August 2023, Articles

PM’s Scholarship ceremonies return

Ceremonies to acknowledge athletes, coaches, support staff and officials receiving Prime Minister’s Scholarships will resume next month following a four-year break due to COVID 19.

Prime Minister’s Scholarships provide tertiary and vocational education for athletes, and professional development for coaches, support team members and officials.

Scholarship recipients are publicly announced in December each year and traditionally presentation ceremonies for those recipients take place the following year.

Prime Minister’s Scholarship Manager Nicole Robins says HPSNZ will hold three ceremonies this year for the first time since 2019.

“It will be an opportunity not only to present certificates to the latest group of scholarship recipients but also to celebrate the importance of the programme itself and those who have been part of it over the past three years,” Nicole says.

The ceremonies will be held in Christchurch (19 September), Auckland (26 September) and Waikato (3 October).

The scholarship programme assists athletes to develop holistically outside sport in ways that help them move into a post-retirement career and as such is an important investment in the future wellbeing of high performance athletes.

“The programme also supports the sustainability of the high performance sport system by investing in education and professional development that increases the expertise of New Zealand’s coaches, support staff and officials,” says Nicole.

The programme, which has been running since 2000, is managed by HPSNZ on behalf of the Government.

You can find out more about the Prime Minister’s Scholarship programme here.