Awards: Young named sportsperson of the year

New Zealand cricketer Will Young has been named Taranaki sportsperson of the year.

At an awards evening at The Devon Hotel on Friday night, Young was also named sportsman of the year after his performance during New Zealand’s 3-0 series win against India last summer.

The annual awards celebrated excellence and performances across Taranaki sport across 10 categories.

Former All Black Ian Eliason and past White Fern Aimee Watkins were inducted into the Taranaki Sports Hall of Fame.

Young played a pivotal role in New Zealand’s historic test series win against India, the first ever by a touring team.

He scored 244 runs across three tests at an average of 48.80 and was named player of the series.

New Zealand’s number one sprinter Zoe Hobbs was named sportswomen of the year following her top performances on the athletics track.

Hobbs’ season was highlighted by a 10.94-second time at the Golden Spike meet in Ostrava this year, which set an Oceania and New Zealand 100m record by 0.02 of a second.

She placed highly in several Diamond League finals and reached the semifinals at the World Championships in Tokyo and secured her ninth consecutive 100m national title.

The Paritutu men’s division one bowling team claimed senior team of the year after they won the New Zealand interclub championship.

Meanwhile, Eliason was posthumously inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame following his contributions as a Taranaki double centurion and All Black during touring matches during his career that spanned between 1964-1981.

Off the field, he was a Taranaki Rugby life member, president and patron.  

Watkins played more than 100 matches for the White Ferns between 2002-2011. She was New Zealand’s leading wicket-take at the 2009 Women’s Cricket World Cup with 11, including a best performance of 4-2 against South Africa.

Since her retirement, she became a coach, administrator and commentator and is a life member of the Woodleight Cricket Club Taranaki Cricket, Central Districts, MCC (Lords) and an honorary membership of New Zealand Cricket.

2025 Taranaki Sports Awards

Overall Sportsperson of the Year: Will Young (cricket)
Sportsman of the Year: Will Young
Sportswomen: Zoe Hobbs (athletics)
Senior Sports: Paritutu Bowling Club Men’s Interclub
Junior Sportsman: Oscar Goodman (basketball)
Junior Sportswomen: Chadelle Bascara (power lifting)
Junior Sports Team: Francis Douglas Memorial College U16 Double Sculls (rowing)
Masters: Phil Kuklinski (body building)
Volunteer: Gus Berghan (rowing)
Game Official: Hayley Jury (gymnastics)
Club: Kawaroa Park Squash Club
Sports Hall of Fame inductees: Ian Eliason (rugby) and Aimee Watkins (cricket)