2014 Sports Scholarship Recipients for DOYSF
West Auckland pre elite athletes receiving the Don Oliver Youth Sport Foundation Sports Scholarships for 2014. 15 Athletes have shown promise to perform at an elite level and have been given a helping hand to get there by the great support of the Waitakere Community.
Gabrielle Fa'amausili
Swimming
Gold
Gabrielle already has an astonishing record of achievement at the tender age of 14. She is the World Junior 50m backstroke champion and world record holder, the bronze medallist over the 50m backstroke at the Junior Olympics for which she was team flag-bearer. New Zealand’s top junior swimmer and already among our top female swimmers of any age, she is the national open champion in 100m backstroke, and national gold medallist in the 14 years age group in the 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle & 50m backstroke. She is also the national age group record holder in the 100m and 50m free and the Oceania champion and record holder in the 50m backstroke.
Winner of the 2013 Halberg Emerging Talent Award, she now has her sights set on a range of titles and records on her way to being our “next big thing” in swimming, at the Rio Olympics.
Danielle Sutherland
Hockey
Silver
Danielle is a member of the women’s Black Sticks Development squad and has spent the best part of this year on the Senior Squad training programme. This year she competed in an international series against China, Japan and Korea. She was also a member of the Junior Black sticks world cup team for 2012 and 2013.
She helped her Auckland U21 team to the National Hockey League title in 2014 and for the second time in 3 years.
Short term Danielle aims to secure her place in the NZ Black Sticks and long term, to be part of that team at the Rio Olympics.
Michael Mincham
Swimming
Silver
Michael has set 22 New Zealand Age group records including the New Zealand 1500m Long Course Freestyle record in in 15.31.53, He is the national champion over 500m free and a bronze medallist at the Youth Commonwealth Games. He is also our 2nd ranked swimmer in the 1500m and the 800m free and 5th in the 400 free as well as being number 2 over 5km in open water.
He placed 9th over 1500m free at last year’s World Junior Championships in Dubai.
He wants to be national open champion in the 800m free with a view to competing at Rio. Longer term he has his sights on a career in sports medicine.
Brahm Richards
Wrestling & Judo
Silver
Brahm has represented his country in both wrestling and judo including as a member of this year’s New Zealand team to the Youth Olympics.
He is New Zealand’s junior age group champion in both disciplines and rates his greatest achievements as making the Junior Olympic Team and taking two gold medals and a silver at this year’s Oceania Wrestling Champs.He was a gold medallist in his class at the New Zealand Wrestling championships and the New Zealand Judo Championships in 2011,2012, 2013; a gold medallist in last year’s Down Under Wrestling Games (NZ, Australia and USA) and in 2012, won two gold medals, a silver, and a bronze during a wrestling exchange to the US. He also been the national secondary schools champion in both judo and wrestling.
Jared Free
Race Walking - Athletics
Bronze
Jared has broken the Auckland U18 3000m track walk record four times, the U18 10km record three times and the Auckland secondary schools open boys 3000m track walk record twice.
He represented NZ at the 2014 world race-walking cup in Taicang, China, where he placed 33rd overall and 11th in the U20 teams event.
At 16, Jared qualifed for the U20 10km world event by walking the distance in under 50 minutes. At this year’s NZ track & feld championship he was second in the U20 10km road walk, winning the U18 3000m track walk in the process.
Nathan Brown
Spring board & Platform Diving
Silver
Nathan is the frst New Zealand diver in 29 years to achieve straight 10s in competition. He is ranked frst in his 14-15 years age group for platform diving and 2nd in the spring board. Last year he took silver in the platform at both the Asian Pacifc Rim International competition and also the Australia Elite Nationals.
His short term goal is to be the number 1 platform diver in Australasia for his age, attend the junior world champs this year, break NZ platform records and be selected for the NZ diving team.
Elizabeth Cui (Lizzie)
Diving
Bronze
Lizzie was for three consecutive years, gold medallist in both the open women’s and the 16-18 year age group, 3 metre discipline. She was 2013 gold medallist at the open women’s synchronized event, and in the 16-18 age group platform event at the 2011 and 2012 NZ nationals and won silver in 2013.
She has this year taken four national titles with gold medals in the 16-18 age group 3 metre event, the open woman’s 1 metre and 3 metre events and in the open woman’s synchronised event. In addition, she and Getta Cooper broke the NZ synchro record.
Last year she was third at the 2013 Australian elite championships 16- 18 years one metre. She placed 13th in the 2012 World junior 1 metre and 14th in the three metre event and qualifed easily for this month’s junior world championships in Penza, Russia.
