Dunstan High student and Flames ice hockey club member Neve Spooner scooped the junior spirit award at the Central Otago sports awards last night in Wanaka (18 May). Neve was commended for her dedication to the club, and for her own ice hockey journey. 

Flames president Trevor Lawrence said Neve was special and contributed hugely to the success of the club and the sport as a whole in Central.

"She's the full picture... without trying she's so helpful and so engaged. She wants to be involved in every aspect of the game.

Involved as a parent and coach for the past 15 years Trevor said Neve was getting more and more players from Dunstan High School to come and play and that she had also joined the club committee.

"I've never seen 17 or 18 year old kids interested in the committee and want to be involved.

"She showed up the other night for the under 12s just to help them get their gear on... she's organising car pooling to the Queenstown league... and breaking barriers down between clubs."

Trevor said he was sure that Neve was doing more than he was doing to support the development of the club and the sport as a whole in Central.

"If everyone has a portion of drive that she has that would be pretty cool."

He didn't even tell her that he was going to put her forward for the award so her win came as a bit of a surprise.

Dunstan High School Principal Reece Goldsmith said the nomination did not surprise him as Neve is a real star who gets on with young and old alike.

"She is extremely caring and her selfless approach is devoid of ego or self interest. Neve is a great student who is also is accomplished in a wide range of activities outside ice hockey including kayaking, netball and is a Deputy House Captain this year."

The other Dunstan High student deserving kudos is Pipi Horan, a rower who won gold in the U17 single sculls at Maadi Cup this year. She scooped a $12,000 prize, a new single scull boat to take pride of place in the school’s rowing sheds for her Maadi result.

She reached the shortlist for Junior Sportswomen of the year in last night's awards.

"Pipi is also an awesome student, very focussed, highly academic but also very personably and sociable. That she balances her huge training load with her schooling suggests to me that she has a very bright future ahead," Reece said.

As Neve couldn't attend the awards night, Pipi a good friend of Neve's accepted the gong on her behalf in a real show of school spirit.

Full house: The crowd at the Central Otago Sports Awards evening where Neve was acknowledged. PHOTO: Will Palmer