Story courtesy of College Sport Media.

College Sport Wellington celebrated the sporting success over the past year of students around the region at the annual Sportsperson of the Year Awards (SPOTYS) at Te Rauparaha Arena on Sunday night.

As well as a number of individual SPOTYS winners, the awards also included Service to School, Volunteer of the Year, Student Coach of the Year, Student Official of the Year, Coach of the Year and Team of the Year recognitions.

This year’s male and female College Sportsperson Supreme award winners were Ben Pettit (Hutt International Boys’ School) and Ava Baddeley (Queen Margaret College).

Both have had big years training and practicing and competing on the other side of the world in their individual sports, both of which take many hours of skill and dedication to get the small moments right.

Pettit has been nothing short of a phenomenon in his sport ten pin bowling, having won numerous titles and trophies over the past several years, and he has been a Supreme award nominee previously.
 

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In June this year he was New Zealand’s sole representative at the U21 World Cup in Sweden. He bowled back- to-back 279 games with 22 strikes from 24 shots to make the top 16 cut, eventually finishing 10th in the world. This was New Zealand’s second highest World Championships finish ever, behind his bronze medal last year.

After winning the New Zealand Kegel Open last year, Ben had free entry into the Kegel Queensland Open in May, Australia’s biggest adult ranked tournament. He won this, bowling 299 in the final.

In July he was runner-up at the U21 Australian National Championships on the Sunshine Coast.

In August next year, Ben is moving to Wichita State University where he will be on a scholarship to bowl for their prestigious top team.
 

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As part of this year’s National Artistic Gymnastics Squad, Year 13 QMC student and Kapiti Gymnastics member Ava Baddeley represented New Zealand against the world’s best at world and Olympic Games level at the Senior Women’s World Gymnastics Challenge Cups in Paris, France and Szombathely, Hungary, which included a top 20 finish in Hungary.

Back home, she won the Central Region all-round Championships on the vaults and on the floor and was runner-up on the bar. She is in the long-list squad to make the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team next year and a long-term goal is to compete at the Olympics in 2028.

The All-rounder of the Year awards went to Kobe Smith (Naenae College) and Baylee Meroiti (Tawa College).
 

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Year 12 Kobe Smith is a member of the New Zealand U17 Men’s Netball team and won the Male Netballer of the Year Award. He also plays Touch, basketball, rugby, badminton, table tennis and does athletics and crossfit , as well as being a netball and basketball umpire.

It was also a family affair, with Smith’s father Hoani also won an award, one of seven 2025 Volunteers of the Year, and his older sister Hannah (year 13) winning one of two Service to School awards.

Meroiti was the Female Rugby Player of the Year, alongside St Pat’s Silverstream’s Elijah Solomona who won the Male Rugby Player of the Year award.

Meroiti only took up senior rugby this year and she became a regular player at halfback for the Northern United women’s team. She was then selected as a wing in the Wellington Pride side for the Women’s NPC competition, featuring in their side throughout their campaign.

An established netballer and past member of the Aotearoa Māori Netball team, in April she played Māori representative netball for Ikaroa Ki Te Tonga in the annual Aotearoa Māori tournament that was hosted in Wellington at Aku Tangi and she then played for the Norths netball club in the Kapi Mana association competitions.

The Teams of the Year awards went to the Tawa College First XI girls cricket team, as reigning national champions, the Scots College First XI Boys football team for winning the NZSS Football Tournament over Winter Tournament Week and the Wainuiomata High School Mixed Ki O Rahi team for winning the NZSS Championships earlier this year.

In some other code winners (all listed below), St Mary’s College’s Te Arani Vulu is the 2025 CSW Netballer of the Year.

She helped her team in winning their 10th straight College Sport Wellington RSSL Division 1 title and to sixth place at nationals that were recently held at the same venue as the awards, Te Rauparaha Arena . She has also a member of the NZSS and New Zealand Aotearoa Māori Secondary Schools squads this year.

Vulu’s St Mary’s College schoolmate Te Raukura Leafe won the girls Rugby League Player of the Year, as captain of her school team and a member of the Sydney Roosters U19 team that were Grand finalists in the Tarsha Gale Competition.

Queen Margaret College year 11 student Nahala Toeleiu is this year’s Girls Basketballer of the Year. She was a member of the New Zealand U16 Women’s Asia Cup team  this year that finished runners-up which represented the best placing ever for a NZ Basketball team in that tournament and they have qualified for the World Cup in 2026.

Another QMC student, Greer Wilson, is both this year’s Girls Footballer and Futsal Player of the Year. Wilson was captain of her school’s First XI Team who won Capital Football Trophy and she was a member of the New Zealand U19 Football team that finished in the top four of the Dallas International Cup this year. She also captained Capital Futsal U17 to second at the Youth Futsal Nationals.

Scots College’s Miles Woodhall is the Boys Footballer of the Year. He scored two goals in the NZSS Football final in his team’s 3-0 win over Saint Kentigern College and was the top goal-scorer at the tournament.

This year’s Athletics winners were St Oran’s’ Rebecca Bailey for being the reigning NZSS Senior Girls Javelin Champion, and for being second in the New Zealand 20s Championships, and Wellington College’s Joe Martin, who is currently ranked as the top U20 male 800m and 1500m runner in New Zealand. In March, Martin had a historic win in the Open Boys 800m at the McEvedy Shield, breaking a record that had stood since 1993.

Martin was also the cross country runner of the year, finishing third at the NZSS Cross Country Championships, while Hutt Valley High School’s Jess McKenzie won the female cross country runner of the year award.

