Official of the Year
An award acknowledging any person over the age of 18 who acts as an umpire, referee or judge.
Alistair Payne
Darren Kerr
Mark Harris
Peter Sigvertsen
RUGBY
FOOTBALL
ATHLETICS
HOCKEY
Alistair is Wairarapa-Bush’s leading rugby referee. In 2021, Alistair achieved the rare feat of officiating in his seventh consecutive premier grade final, when he had the whistle in the Chris ‘Moose’ Kapene Memorial Cup final between Greytown and Carterton. Alistair also refereed in his 150th premier match in the CartertonGladstone semifinal. As well as refereeing Alistair is involved in the administration of the Wai-Bush Referees Association and assists with the training of new referees.
Darren came back to refereeing in the 2021 season after taking a break for a few seasons. Every year he has refereed he has won the Wairarapa Referee of the year and 2021 was no different. He also won the Capital Football’s Pedro Molina Dedication and Commitment to Refereeing for his full involvement in all aspects of refereeing. He shares his knowledge with others, is now a NZ Football Level 3 accredited referee and is seeking his Level 4 this year. Darren is happy to ref local league, Capital Football and W-League, and has carried out Central League linesman duties.
Mark has been identified as one of the leading Photo Finish judges in New Zealand. He has attained qualifications over a six-year period which allows him to approve New Zealand and world records for track events. Mark is also considered one of the leaders in the area of technical expertise to set up all the electronic systems required to run Track and Field events. He has been appointed as chief photo finish judge at major events such as the Potts Classic, Cooks Classic, Capital Classic, NZ Secondary School Cross-country Championships, and the North Island Colgate Games.
Pete has been a hockey umpire for the last 15 years, umpiring regularly in the Wellington Premier Men’s and Women’s competitions. Pete was recognised by NZ Hockey, being added to the Umpires Foundation Panel, and invited to umpire at the 2021 National Hockey Championship. With their cancellation he umpired at the replacement Lower North Island tournament. Pete is umpires’ manager for Wairarapa, contributing many hours developing skills of local junior umpires. He also facilitates the community level umpire training qualification program for the Wairarapa.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL FINALISTS FOR
OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR WWW.MSTN.GOVT.NZ @MastertonDC
WAIRARAPA TIMES-AGE SPORTS AWARDS 2021-2022 | 19
