Cheering for Team Manawatū
As we cheer on Team New Zealand on the world stage at the Olympics, today in the Council Chambers we celebrated three athletes who received representative grants to compete in their respected sports of Hockey and Basketball while representing the Manawatū region.
Council is back in the chambers today and joining the Elected Members was Elan Hinks, Ephraim Yearbury and Tayla Eastwood. These three are MDC Representative Grant recipients and have competed at a national level in their respective sports of Hockey and Basketball.
Elan and Ephraim were teammates representing the Manawatū at the U18 Hockey Tournament in Hawkes Bay. Their team finished a proud 15th out of 22nd teams. They had some memorable moments including scoring their first goal at a national level, working together as a team, and building new connections across a sport they loved.
Tayla was a representative of Manawatū at the U16 Manawatū Girls Basketball Team. The team faced an opposing team who was almost double the height of the Manawatū team and this in itself was a learning opportunity testing the team's belief, focus and determination. Although it took time for the team to find their rhythm within the game, the team learned lots and strengthened their team dynamics and self-belief as a result.
These three athletes who are also students at Feildling High School, are fantastic ambassadors for the Manawatū region. They share their sporting success with younger athletes as they umpire and coach at local levels, play for their school and of course their region.
Sport is such an important aspect of a healthy balence in life. MDC is proud to offer representative grants and to help local athletes fund their dreams. To learn more about community funding available visit: Community Funding | Manawatū District Council (mdc.govt.nz)
(L to R): Elan Hinks, Tayla Eastwood and Ephraim Yearbury