WAIKATO REGIONAL SPORTSPERSON OF THE YEAR

HAMILTON

Ladies and gentlemen, guests and most of all, nominees, it is great to be here on your turf tonight. Thank you for inviting me.

As I think you know, I'm passionate about sport. It lifts us all to the good and health-giving side of human nature. And this week, in this region, we need to be reminded of that.

The hundreds of activities that you at Sport Waikato foster are a celebration of the capacity of all of us to enjoy the good things about life.

At my age, and in my job, I'm particularly delighted with your all-inclusive definition of sport.

According to Sport Waikato, sport is "any physical or mental activity that is not strictly art, music or a hobby, with the important benefit being health." That just about makes me a sportsman again.

I've had my share of mental activity these last few months. Putting together a Coalition Government certainly exercises the brain. And it involves an element of game-playing.

I guess I was both coach and team captain in that one, but sometimes it felt more like ball boy, running after hits from all over the field.

And I can tell you now, the art of coalition building is good cardio-vascular activity. And I don't just mean the tension that's involved. It's actually good exercise.

It has to be said that being Prime Minister tends to be a somewhat sedentary job. Most of the time you sit at your desk and people come to you.

But putting together a coalition is not like that at all. You trek off to meetings all day and night. You'll recall those daily expeditions to the negotiating rooms from the evening news every night.

You needed the agility of a Christian Cullen to weave your way through the media waiting to report what tie you were wearing today. And you had to be on the alert for on-again, off-again meetings that could be dropped on you any time of the day and night.

It was like playing a whole game of rugby down at the wrong end of the paddock. Forever expecting a Zinzan Brooke to let fly with one of his drop kicks. You never know where one of those kicks is going to go, but just occasionally they hit home and the game's up.

So you could say we've learnt a fair bit about the art of tactical playing and teamsmanship lately.

And while we're only at the top of the first as far as this term goes, the lessons are paying off. The pre-match preparation was worth the effort.

I congratulate everyone here tonight for getting out there and giving it a go.

We've all grown up believing we're a nation of sportspeople. And so we are. At our finest we can take on the world and win.

But we have to think about what sport really means for New Zealanders, what it can offer everyone.

And that's where Sport Waikato leads the way. You recognised a long time ago that the achievements of elite athletes are only really worthwhile when they inspire the rest of us to have a go.

You're all about maximum participation. I applaud that, because I know it makes a lot of sense. I applaud all your endeavours to include everybody in the great tradition of Kiwi sport.

Some may think sport is only about producing heroes, when it is also about producing healthy people.

I'm the first to celebrate the high achievers. Without them we'd be a lesser nation.

But I also know their great achievements only have real value when they encourage and inspire all of us. And we only have high achievers because of the vast pool of talent and fun fostered by initiatives like Sport Waikato.

When I look around the room tonight I see an unmatchable line-up of clubs, administrators, coaches, umpires, teams and sportspeople.

Congratulations to you all.

The great thing about all of you - and about this evening - is that you do it for the love of sport. You do it because you know from your own lives that getting out there and taking part is its own reward.

All of you who have been nominated for awards tonight have already shown you are examples to your districts. You're already winners. You've already shown you have the right stuff.

So I want to congratulate all of you at Sport Waikato for putting together these regional awards.

Reading through the profiles of tonight's nominees I can see how thoroughly the attitude you have been trying to engender over the last decade has got through to so many people in the region.

The nominations themselves are a celebration of Sport Waikato's vision. How the judges can sort out all the contenders, I do not know. It will be a true exercise in fair play.

Speaking of which, I did not want to single out any team or individual for a mention, because that would be unfair. But I have to say I like the sound of the Raglan Harbour View Hotel Hooters.

You sound like a good lot to have around. I see that in 1996 not a single Raglan Hooter was reprimanded, sent off or dispatched to the disciplinary committee.

Congratulations Raglan Hooters. I ask for nothing more from my own team in Wellington.

But we'll be lucky if everybody makes it through the term with a record as unblemished as yours.

Again, congratulations to you all here tonight. Waikato can be proud of you. Have a great evening.

Ends