For a full list of winners see below:

2025 COLLEGE SPORTSPERSONS OF THE YEAR

Ava Baddeley (Queen Margaret College)

Ben Pettit (Hutt International Boys’ School)

ALL ROUNDER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Kobe Smith (Naenae College)

Baylee Meroiti (Tawa College)

SERVICE TO SCHOOL SPORT AWARDS

Hanah Smith (Naenae College)

Brendan Keogh (St Bernard’s College)

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Karen Hille (Samuel Marsden Collegiate)

Cath Taylor  (St Bernard’s College)

Kirstie Brown (St Oran’s College)

Meaghan Wilby (Wellington Girls’ College)

Poutoa Madar (Bishop Viard College)

Hoani Smith (Naenae College)

Dave Walsh (Wellington College)

STUDENT COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Isabel Harvey-Green  (Samuel Marsden Collegiate)

James Aitken (Rongotai College)

STUDENT OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Rebecca Bailey (St Oran’s College)

Ashton Foote (Kapiti College)

COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Amy Robinson (Mana College)

Martin Bueno (Scots College)

TEAM OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Tawa College First XI girls cricket team,

Scots College First XI Boys football team

Wainuiomata High School Mixed Ki O Rahi team

CHAMPION OF SCHOOL SPORT AWARD

Deb Mills (Newlands College)

Wayne Mills  (St Patrick’s College, Town)

INDIVIDUAL CODE AWARDS

Athletes of the Year

Rebecca Bailey (St Oran’s College)

Joe Martin (Wellington College)

Badminton Players of the Year

Sienna Baxter (St Oran’s College)

Jovan Joby (St Bernard’s College)

Basketball Players of the Year

Nahala Toeleiu (Queen Margaret College)

Aubrey Chunga (Hutt International Boys’ School)

Bowls Players of the Year

Lily Signal (Heretaunga College)

Leo Rennwandt (Newlands College)

Cricket Players of the Year

Isla McKenzie (Onslow College)

Charles Jackson (Wellington College)

Cross Country/ Road Runners of the Year

Jess McKenzie (Hutt Valley High School)

Joe Martin (Wellington College)

Cyclists of the Year

Iley Nunns (Queen Margaret College)

Mason Parr (Hutt International Boys’ School)

Diver of the Year

Ross Miller (Onslow College)

Fencers of the Year

Sarah Zhou (Queen Margaret College)

Samuel Li (Scots College)

Floorball Players of the Year

Eva Baker (Wellington High School)

Vinnie Coup (Wellington High School)

Football Players of the Year

Greer Wilson (Queen Margaret College)

Miles Woodhall (Scots College)

Futsal Players of the Year

Greer Wilson (Queen Margaret College)

Jacob Kleinsmith (Scots College)

Golf Players of the Year

Teisa Vaka (St Mary’s College)

Hugo Sidford (Hutt International Boys’ School)

Gymnast of the Year

Ava Baddely (Queen Margaret College)

Hockey Players of the Year

Jada Ropitini (St Oran’s College)

Kyle Keene (St Pat’s Silverstream)

Ki O Rahi Players of the Year

Nevaeh Puketapu-Utanga (Wainuiomata High School)

Reihana Te Rauna (Wainuiomata High School)

Multisporter of the Year

Connor Kemp (St Pat’s Town)

Netball Players of the Year

Te Arani Vulu (St Mary’s College)

Kobe Smith (Naenae College)

Orienteers of the Year

Morag McLellan (Onslow College)

Jake McLellan (Onslow College)

Powerlifters of the Year

Sophia Turner (Chilton St James School)

Logan Mackay (Heretaunga College)

Rower of the Year

Harry Kavanagh (Wellington College)

Rugby League Players of the Year

Te Raukura Leafe (St Mary’s College)

Anton Ford-Tuveve (St Pat’s Town)

Rugby Union Players of the Year

Bailee Meroiti (Tawa College)

Elijah Solomona (St Pat’s Silverstream)       

Shooters of the Year

Pippa Taylor (Queen Margaret College)

Isaac Junc (Heretaunga College)

Softball Players of the Year

Yvanni Gibson (Tawa College)

Tyrone Robinson (St Pat’s Silverstream)
 

Squash Players of the Year

Sophia de Nardi Gonzalez (St Oran’s College)

Eamon Gannon (Wellington College)

Swimmers of the Year

Madeleine Wilson (Sacred Heart College)

Roman Anderson (Onslow College)

Synchronised Swimmer of the Year

Scarlett Hardy (Wellington East Girls’ College)

Table Tennis Players of the Year

Jayathi Jaiganesh (Scots College)

Yufeng Wang (Scots College)

Taekwondo Fighter of the Year

Norrie Williams (St Mary’s College)

Ten Pin Bowler of the Year

Ben Pettit (Hutt International Boys’ School)

Tennis Players of the Year

Emily Dunn (St Oran’s College)

Ethan Pryor (Wellington College)

Touch Players of the Year

Jada Ropitini (St Oran’s College)

Kobe Tetevano (Hutt International Boys’ School)

Ultimate Frisbee Players of the Year

Bianca Philip (Hutt Valley High School)

Ben Coubrough (Hutt Valley High School)

Underwater Hockey Players of the Year

Natalie Groot (Wellington Girls’ College)

Hamish Wright (Wellington College)

Volleyball Player of the Year

Lara Avery (St Mary’s College)

Water Polo Players of the Year

Maya McLay (Sacred Heart College)

Hugo Tuffery (St Pat’s Town)

              

Article added: Monday 03 November 2025