History

Sport Tasman, established in 1991, is one of 17 Regional Sports Trusts  to be found operating throughout New Zealand. 

The Tasman region has a proud history of accomplishments in sporting endeavours.  These were first celebrated in 1959 through the then Nelson/Marlborough Sportsperson of the Year awards.  In that year Nelson golfer Nicki Campbell won the award, a feat she repeated in 1961.

The awards continued to be held annually until 1979 at which time there was a hiatus until 1989 when the awards were resumed, although it was now the Nelson Sportsperson of the Year and was hosted by the then Sport Nelson.

Marlborough established their own awards in 1967 which have continued annually since.  Marlborough too has an impressive list of past winners.

The Trust has continued to host the awards on an annual basis to celebrate the achievements of Nelson's sports people.

More recently Sport Tasman has introduced a Nelson Legends of Sport to the Nelson awards to acknowledge our region's sporting icons.

To date seven such sports people have been inducted as Legends of Sport.  Inductees are: Harold Nelson, Jack Cropp, Ed Dolejs,  Don Max ; Les Rackley, Ngaire Galloway, Rod Dixon and Jeff Rackley.

A tribute to 50 years of Nelson Sportsperson of the Year booklet view below:

Legends of Sport

Harold Nelson
Harold Nelson is one of New Zealand's heroes of the track with an impressive record of national titles over one mile, three miles and six miles, as well as gold and silver medals at the 1950 British Empire Games.

Jack Cropp
Jack Cropp is a legend in New Zealand yachting winning Olympic gold and numerous New Zealand titles.

Edward Dolejs
Edward (Ed) Dolejs is one of the big names in New Zealand softball. He coached New Zealand teams to two world titles.

Donald Max
Donald Stanfield Max was a big, strong, hard working tight forward who proudly wore the silver fern as an All Black.

Les Rackley
Les Rackley coached young athletes to become boxing champions in the 1960's, 70's and 80's.

Ngaire Galloway
Ngaire was a swimmer in the 1948 London Olympics and the first New Zealand female swimmer to hold concurrent junior, intermediate and senior national records.

Rod Dixon
Rod Dixon was an incredibly versatile runner with a competitive career which spanned 17 years across numerous disciplines.

Jeff Rackley
A talented all-round athlete who excelled in cricket and rugby, but it was boxing that took Jeff to the international stage under the tutelage of his father Les.