The Grassroots Sports Awards are held annually by Sport Manawatu. The awards honour volunteers, coaches and clubs through both the SPARC Volunteer Coach and the Sports Clubs of the Year Awards.

SPARC Volunteer Coach Awards

The SPARC Volunteer Coach is an awards campaign, organised by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) and Sport Manawatu. The awards recognise and celebrate the many thousands of New Zealanders who volunteer their time to coach sport.

Who can be nominated?

The awards are open to all non-paid, volunteer coaches including club coaches, school coaches and anyone coaching at a non-representative level. There are three categories:

• Student category - for student coaches who are still at intermediate or high school

• General category - for coaches who have been coaching for a while

• Lifetime category - for coaches who have been coaching for a very long time, (25 years +)

Why nominate a coach?

Whether coached by lifetime veterans or absolute beginners, athletes all around New Zealand have the chance to say ‘Thanks Coach!'

How and when can people nominate?

The nomination period for Volunteer Coach Awards runs between June 22 and September 8. Nominations can be made online on SPARC’s website or by collecting paper nomination forms from Sport Manawatu which will be available from June 22.

Nominate a coach now!

Sports Clubs of the Year Awards

Sport Manawatu recognises the importance of sports clubs in our region, and to celebrate their hard work and dedication we present the Sports Clubs of the Year Awards and the Club Volunteer of the Year Award at the Grassroots Sports Awards.

The Sports Clubs of the Year Awards are set out to honour all clubs who are offering a positive and useful service to the community and are also showing efficiency in the running of their clubs.

Who can be nominated?

The awards open to any Sports club to recognise and reward clubs for their achievements over the year. The Sports Clubs of the Year Award goes to to clubs who have shown exceptional management, planning and leadership for their club. Categories will focus on a range of topics:

-Relationships with the Community
-Operation Skills
-Player & Volunteer Development
-Marketing
-Event Management
-Use of Facilities
-Competition Management 

Here is a chance to recognise those who do the work behind the scenes to make your club and sport possible.

Club Volunteer of the Year Award.

Volunteers are an essential part of sport, so it is only fitting that those volunteers will have a chance to be recognised at this year’s Grassroots Sports Awards.

This is the second year for the Club Volunteer of the year award category which aims to recognise the dedication of all those volunteers who are vital to the success of any sports club. It is a great to be able to acknowledge the hard work of volunteers.

How and when can people nominate?

Nomination forms for Sports Clubs of the Year and Club Volunteer of the year will be available on this page. The nominations will close 5pm Friday, August 13.

To nominate you need to download and read the Awards criteria, you can then download a nomination form and send or bring in to Sport Manawatu. For more information on this process please contact us. 

Download Sports Clubs of the Year Awards Criteria

Download Sports Clubs of the Year Awards Criteria (word doc.)

Download Sports Clubs of the Year Nomination form  

Download Sports Clubs of the Year Nomination form (word doc.)

Download Club Volunteer of the Year Nomination form

Download Club Volunteer of the Year Nomination form (word doc.)