PĀNUI PĀPĀHO | Media Statement
9 WHIRINGA-Ā-RANGI | November 2025
New Zealand’s most decorated Olympian of all time, Dame Lisa Carrington DNZM MNZM, will be inducted into the Māori Sports Hall of Fame at an indigenous awards ceremony in Ngāruawāhia later this month (November).
Now in its 35th year, the Trillian Trust Māori Sports Awards will be hosted by Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Charitable Trust at Tūrangawaewae Marae on Saturday 29 November 2025.
As successor to her father, the late Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII, the new Māori monarch, Te Arikinui Kuini Ngaa wai hono i te poo, will attend the event for the first time in her role as patron.
A two-hour live-to-air special – TE TOHU TAAKARO O AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards 2025 – will broadcast on Whakaata Māori as well as its online MĀORI+ platform and YouTube channel from 6.30pm to 8.30pm (repeats on Whakaata Māori on Sunday 30 November 2025 from 12 noon to 2pm).
The black-tie ceremony attracts more than 500 guests from the Māori community, sporting and corporate sector.
Winners in 10 categories will be announced with all finalists and world champions in contention for the supreme award – the prestigious Albie Pryor Memorial Māori Sports Person of the Year, Rongomaraeroa.
Trust executive director Richard (Dick) Garratt MNZM (Ngāi Tuhoe) says Dame Lisa is widely considered to be the world’s best ever canoe sprint athlete, not just among women.
Her unparalleled success includes nine Olympic medals – eight golds and one bronze across four consecutive Olympic Games – as well as 15 world championship golds.
“Dame Lisa’s induction into Te Whare Mātātapuna o te Ao Māori in recognition of her remarkable results at both the Halberg Awards and Māori Sports Awards is testament to her extraordinary talent and unwavering self-determination as well as the exceptional guidance of her coaches and the steadfast support of her humble whānau.”
The Māori Sports Awards’ category finalists, 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
Paki Parkinson (Waikato Tainui), Tauranga – rīki | rugby league
Tiana Ngawati-Anderson (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Whakaue), Tauranga – whutupōro | rugby, whutupōro takiwhitu | rugby sevens
MĀUI TIKITIKI-Ā-TARANGA | Māori Sports Administrator of the Year
Gordon Watson (Ngāpuhi), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – poiwhana | football
Harley Wall (Taranaki, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – pā whutupōro | touch rugby
Tui Pāpuni (Ngā Pōtiki, Ngāti Whakaue), Tauranga – poirewa | volleyball
TE MARU Ō TŪMATAUENGA | Māori Sports Coach of the Year
Thomas Makea (Ngāti Kahungunu), Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington – poiuka | softball
Marty Bourke (Waikato Tainui), Ōtautahi | Christchurch – whutupōro | rugby
Michael Mayne (Ngāti Awa, Ngāpuhi), Kirikiriroa | Hamilton – poiwhana | football
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 (Ngāphui, 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
Waikura Taiapa (Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui), Katikati – kūrutu | jiu jitsu
Lexi Fyhn (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – Nakawhiti | Crossfit
TE TAMA-Ā-RANGINUI | Junior Māori Sportsman of the Year
Dylan Pledger (Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Ōtepoti | Dunedin – whutupōro | rugby
Maia Campbell (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Porou), Tūranganui-a-Kiwa | Gisborne – waka ama | outrigger canoeing
Hamiora Katu (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Waikato Tainui), Rotorua – waka ama | outrigger canoeing
HINEAHUONE | Senior Māori Sportswoman of the Year
Dr Karlina Tongotea (Ngāphui, Ngāi Tahu, Tonga), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – hiki taumaha | powerlifting
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe ONZM (Ngāpuhi), Mauao | Mount Maunganui – whutupōro | rugby
Ellesse Andrews MNZM (Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe), Ōtepoti | Dunedin – paihikara (ara āmio) | cycling (track)
TE TAMA-Ā-TANENUIĀRANGI | Senior Māori Sportsman of the Year
Reilly Makea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Muaūpoko), Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington – poiuka | softball
Joseph Tapine (Ngāi Tūhoe), Ahitereiria | Australia – rīki | rugby league
Logan Tipene Rogerson (Waikato Tainui), Tāmaki Makaurau | Auckland – poiwhana | football
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
All finalists and world champions are in contention for the supreme award.
Coverage of last year’s broadcast – TE TOHU TAAKARO O AOTEAROA | Māori Sports Awards 2024 – is available to view on demand on MĀORI+.
For more information about the Māori Sports Awards, go to the website www.maorisportsawards.co.nz.
ENDS For more information including media interviews, contact Te Tohu Taakaro o Aotearoa Trust executive director Dick Garratt on phone +64 274 901 237 or + 64 272 129 255, or email dickg@maorisportsawards.co.nz.
