The Southland Kia Team of the Year nominees for this year’s ILT Southland Sports Awards highlight teams who have achievement some memorable performances in their respective pathways. 

Providing a platform to acknowledge the achievements of all sports is what the ILT Southland Sports Awards is all about. 

The Southland Sharks took the province on a wild ride in 2025. Through the first half of their campaign, they struggled to get the results they wanted under new coach Jonathan Yim and sat rooted at the bottom of the table. That was before the Sharks, inspired by MVP Josiah Allick, went on a nine-game winning streak which ended just short of a national NBL championship title, going down narrowly in the grand final to the Wellington Saints.

The Sharks qualified for the finals for the first time in eight years and decisively beat the Canterbury Rams in a semi-final in Christchurch, ending the Rams’ hopes of a third-straight win. 

Craig Tinker and Zoe Beck finished third in the National Champion of Champion mixed pairs event at the end of a demanding campaign which required them to win at local and regional level to qualify for the national event against 23 other centres. 

Hokonui Marching’s under 13 team won the overall title at New Zealand championships in Wellington, following on from their win at the South Island event. Despite having to rebuild with a number of marchers ageing out of the team, the squad worked hard to bring home the club’s third consecutive national title. No Southland team has managed this feat before.

The Southland women’s intercentre team placed third equal at the National Intercentre tournament, an inspiring result for Southland bowls given the team featured a number of less experienced players and no current national representatives. It was the first time a Southland women’s team had made it onto the podium at this event since 2017.

The winner of the Southland Kia Team of the Year Award will be announced at ILT Stadium Southland on June 12.  

The ILT Southland Sports Awards are the longest-running awards of their kind in New Zealand, a once-a-year showcase of the Southland sporting community's proudest achievements.  

Nearly 60 outstanding performances across 22 sporting codes will be celebrated at this year’s Awards.  

Tickets are on sale now from activesouthland.co.nz or ILT Stadium Southland. 

Article added: Sunday 31 May 2026