Māori Sports Awards

04/06/2026

01/06/2026

He Maimai Aroha - Tā Tamati Muturangi Reedy
16/07/1936 – 21/05/206

Hei te totara nui o te wao nui a Tane
E rere nei to awa o Waiotapu
Hikoihia te ara wairua Tā Tamati

Whakawwhiti atu koe ki tua o Paerau
Ki te okiokitanga o ratou te ao wairua
Ki te po uriuri o Rehua
ki te po tangotango
e tiramrama mai ra nga Whetu
ki te kainga tuturu o hawaiki nui hawaiki roa hawaiiki Pamamao
Tiiraha mai to moenga roa mai te ara ake o te ra tae noa ki te toonga o tamanui te ra
Kua kawea atu koe e te Ringa kaha o te Atua
ki raro i oonga parirau o te Manaakitanga moe mai
Haere te Kapunipunitanga o te ao maumahara
Haere e te Kurupounamu o Ngati Porou
ki te tiketikei tanga o to maunga o Hikurangi
Moe mai - Haere Haere whakangaro au ra

21/04/2026

Hannah Green (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Maniapoto) wins JM Eagle Championship for the 3rd time in 4 years.

21/04/2026

Te Arani Moana ‘Lani’ Daniels (Ngāpuhi) by defeating Shadasia Green with TKO, becomes world super middleweight champion.

21/04/2026

Carlos Ulberg (Te Atiawa, Ngāti Hamoa) won the world UFC Light Heavyweight championship, defeating Jiri Prochazka by KO.

07/04/2026

UCLA’S CHARLISSE LEGER-WALKER (Te Whānau-a-Apanui)

Charlisse, becomes first Kiwi to win women’s national championship.

Charlisse Leger-Walker has ended her collegiate career in the United States in the best possible manner.

Leger-Walker scored 10 points as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) won the women’s division one championship with a 79-51 win over South Carolina on Monday morning. It was UCLA’s first women’s championship.

Having now completed her final year of eligibility at the collegiate level, Leger-Walker is set to enter the WNBA draft and be available for selection when teams are on the clock next week.

Charlisse’s Mother Leanne Walker, former captain of the Tall ferns, Olympian and Hall of Fame Inductee Basketball NZ.

24/03/2026

"E toru whakawhiwhinga hāpai mō Hannah Green"

Three successive achievements for Hannah (Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngati Maniapoto).

Green lifts Australian WPGA for third win in a row, following her LPGA's Women's World Championship and The Australian Open.

16/03/2026

HANNAH GREEN

Whakanuia te kōhine whakahī! Mai i Hingapoa ki Ahitereria, kāre he painga i a koe.
He uri nō Te Whānau a Apanui, nō Ngāti Maniapoto, nō Ngāti Ahitereria hoki.
Ka mau te wehi!"

Celebrate the proud young woman! From Singapore to Australia, you are second to none.
A descendant of Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Maniapoto, and Ngāti Ahitereria. Simply amazing!

15/03/2026

HE MAIMAI AROHA

Kahurangi Te Koingo Tilly Reedy
28/11/1934 – 1/03/2026

Tūrokorokohia te pō, tākiri ko te ata

Ka whekī, ka whekā rā te rangi mata hau nō Tū

Ko tū te winiwini, ko tū te wanawana, ko tū whakaputaina ki te whai ao ki te ao mārama.

E tangi tīkapa ana te kanohi ora i te rironga o tēnei māreikura ki te pō uriuri, ki te pō tangotango

Tēnei te takapau ō mate kua hoki ki te ahuru mōwai o te tangata

Ki te urunga te taka, ki te moenga tē whakaarahia moe mai ki te ariki

Tēnei te tangi, tēnei te poroporoaki ki tēnei rangatira kua huri ki tua o te ārai.

E tangi ana te ngakau i te rironga o Tā Tilly Te Koingo Reedy ki te taha o āna rāngai ki te pō.

He mareikura koe i whai i ngā momo mātauranga o te ao hei tautoko, hei tautāwhi i ngā i ngā tini tangata o tēnei ao.

E hoki ki ō maunga, E hoki ki Hiruharama te papa whakatipu o ngā māua tūpuna.

