No one has ever died of hard work -Manoj Daji
A dedicated sportsperson, coach; and a firm believer in team work, Mr Daji has grown in rank one step at a time. Recounting his father’s words, “as a minority in New Zealand sport, it is always important to strive to be better than the other players”, Mr. Daji set two simple mottos, hard work and striving to be the best.
“The recognition was a very humbling moment for me personally”, said Manoj, on learning of the Queens Service Medal honour.
On contacting him, he expressed his gratitude towards his family, parents Chandubhai and Bhanubhen, wife Asmita, his uncles Ashok Jeram, and Sumant Lala (awarded MNZM 2013) who fostered a love for sport and coaching in him, and supporting him all along.
Also, acknowledging the role of his teachers and coaches as he grew up. He added that some great Kiwis like Arthur Parkin (PE teacher and Olympic Gold Medalist), Kevin Towns (former Blacksticks coach), my friend and mentor Dipak Patel(former Blackcap), the late Phil Raffills (my first teaching Principal), Entrepreneur Tony Falkenstein, and Byron Bentley (former chair of College Sport) were all part of his growth; “nothing is achievable without the support of others” added Manoj.
Manoj believes that it is not for him to decide what value the honor adds to his career, he says, “I will continue to serve sport and education.”
Manoj, after moving from an accounting role at Deloitte, retrained as a secondary teacher gaining a Diploma of Teaching. He taught at Avondale College, Senior College of New Zealand and Onehunga High Business School. In 2007 he was awarded a Royal society of NZ Teaching fellowship for Entrepreneurship teaching.
In sports, Manoj had a lustrous career playing hockey at the Provincial level, captaining the NZ Indians Representative Hockey team in international games.
After finishing playing at the Premier Hockey level, after playing around 500 games, Manoj turned to coaching. Working his way up from junior teams, to school, to premier teams, and finally to high performance teams over a 25 year period.
In 2007, at the Champions Trophy, Manoj was an Assistant Coach of the Spanish mens hockey team. He continued his association with Spanish hockey with a stint in 2012 as an assistant coach with European Hockey League team Atletic Terrasa HC.
Manoj was Head Coach of the NZ Indians mens team between 2007 and 2012. In addition he has been an assistant coach for the Junior Blacksticks, NZ Academy, and Blacksticks during the period 2003 to 2008.
In 2004 and 2007, Manoj was awarded Prime Ministers scholarships for High Performance coaching.
In 2009 Manoj established the Bornhere Mentoring Charitable trust along with Bhovesh Patel and Priyesh Bhana(former Blackstick) to help young kiwi indians achieve their goals.
His contributions in the areas of both youth sport and High Performance sport by assisting athletes to become the best they can be. Mentoring Olympians, former Blackstick and Blackcap players and seeing them achieve their dreams has been very rewarding for all.
Manoj said, “I trust I have had a positive impact in some small way on the lives of most of the players and students I have coached or taught over the last 25 years.”
Manoj has been the CEO of College Sport Auckland, since 2008 and is responsible for the facilitation of inter secondary sport for around 100,000 students across 104 Auckland Secondary Schools. He retires from this role at the end of the week and is returning to the teaching profession, this time at Auckland Grammar School.
In his changing profile from a coach to entrepreneur and now returning to teaching he joked that the challenge in his day is to find time to exercise.
A dedicated sportsperson, coach; and a firm believer in team work, Mr Daji has grown in rank one step at a time. Recounting his father’s words, “as a minority in New Zealand sport, it is always important to strive to be better than the other players”, Mr. Daji set two simple mottos, hard work and...
A dedicated sportsperson, coach; and a firm believer in team work, Mr Daji has grown in rank one step at a time. Recounting his father’s words, “as a minority in New Zealand sport, it is always important to strive to be better than the other players”, Mr. Daji set two simple mottos, hard work and striving to be the best.
“The recognition was a very humbling moment for me personally”, said Manoj, on learning of the Queens Service Medal honour.
On contacting him, he expressed his gratitude towards his family, parents Chandubhai and Bhanubhen, wife Asmita, his uncles Ashok Jeram, and Sumant Lala (awarded MNZM 2013) who fostered a love for sport and coaching in him, and supporting him all along.
Also, acknowledging the role of his teachers and coaches as he grew up. He added that some great Kiwis like Arthur Parkin (PE teacher and Olympic Gold Medalist), Kevin Towns (former Blacksticks coach), my friend and mentor Dipak Patel(former Blackcap), the late Phil Raffills (my first teaching Principal), Entrepreneur Tony Falkenstein, and Byron Bentley (former chair of College Sport) were all part of his growth; “nothing is achievable without the support of others” added Manoj.
Manoj believes that it is not for him to decide what value the honor adds to his career, he says, “I will continue to serve sport and education.”
Manoj, after moving from an accounting role at Deloitte, retrained as a secondary teacher gaining a Diploma of Teaching. He taught at Avondale College, Senior College of New Zealand and Onehunga High Business School. In 2007 he was awarded a Royal society of NZ Teaching fellowship for Entrepreneurship teaching.
In sports, Manoj had a lustrous career playing hockey at the Provincial level, captaining the NZ Indians Representative Hockey team in international games.
After finishing playing at the Premier Hockey level, after playing around 500 games, Manoj turned to coaching. Working his way up from junior teams, to school, to premier teams, and finally to high performance teams over a 25 year period.
In 2007, at the Champions Trophy, Manoj was an Assistant Coach of the Spanish mens hockey team. He continued his association with Spanish hockey with a stint in 2012 as an assistant coach with European Hockey League team Atletic Terrasa HC.
Manoj was Head Coach of the NZ Indians mens team between 2007 and 2012. In addition he has been an assistant coach for the Junior Blacksticks, NZ Academy, and Blacksticks during the period 2003 to 2008.
In 2004 and 2007, Manoj was awarded Prime Ministers scholarships for High Performance coaching.
In 2009 Manoj established the Bornhere Mentoring Charitable trust along with Bhovesh Patel and Priyesh Bhana(former Blackstick) to help young kiwi indians achieve their goals.
His contributions in the areas of both youth sport and High Performance sport by assisting athletes to become the best they can be. Mentoring Olympians, former Blackstick and Blackcap players and seeing them achieve their dreams has been very rewarding for all.
Manoj said, “I trust I have had a positive impact in some small way on the lives of most of the players and students I have coached or taught over the last 25 years.”
Manoj has been the CEO of College Sport Auckland, since 2008 and is responsible for the facilitation of inter secondary sport for around 100,000 students across 104 Auckland Secondary Schools. He retires from this role at the end of the week and is returning to the teaching profession, this time at Auckland Grammar School.
In his changing profile from a coach to entrepreneur and now returning to teaching he joked that the challenge in his day is to find time to exercise.
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