MAJOR PRIZE WINNERS Sportsmen of the Year
“Everything I do is not just for me, but to repaymy family.” Ngane Punivai with loss. It was a learning curve as they had not played the way they wanted and were overwhelmed by the atmosphere on the day. However, Ngane says it gave them a challenge and they just got on with it. NGANE’S HISTORY • Medbury 1st XV in Year 7 and 8 • Canterbury Metro under-65kg team • Year 10 Canterbury under-16 team • Year 11 College 1st XV and Canterbury under-16 team • Year 12 Captain 1st XV • Canterbury Metro under-18 development side (B side) • Vice-captain Crusaders Junior Knights under-18 team • NZ Secondary Schools’ team
2016 SENIOR SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR Ngane Punivai
I enjoyed being part of a different sport, but I loved the physical nature of rugby and I switched back. I made my first rep side in the Hutt under-11 team and, after that, it has been a series of steps up, all of which has given me a real sense of achievement.’’ Goal setting is an important part of family life for the Punivais. At the beginning of each year, the family of six sit down at the kitchen table working out their individual set of “smart goals’’ for the year and reviewing their past achievements. “This is why everything I do is not just for me, but to repay my family,’’ says Ngane. “I think this is an important part of who you are and helps make you a good leader because you want to share this with others. At our camp this year, I was happy to help the team set realistic and achievable goals.’’ He says this helped the team with the loss to CBHS. They had not lost a game during the season so it was a new experience as a team dealing
It would perhaps be an understatement to say that rugby is the main passion of the 2016 Senior Sportsman of the Year, 1st XV Captain Ngane Punivai, but that does not mean it comes at the expense of everything else in his life. He was an excellent Deputy Head Prefect, took part in athletics, plays the guitar, organised the senior ball and still found time to take take part in House activities. Ngane first started playing rugby at the age of four and one of his earliest memories is of running in the sawdust doing drills for the nursery grade team. Both his parents played club rugby and he says watching his father was an inspiration, even though he was not in the top side. “He had no expectations about my playing rugby and I started playing football when I was seven or eight.
Christ’s College Canterbury
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