Tadhg Campbell
Golf
Bronze
Tadhg is another young New Zealand golfer of promise, being the under 17 champion and runner-up in the NZ under 19’s. He is ranked number six among our juniors, 46 on the senior table and 9th in this year’s New Zealand order of merit.
He has been selected for the New Zealand junior boy’s academy and the North Harbour Elite squad Tadhg was 5th in the North Shore 54 hole classic and rates his best achievement to date, as winning the title of leading amateur at a professional event.
His hopes to play college golf in the US and ultimately turn professional.
Daniel Mettam
Motorbike Racing
Bronze
After several years of steady rise on the national Leader Board for 600 cc motorcycle racers, this year three engine blow-ups dropped him to 10th. Despite this, the 2014 Auckland Super sport champion won this winter’s Arai series on his Suzuki GSXR600 and was third in the Suzuki NZ tri-series with overseas riders also competing, in the process beating the NZ 600cc champion twice – results that have helped him to rank ffth in NZ and frst in Auckland.
He won the Hyosung Cup in 2012 and 2013 made his debut at Paeroa and in 2012 scored a one off ide in France where he placed seventh. Last year he was third in the 600cc class of the NZTT at Hampton Downs
Peter Bethell
Downhill Mountain Biking
Bronze
Peter is the U19 North Island secondary schools champ with a NZ ranking of 5th. He was selected for the under 19 New Zealand Downhill team to go to the 2014 mountain biking world championships in Norway.
Peter placed sixth in the 2014 Oceania U19 Downhill Championships. He was eighth in the 2012 Oceania Under 17 division. This year he placed third in round three of the U19 NZ mountain biking downhill cup.
He aims to be ranked New Zealand number one in the next three years and to regularly podium at international world cup rounds and world championships by 2019.
Hazel Tate Latoa
Olympic Weightlifting
Bronze
Hazel is New Zealand champion U69 youth and junior Olympic weightlifter and 3rd ranked youth lifter overall. In Oceania she is ranked fourth in the U69 youth and junior divisions.
She is the national champion and the North Island champion in the U69 youth division, and the Auckland champion in the U69 open division. She is also the national U69, U15 secondary schools champion.
Her greatest achievement to date, was being selected for the NZ weightlifting teams for the 2014 Oceania champs. Longer term she has her sights set on lifting at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Connor James Peden
Softball
Bronze
Not yet 20 and Connor has captained the Junior Black Sox to a silver medal at the junior World Championships in July and was selected for the men’s Black Sox team to contest this year’s test series against Australia.
He was the North Harbour U19 captain for 2013-2104, a member of the North Harbour men’s team and last year was a member of the New Zealand Under 18 squad to tour Arizona.
In all this, Connor is “kicking on” from his achievements at Massey High School where he was sports captain and a member of the school’s team to the 2011 national softball championships and the 1st XV 2012-2014.
Britt Kindred
Surfing
Bronze
Britt is currently NZ’s third ranked Under 20 girl surfer and placed 16 out of 64 in the Under 18 girls division at this year’s ISA world Juniors in Ecuador. She has also been selected for the New Zealand Junior team in the Under 18 division.
She has been Auckland Under 16 Girls champion for two years running and last year was also second in the Under 18 Girls. She was second for the last two years in the New Zealand Scholastics comp, was second in the U18 Girls last year, third in New Zealand Under 20 Girls this year and 17th in the Chain Resources Women’s ASP Pro Junior Under 20 division.
Elliot Paerata-Reid
Surfing
Bronze
Ecuador this year, Elliot’s name is getting respect on the world’s surf competition circuit after several years of top line performances.
Still under 20 he has represented NZ on fve occasions, won the U18 division of rip curl pro and was 4th overall, won the Grom Bash U20 title and was runner up at U20 association of Professional Surfers Pro Junior event in Australia in January.
He wants to make it to the top of the Australasian Pro Junior series before joining the pro tour circuit.
Matthew Downes
Wrestling
Bronze
At 16 Mt Albert Grammar student Matthew is the top New Zealand Junior wrestler who placed seventh in the 58kg weight division of the Greco-Roman discipline at this year’s Youth Olympic Games. He earned his place in the New Zealand team by winning three gold medals at the last Oceania championships. These included the 58kg U17 Cadet division and the 60kg U21 Junior division.
Matthew subsequently won two of his three bouts against American college wrestlers at the Downunder International Wrestling comp in early July.
He was last year’s national 14-16 age group champion in the under 58kg division and the Auckland secondary schools freestyle champion in the same category.