Waiho mātou o muri nei ki te whai me te whakatinana i ō mātāpono ki te ao.

Moe mai i roto i te ariki.

29/11/2025

WORLD CHAMPION POWERLIFTER WINS SUPREME MĀORI SPORTS AWARD

A world champion powerlifter won the prestigious Albie Pryor Memorial Māori Sports Person of the Year award, Rongomaraeroa, at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawāhia tonight (Saturday 29 November 2025).

Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga) received a world champion award as well as winning Senior Māori Sportswoman of the Year before taking out the supreme award.

The 32-year-old powerlifter achieved a new open world record in Chengdu, China, on her way to winning gold in the 76kg class at the World Games in August.

Tongotea’s record was set at 620kg, a combination of her successful attempts at the three powerlifting disciplines: squat (230kg), bench (130kg) and deadlift (260kg).

Now in its 35th year, the Trillian Trust Māori Sports Awards was hosted by Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Charitable Trust.

A two-hour special – TE TOHU TAAKARO O AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards 2025 – will broadcast on Whakaata Māori tomorrow – Sunday 30 November 2025 from 12 noon to 2pm – and is also available to view on its online MĀORI+ platform.

The Māori Sports Awards’ category winners, scholarship recipients and Māori Sports Hall of Fame inductee are:

TE ARATIATIA | Māori Sports Umpire/Referee of the Year
Ben O’Keeffe (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua), Kaipara – whutupōro | rugby

MĀUI TIKITIKI-Ā-TARANGA | Māori Sports Administrator of the Year
Gordon Watson (Ngāpuhi), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – poiwhana | football

TE MARU Ō TŪMATAUENGA | Māori Sports Coach of the Year
Marty Bourke (Waikato Tainui), Ōtautahi | Christchurch – whutupōro | rugby

NGĀ IKA Ā WHIRO | Māori Sports Team of the Year
Mareikura U18 Wāhine Māori Team – whutupōro | rugby

TE TOI HUAREWA | Māori Para Athlete of the Year
Cameron Leslie MNZM (Ngāpuhi), Whangārei – Kauhoe whaikaha | Para swimming

TE KUNENGA KI PŪREHUROA | Massey University Scholarship
Te Maia Sweetman (Rangitāne ki Tāmaki Nui a Rua), Te Papaioea | Palmerston North – whutupōro | rugby, rīki | rugby league

TOITŪ KAUPAPA MĀORI MĀTAURANGA | Māori Education Trust Scholarship
Bailey Ngatai-Cribb (Ngāti Kauwhata, Ngāti Kuia), Manawatū – pā whutupōro | touch rugby

SKILLS ACTIVE AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards Scholarship
Epiha Ricky Muru-Kete (Waikato Tainui), Rāhui-Pōkeka | Huntly – rīki | rugby league

TE PIKINGA O TĀWHAKI | Māori World Champions
Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – hiki taumaha | powerlifting
Waikura Taiapa (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui), Katikati – kūrutu | jiu jitsu

TE TAMĀHINE-Ā-PAPATŪĀNUKU | Junior Māori Sportswoman of the Year
Braxton Sorensen-McGee (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – whutupōro | rugby

TE TAMA-Ā-RANGINUI | Junior Māori Sportsman of the Year
Dylan Pledger (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Ōtepoti | Dunedin – whutupōro | rugby

HINEAHUONE | Senior Māori Sportswoman of the Year
Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – hiki taumaha | powerlifting

TE TAMA-Ā-TANENUIĀRANGI | Senior Māori Sportsman of the Year
Joseph Tapine (Ngāi Tūhoe), Ahitereiria | Australia – rīki | rugby league

TE WHARE MĀTĀTAPUNA O TE AO MĀORI | Māori Sports Hall of Fame
Dame Lisa Carrington DNZM MNZM (Te Aitanga a Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tara Tokanui, Ngāti Maniapoto), North Harbour – waka hūkere | canoe sprint

RONGOMARAEROA | Albie Pryor Memorial Māori Sports Person of the Year
Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – hiki taumaha | powerlifting

For more information about the Māori Sports Awards, go to the website: www.maorisportsawards.co.nz.