Swifts fly high at Matamata Piako District Sports Awards

Matamata Swifts Association Football Club (AFC) has picked up two major awards at the 2006 Sport Waikato Matamata Piako District Sports Awards.

The club won the 2006 Sports Club of the Year for the Matamata Piako District and, for good measure, followed that triumph up by having their Metso Matamata Swifts senior men's 1st team announced as the 2006 Sports Team of the Year. A good representation of club members were on hand at the ceremony, held at the Matamata Memorial Centre on the evening of Wednesday November 22, to celebrate their organisation's success.

Matamata Swifts AFC President, Peter Challis, who accepted the Sports Club of the Year award on behalf of the club, paid tribute to the many people who have contributed to this achievement. “We have some highly skilled and motivated people who have put in a lot of work over several years, not just 2006, to build our club into the sort of organisation to which they want to belong. I'm delighted to accept this award on behalf of every one of them.”

Metso Matamata Swifts senior men's 1st team coach, Duncan Lowry, was pleased to see his team's achievements recognised in front of a wider audience. “Hopefully this award can help build even greater local interest in the club and the sport of football,” said Lowry after the ceremony. “We have a good team with some excellent players. I would love it if the town of Matamata, indeed the entire district, embraced this side as their own. We will need all the support we can get as we take on teams from Taupo to Tauranga and Whakatane to Huntly in the new Waikato Bay of Plenty Federation league.”

Lowry also paid tribute to two club 'drivers', Barry Simonson and Dwayne Barlow. “I first met these two guys a couple of years ago,” said Lowry after accepting the award. “I fell in love with Simmo's passion and DB's drive and wanted to know more. This is for them.”

This appears to be the first time a football club has won either of these awards in the Matamata Piako district.

Club spokesman, Dwayne Barlow, suggests one of the reasons for this could be due, in part, to a growing level of maturity within New Zealand's sporting public. “Let's face it, rural New Zealand is the final frontier for football on this planet,” said Barlow the day after the awards ceremony. “So to have the achievements of our club recognised for what they are is extremely gratifying. Well done judges!”

Barlow is sure these awards will give everyone associated with the club, and football in Matamata, extra motivation to do things even better in 2007 and beyond.

Peter Challis is a proud club President. “I am very happy with the way the club is being run at the moment. It has taken a lot of work by many football fanatics to get us to where we are today. We will enjoy this for a few weeks and then get back down to business. After all, the new season is only just around the corner!”


Pictures (supplied by the Matamata Chronicle)

Above Matamata AFC President, Pete Challis, accepts the 2006 Matamata Piako Sports Club of the Year award on behalf of the club. Paul Honiss of the Lion Foundation, a sponsoring organisation of the awards function, presented the award.


Above Duncan Lowry, Metso Matamata Swifts player/coach, accepts the 2006 Matamata Piako Sports Team of the Year award from Mr Hugh Vercoe, Mayor of the Matamata Piako District.


Above A few of the happy Swifts who attended the 2006 Matamata Piako District Sports Awards ceremony.


For more information contact

Dwayne Barlow (Communications - Matamata AFC)
mobile: 021 118 1167
phone: 07 888 9196 (a/hrs) or 07 881 9060 (work)
email: dwayne.jean@xtra.co.nz


Background information

Matamata Swifts AFC caters for football at all levels within the Matamata district. In 2006 the club fielded four senior teams, ten junior teams and worked with Matamata College to field eight youth teams. The club sponsors football at Matamata College and has invested a four figure sum in college football during each of the last three years.

Matamata AFC runs Saturday morning “mini-kickers” coaching sessions for children below the age of eight years of age. Matamata AFC also hosts a popular Social Summer 5-a-side competition, which runs from the start of October to the end of December. In 2006 a record 38 teams are playing Super Liquor Summer 5-a-side Soccer.

The Matamata Swifts 1st team won the Waikato Premier League, the Caper Cup and were runners-up (on goal difference) in the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Super League. In 2007 the team will play in the newly established Waikato Bay of Plenty Federation league. The Swifts Ladies went unbeaten in winning Waikato Ladies division B, scoring 169 goals in the process. The Swifts Men's 3rd team won the Waikato Sunday Soccer League 2nd division.

The Matamata Piako District covers an area from the north of Te Aroha to the south of Matamata and from the west of Morrinsville to the Kaimai Ranges and has a population of nearly 30,000 people (2001 census).