Voting is now open for New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade – the only category where the winner is decided by the public at the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards Decade Champion.
The finalists for New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade are previous winners of the Halberg award category from achievements in 2010 to 2019.
The sporting moment award gives the New Zealand public the opportunity to choose the nation’s most favoured sporting moment, game or series from 2010 to 2019. The highlights include moments from achievements in football, rugby, rowing, softball, cricket, athletics and netball respectively.
The full list of New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade finalists are:
- All Whites (football) 2010, Winston Reid’s last-minute goal against Slovakia in the FIFA World Cup (Johannesburg, South Africa)
- All Blacks (rugby) 2011, the final whistle; All Blacks vs. France, Rugby World Cup Final (Auckland, New Zealand)
- Nathan Cohen & Joseph Sullivan (rowing) 2012, storm from behind to win gold in the 2012 London Olympics (London, England)
- Black Sox (softball) 2013, win the ISF Men’s World Softball Championships (Auckland, New Zealand)
- Brendon McCullum (cricket) 2014, scores a record 302 against India for BLACKCAPS (Wellington, New Zealand)
- Grant Elliott (cricket) 2015, smashes a six off the second-to-last ball of the semi-final against South Africa to put the BLACKCAPS into the Cricket World Cup final (Auckland, New Zealand)
- Eliza McCartney (athletics) 2016, wins the bronze medal with her final pole vault attempt at the Rio Olympics (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Mitchell Hunt (rugby)2017, drops a stunning last-minute drop goal securing the win for the Crusaders during the Super Rugby season (Christchurch, New Zealand)
- Anna Leat (football) 2018, successful penalty shootout against Japan, leading New Zealand into the semi-final of the FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup (Uruguay, South America)
- Silver Ferns (netball) 2019, winning the Netball World Cup (Liverpool, England)
The public can vote for their choice once a day by text message or online at www.halbergawards.co.nz.
How to vote:
You can vote once a day from now until 9.00pm on Thursday 18 February 2021 either online or by text.
- Online
Vote at www.halbergawards.co.nz
- TXT
Text your Sporting Moment’s unique code to 556 (standard txt charges apply):
- Txt SM11 to 556 to vote for All Whites
- Txt SM12 to 556 to vote for All Blacks
- Txt SM13 to 556 to vote for Nathan Cohen & Joseph Sullivan
- Txt SM14 to 556 to vote for Black Sox
- Txt SM15 to 556 to vote for Brendon McCullum
- Txt SM16 to 556 to vote for Grant Elliott
- Txt SM17 to 556 to vote for Eliza McCartney
- Txt SM18 to 556 to vote for Mitchell Hunt
- Txt SM19 to 556 to vote for Anna Leat
- Txt SM20 to 556 to vote for Silver Ferns
The winner of New Zealand’s Favourite Sporting Moment of the Decade will be announced at the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards Decade Champion ceremony on Thursday 18 February 2021 at Spark Arena in Auckland and will be broadcast live on Sky Sport and free-to-air on Prime TV with captioning.
“This award gives our enthusiastic sporting public a chance to reflect and have their say on the sporting moment that captivated them most over the last ten years,” says Shelley McMeeken, Chief Executive of the Halberg Foundation.
Due to multiple international sports events in 2020 being postponed, reconfigured or cancelled, including world championships, global competitions and the Olympics and Paralympics, the ISPS Handa Halberg Awards in 2021 have been adapted to celebrate the Decade Champions and honour sporting excellence over the past decade. Previous Halberg Awards winners from achievements in 2010 to 2019 make up the finalists who will vie for the Decade Champion honours across the supreme and major categories.
Importantly, sporting achievements in 2020 will be rolled over into the following year and the eligibility period will be extended accordingly.
The Awards were created by Olympic champion Sir Murray Halberg (ONZ, MBE) in 1963 to honour sporting excellence and as a major fundraiser for the Halberg Foundation – his charity which aims to enhance the lives of physically disabled young New Zealanders by enabling them to participate in sport and recreation.
The Halberg Foundation has a team of Advisers around the country who connect physically disabled young people to sport and recreation opportunities, they also deliver an Inclusion Training course on adapting physical activity and assist clubs, schools and organisations to provide inclusive events and programmes. The Halberg Games is a three-day national sports competition for physically disabled young people.