A recognition of hometown support
Two Queenstowners and a beloved local sports team were honoured in Wānaka last week.
At the annual Central Otago Sports Awards, presented at the Lake Wānaka Centre, Queenstowner Nils Coberger was named coach of the year, resort ice hockey ref Adam Nagy was awarded official of the year, and the SkyCity Stampede ice hockey team was named team of the year.
Coberger — who coaches Queenstown alpine ski racer Alice Robinson — was up against fellow Queenstowners Cam Frear (SkyCity Stampede coach) and Sean Thompson (snowboarding), along with Michael Beable (athletics), Dan Bogue (para skiing), Murray Buchan (skiing) and Alex Dickson (rugby), all of Wānaka, and national freeski coach Hamish McDougall (Scotland/Lake Hawea).
Of the recognition, Coberger says it's "just a reflection of a team performance" by his fellow coach Tim Cafe, physio Alex Hull and serviceman Michi Haas, of Austria, who have "focused to give Alice everything she needs to perform at the highest level".
"It was amazing to be included in the coaches award selection with coaches of world champions, world cup winners, [Crystal] Globe winners and an X Games medallist.
"Team Alice is the reason I won this award, so the credit needs to go to Tim, Alex, Michi and our star, Alice."
After undoubtedly one of Robinson's strongest European winters to date, Coberger says the highlight for him was seeing her win New Zealand's first silver medal at the alpine ski racing world champs in Saalbach, Austria, in February, followed by a string of results in her last 15 giant slalom races, in which she had just three DNFs and 12 podiums in a row.
Looking ahead to this season, 'Team Alice's' focus is on the Winter Olympics, being held in Cortina, Italy, next February.
Nagy, meantime, formerly the Stampede's biggest supporter, made his New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL) debut as a linesman two years ago, having reffed social league ice hockey for about six years before that, and is often head ref for NZ Women's Ice Hockey League matches.
Taking the official of the year title from Craig Anderson (rugby) and Flick Wallace (snowsports), Nagy tells Mountain Scene it feels "surreal, amazing [and] unexpected" to have been recognised.
"I don't think it [the recognition] was for NZIHL, I think it's more for Queenstown Ice Hockey Club and referees in general, just working with the kids, doing the referee stuff that needs to be done ... I don't think Queenstown's ever had a proper official that's taken it so seriously.
"I just want to thank the people who have helped me along the way — the referees who have spent the time training me ... the people who have supported me and listened to me on the ice, and the referees who told me, 'If the referee's so bad, why don't you do something about it and become a referee?'
"So I did."
Stampede coach Cam Frear says the team's "incredibly proud" to have been named team of the year.
The nine-time NZIHL champions, who last year stamped their name on the Birgel Cup for the fourth consecutive time, beat the Upper Clutha Rams Central Otago Premier rugby team, the Wānaka Football Club and the Wakatipu under-17 boys double scull, U18 boys double skull and U18 coxed quad in their category.
"This recognition is a reflection of the hard work, passion and dedication from every player, coach, staff member and our loyal SkyCity Stampede supporters," Frear says.
