Gore teenager Emma Fotheringham has been crowned Ice Figure Skating New Zealand Sportsperson of the Year.
The award was announced at a banquet dinner following the NZ National Championships in Auckland last month.
Emma said she was surprised by the award.
“I didn’t even know I had been nominated.”
Emma, who started ice skating in 2011, was nominated by Ice Sports Southland Figure Skating for her “outstanding contribution” to the Kiwiskate programme.
Executive Melissa Cummings said Emma was a great role model for younger skaters.
“Emma has been volunteering her time every Monday and Friday afternoon for the past five years to coach our Kiwiskate programme. She approaches this with a smile on her face and is only too happy to help,” she said.
“Often Emma will hand out skates and register the skaters before the session begins. She has a calm, friendly and organised manner when coaching children, and is sure to include plenty of fun into her lessons. She is a huge asset to our club, which is mainly run by volunteers, as she is reliable and conducts herself professionally.”
Emma confidently took on a variety of leadership roles within the club, was friendly and kind and worked diligently.
Emma said she enjoyed coaching and saw it as an opportunity to give back to the club.
“Someone did it for me and I’m doing it for someone else,” she said.
She hoped to continue iceskating and coaching when studying at the University of Otago.
