Glitter, glamour, and euphoria described the electrifying environment at the NZ Gujarati Sports and Cultural Association award night last weekend.
Held at Mahatma Gandhi centre on Saturday, July 23, the second edition of the mega celebrations of the awards witnessed a colourful range of performances interspersed between several award facilitation and speeches from key dignitaries attending the event.
The event witnessed participation from more than 600 guests, including invited community leaders from other community associations and Hon Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon, as the chief guest.
Speaking on the occasion Mr Dhillon acknowledged the role played by the Gujarati diaspora within the wider Kiwi-Indian diaspora and said, “Our Gujarati communities are well-known for their enterprising spirit and their strong desire of remaining connected with their roots and preserving cultural identity.”
Sharing the excitement of the successful organisation of the awards Vice President of NZGSCA, Ritesh Raniga, who was also the event director for the night, said, “It was the culmination of a lot of hard work and toil from Grand Awards Night Sub Committee and the executive members.
“It gives us immense pleasure that our guests were able to sit back and enjoy the wonderful event and celebrate achievements within our sports,” Mr Raniga said.
Ten different awards recognising individual and team excellence and winners in Cricket, Soccer, Squash, Table Tennis, Golf, Snooker and Netball were presented.
Notably, NZGSCA has been organising the sports tournaments and the award ceremony for many years, but in the last two years, the executive committee have raised the scale and grandeur of the event.
NZ Gujarati Sports and Cultural Association was incorporated in 1995, five years after being run and operated informally as a society.
NZGSCA works towards bringing together the Gujarati Indian diaspora that moved to New Zealand from India, Fiji, and other nations by hosting different sports and cultural events to keep them connected to their roots.
The 2022 office bearers of the NZGSCA Executive Committee are Paresh Parshotam (President), Ritesh Raniga (Vice President), Rohit Patel (Vice President), Sunil Bhikha (Secretary), Ketan Patel (Assistant Secretary), Anish Patel (Treasurer) and Ashok Kapadia (Assistant Treasurer).
Inclusion of netball and women key highlights over the last two years.
Paresh Parshotam, President of NZGSCA told the Indian Weekender that the inclusion of women's sports (netball) over the last two years at the awards ceremony was the key highlight as it has expanded the scope of games and participation to another level.
“There was an absolute unanimity amongst our executive committee team about bringing our women into the fold of competitive sports, and we are pleased to be able to do so”
“The enthusiasm from our women in the community has been overwhelming and we are confident that next year we can look forward to even greater participation,” Mr Parshotam said.
There was an auction organised for the formal part of the evening for supporting St John ambulance, and 31,150 was raised by generous donations from members of the community. This was better than last year’s collection of $21,150. A cheque will subsequently be handed over to St John ambulance at a separate event.
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