At an awards ceremony on
Wednesday evening, Year 13 student David Martin received a New Zealand Universities Blues Award in
recognition of his selection in the New Zealand under 19 Triathlon Team that
competed at the World Championships in Chicago, in 2015. The nomination period for these awards is
from September to October each year, hence David’s 2015 achievement being
recognised this year. David qualifies
for a New Zealand Universities Blues Award because,
as an accelerate student, he is studying Massey University papers. To our knowledge he is the only PNBHS student
to have been awarded a New Zealand
Universities Blues Award. At the
presentation Massey University indicated that they believe David may be the
youngest ever recipient of a New Zealand
Universities Blues Award, having been just 17 years of age when he
competed at the world championships.
Blues Awards
The New Zealand Universities Blues Award is the highest sporting accolade given in the NZ tertiary system. It is part of a tradition dating from 1922 in New Zealand and earlier in England, where the colours of Oxford and Cambridge Universities came to be a symbol for sporting excellence.
Sporting ‘blues’ have been made famous by the rivalry between England’s most famous universities, Oxford and Cambridge. ‘Oxford’ blues were only awarded for ‘real’ sports, such as rowing, rugby and cricket. Athletes in other codes could only aspire to half blues. One Irish University purportedly awards top athletes ‘pinks’.