"It's a privilege to represent Queenstown and Central Otago — thank you to everyone who's supported us on and off the ice."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
12 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Rowers on world stage
Wakatipu High's Seb Watson, left, and Harry Lightfoot proved their rowing chops with a record win in the U18 double sculls at this year's Maadi Cup on Lake Karapiro. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Two Wakatipu High 17-year-old rowers are furiously training and fundraising to represent New Zealand at world under-19 champs this winter. They are Arrowtowner Harry Lightfoot and Queenstowner Seb Watson, who sensationally broke a record of about 20 years' standing when they claimed gold in the U18 double sculls at this year's national secondary schools Maadi Cup regatta. Following trials, Harry's made NZ's team for the U19 worlds in Lithuania in August, which will be preceded by six weeks' training in Cambridge. He'll row in the double with Nathan Strachan, from Auckland's Macleans College, who won the U18 single sculls at this year's Maadi. Seb, meanwhile, has made the U19 NZ development team who are off to the Continental Challenge Cup regatta in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the United States, where he'll compete in multiple events including a mixed eight. Both trips are solely self-funded, Harry's costs reaching $20,000 and Seb's $8500 — a Givealittle page is running for the pair who are also fundraising themselves, including a raffle in Harry's case. Both have been rowing since year 9 at Wakatipu High, but have come on particularly over the past two years under Whakatipu Rowing Club coach John Morrison. Last year they won golds at Maadi in the U17 double and coxed quad, and they repeated the dose at U18 level on Cambridge's Lake Karapiro this year. For their upcoming worlds they've upped their training to 10 or 11 times a week including gym, rowing machine and on-water work. "Normally there's the big group trainings but at the moment there's just like me and Seb in a double or we'll be in singles, and it's freezing," Harry says. Both boys say they enjoy the social side of rowing — "I just enjoy being with my mates", Seb says — but also the competitive side. Both intend carrying on when they finish school this year, initially with the Whakatipu Rowing Club this next season — Seb's off to Canterbury University, and Harry's still deciding his next move. Harry follows in the wake of local rowing star Marley King Smith who competed at the past two U19 worlds.
Otago Daily Times
30-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Martial arts club moving into Frankton
Queenstowner Diego Hernandez, who won a gold medal at the recent World Taekwondo Championships in the United Kingdom. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Queenstown's newest martial arts club is getting ready to open its doors. Kman's Martial Arts Club — established in Cromwell in 2023 — will launch a second club in Frankton on June 9. Owner and head instructor Kman McEvoy, a multiple world champion and 5th Dan Black Belt, says he's been getting an increasing number of requests to open a club in Queenstown, noting many of his students already travel from Queenstown to Cromwell for training, and others "want to travel to Queenstown ... for extra training". He says the club's a friendly, family-oriented one, with members ranging in age from 4 to 63, some of whom train for self-defence, fitness and self-confidence, along with competition. Classes include Taekwondo, judo and kickboxing — McEvoy says they've already produced multiple regional, national and world champs, including assistant instructor Queenstowner Diego Hernandez, a 3rd Dan Black Belt, who's a Taekwondo national champ and was one of five gold medal-winners at last month's World Taekwondo Champs, in the United Kingdom. The club also brought home seven gold medals from the recent Canterbury Judo Champs. McEvoy also has high hopes for his team of 20 fighters competing in next week's Otago Southland Regional Karate comp, being held in Dunedin, and will take a team to the national kickboxing champs, being held in Auckland, and the World Taekwondo Cup, in Canada, next month. The Queenstown club's new home will be at 1085 Frankton Rd, within the Frankton Village complex — for more info, see
Otago Daily Times
24-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Queenstown athletes embracing obstacles
Marijn Wouters, left, and Rhys Cunningham. PHOTO: PHILIP CHANDLER Two Queenstowners are competing for New Zealand in the OCR world champs in Sweden in September, but it's got nothing to do with the official cash rate. Instead, the acronym stands for obstacle course racing — a minority sport that's growing around the world. Rhys Cunningham, 35, and Marijn Wouters, 34, qualified through their results in Wanaka's annual Alpha Challenge. NZ's governing body also set some internal tests, but Cunningham got an exemption as he had broken a bone off an elbow. He was introduced to the sport in Wanaka in 2018 when a pro Canadian obstacle racer lived there. In Gothenburg, Sweden, Wouters will contest the 100m, 3km and 12km events, although he thinks he'll compete in the shortest distance just for laughs "given there's no place to practise that here". Cunningham's just running the 3km and 12km races. He competed in the worlds in Belgium in 2023, but lost his three bands, or 'lives', so was disqualified. "I guess my inexperience showed, and it was quite heartbreaking because you put in all that work." As to the appeal of obstacle racing, "I think it's a sport anyone can enter", Cunningham says. "Obviously, it's a running race, but you don't have to be the best runner to be good at it." For Wouters, "I love the climbing, bouldering aspect of being able to put yourself through some really rough stuff".
