Honours for a boxer, cricketer and gold rower The winners

Acricketer from Yorkshire and a boxing legend from Lower Hutt were the star turns at the Hutt Valley Sporting Awards on Thursday night.

Olympic rower PhillipWilson was crowned the Supreme winner, but the biggest cheers were for Mary Brito and boxer Bill Byrne.

Amember of the Petone Rowing Club, Wilson was a key member of the men’s eight that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. It was a good night for rowing with Petone’s Beth Ross, who won silver at Tokyo, taking out the sportswoman’s category.

There was a surprise award with the Hutt Valley Tramping Club taking a new award for environmental sustainability.

The awards, which began in 2011, have quickly become one of the biggest sporting awards in the country, with 1300 people packing into theWalter Nash Stadium.

Brito, who has played and watched cricket for more than 80 years, was recognised for exceptional service to sport.

Born in Yorkshire but a Hutt resident for 53 years, Brito said she loved the Hutt Valley and was delighted to be acknowledged.

Prior to the awards, the 90 year-old said she was looking forward to walking the red carpet despite breaking ribs at the recent women’sWorld

Cup final in Christchurch.

Her journey to recognition at the

Hutt Valley awards was an unusual one. Growing up in Yorkshire, one of her best friends was Dickie Bird, who would go on to become a legendary umpire.

After settling in Lower Hutt, she began her long career promoting and developing women’s cricket.

From 1974 to 1985, she chaired the New Zealand Women’s Cricket Council, a period which included the development of the Rosebowl series against Australia and hosting the 1992 World Cup.

From 1995 to 2000, she was president of the InternationalWomen’s Cricket Council. Arguably her greatest achievement came in 2017, when she ■ (rowing); ■

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