Congratulations to 2009 scholarship winners Summer Tai-Rakena and Mia Waiariki who both play for Wairakei Ferns netball team. Both have been recent recipients of Player of the Day awards, have shown outstanding netball skills and won all of their games this season.

Congratulations to all Outreach Foundation scholarship winners. Whether you are a school, a sports team or an individual athlete you have been chosen because of your mutual passion for sport.

When I was a school, sport was a major part of my life. Sport taught me some of the great lessons of life — teamwork, perseverance, the need to work hard and practice, the need to eat well and get enough rest and how to cope when things don’t always go the way you want them to. I also learned that it is equally as important to study hard whilst at school and to achieve the best education you can. On or off the sports field, you must always put 100% of yourself into it so that you can always get 100% out. Your teachers and coaches have seen that you have the ability to succeed in sport, now it is up to you to put that ability into action and work at your full potential.

So, good luck with this season and I hope to meet as many as you as possible through the course of the programme.