track cyclist in New Zealand, and her fourth at the UCI World Championships was a top achievement, although in her own words, not what she had been hoping for, which reflected the demanding standards she applies to herself.  Alison was the National and Oceania Champion in the 3000m Individual Pursuit, as well as gaining four podium places in the UCI World Cup, and being in the World Record-breaking pursuit team at the World Championships.

(Newstalk ZB Sportswoman of the Year Finalists:  Alison Shanks, Tionette Stoddard, Andrea Miller.)

Alison's coach Craig Palmer also won back-to-back titles when he again collected the Air New Zealand Coach of the Year award.  Whilst he is best known for his work with Alison, Craig is also the sport science mind contributing to the success of cyclists across all disciplines in the BikeNZ High Performance Programme.  Of special note this year was that all three finalists in the Coach of the Year category are affiliated with the New Zealand Academy of Sport, further proving the quality of that organisation.

(Air New Zealand Coach of the Year Finalists:  Craig Palmer, Tom Willmott, Raylene Bates.)

In the most closely contested category of the evening, the North Otago Cricket Team won the Aotea Electric Team of the Year award.  To win the Hawke Cup the team had to win consistently across the whole season, and then go to the ground of the holders and beat them outright in conditions that favoured the home team.  A large contingent of the team had travelled down from Oamaru to attend the awards and their delight at taking home the trophy was evident.

(Aotea Electric Team of the Year Finalists: North Otago Cricket Team, Otago University Rowing Eight, Alexandra Bowling Club Ladies Sevens.)

For the first time since it was added to the awards, the Otago Daily Times Class Act Junior Sportsperson of the Year was won by an athlete other than perennial finalist Jossi Wells.  Snowboarder Kendall Brown won the award after career-best results on the World Cup circuit and at the Vancouver Winter Olympics where she wrote her own chapter in New Zealand sporting history after she continued to compete in spite of two serious injuries.  At only 20 years old, this was Kendall's second Olympic Games and she is on track for compete again for New Zealand in Sochi in 2014.

(Otago Daily Times Class Act Junior Sportsperson of the Year Finalists: Kendall Brown, Duncan Croudis, Jossi Wells.)

Prominent Dunedin company, Animation Research Limited, won the Delta Innovation in Sport award for 2010 for their world-leading work in sports broadcasting technology.  The company has set the standards in innovative thinking with their ground-breaking work in covering yachting, cricket, golf, aero sports, motorsport and more.  The award was accepted by Stu Smith and Paul Sharp, two of the technical wizards that developed these technologies.

The SPARC Services to Sport award was presented to Paddy O'Neill who works as the full time manager of the Dunedin Bowls Stadium on a volunteer basis.  After more than 25 years involvement in the sport, Paddy stepped up to take on the role at a time when the stadium was in difficulty and its future was by no means guaranteed.  After seven years Paddy has brought the stadium to a stable position, and he continues to be a very hands-on manager ensuring that success will prosper long after he finally decides to retire.

Guest speaker for the dinner was the Chief Executive of Rugby New Zealand 2011, Martin Snedden.  Martin began by speaking about the upcoming Rugby World Cup and the benefits it will have for Otago and New Zealand.  Master of Ceremonies, Steve Davie, then proceeded to interview Martin on his previous careers as an international cricketer and high level sports administrator, when in a surprise addition he was joined on stage by his previous team-mate and fellow bowler, Ewen Chatfield.

Earlier in the evening, a charity auction was held when 10 items of sporting and entertainment memorabilia were sold to raise funds to help children with a disability access sport and recreation options.   Sport Otago would like to thank all of those organisations who supported the auction with donations: Halberg Trust, Otago Cricket Association, Dunedin Venues Management Ltd, Forsyth Barr, Imagine Photographics, New Zealand Rugby League and New Zealand Football.  Our thanks also go to all attendees who donated to the table raffle throughout the night.

The ASB Otago Sports Awards are organised annually by Sport Otago in conjunction with the Halberg Trust.  They both recognise sporting excellence in our province and raise funds to further the work of Sport Otago in helping children with disabilities access sport and recreation options alongside their able-bodied peers.

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Seen In Dunedin are the official photographers of the event.  You can view and purchase photos from the event off their website here.

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