At tonight’s Gymnastics NZ Annual General Meeting, we proudly recognised and celebrated the outstanding contributions of individuals who have gone above and beyond in service to our sport.

Congratulations to all recipients of life membership, meritorious awards, and national service awards. Your dedication, leadership, and commitment have made a lasting impact across our gymnastics community.

See below for our amazing recipients—thank you for everything you’ve given to gymnastics in Aotearoa.

Ken Olley (ICE Gymsports) – Life Membership

Ken Olley has dedicated over 58 years to trampoline gymnastics in New Zealand, beginning as a competitor in Southland and evolving into a coach, judge, administrator, and mentor of national significance.

Ken coached athletes to national titles and international success in the 1970s, including guiding a gymnast to a silver medal at the Australian nationals at just 11 years old.

As a qualified FIG judge since 1978 and a national judge since 1975, Ken has officiated at numerous international events and continues to judge today. His leadership roles include President of Trampoline New Zealand during its integration into Gymnastics NZ, Chairman and now Treasurer of ICE Gymsports, and manager of New Zealand teams at World and Indo Pacific Championships across five continents.

Known for his integrity, leadership, and tireless commitment, Ken has been a cornerstone of trampoline gymnastics in New Zealand. His nomination for Life Membership is a fitting recognition of a lifetime of service that has shaped the sport’s development and inspired generations.

Meritorious Awards

Maree Calder (Icon Trampoline)

Maree’s nomination for a meritorious award recognises two decades of outstanding service to trampoline gymnastics in New Zealand, spanning roles as an athlete, international FIG category 1 judge and chairperson of the trampoline technical committee. Maree has judged at top international events, led judge development and played a key role in revitalising NZ’s tumbling programme whilst also acting as a mentor to other coaches and judges.

Nyssa Willcocks (Timaru Gymnastics)

Nyssa’s meritorious award nomination recognises over three decades of exceptional service to gymnastics in NZ as a coach, judge, TC chair, and mentor. Nyssa is a FIG category 1 brevet judge and, in this capacity, has judged at numerous international events including world champs and world cups. In her role as chair of the women’s artistic technical committee, Nyssa has played a key role in judge education, technical development of the code, and club support.

Pam Walters (Te Puke Gymsports)

Pam’s meritorious award nomination is in recognition of 38 years of dedicated involvement in gymnastics across NZ not only spanning many roles including athlete, coach, judge, mentor, club manager, and president, but also across nearly all of the gymnastics codes. As a leader, Pam has contributed to many different clubs across NZ and is the current chair of the Gym for All sport development committee.

National Service Awards

Alexandr Nilov (Olympia Gymnastic Sports)

Alexandr has coached for 14 years as a high-performance trampoline coach in New Zealand, including guiding the country’s first female Olympic trampoline gymnast to top-10 finishes at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

Chris Wilson (Icon Trampoline)

Chris has worked behind the scenes of trampolining for over a decade transforming scoring to enhance fairness, efficiency, and athlete experience at regional, national and international events.

Christine Reed (Counties Manukau Gymnastics)

In addition to her work at Gymnastics NZ, Christine has dedicated countless hours as a volunteer coach at Counties Manukau Gymnastics and at regional and national events as a women’s artistic judge and judge mentor.

Debbie Elliot (Capital Gymnastics)

Debbie is closing in on 40 years of voluntary service to gymnastics in New Zealand in many different roles including coaching, judging, club leadership, and event coordination in the Wellington region.

Joy Kitto (Central Gym Club)

Joy has contributed more than 40 years of voluntary service beginning when she founded Central Gym club and continues today with coaching, judging, and advocacy to enable accessible gymnastics opportunities for all.

Vicki Macdonald (Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics)

Vicki has completed almost 50 years of voluntary service to gymnastics in Northland
including decades of coaching and judging, and notably a 20-year campaign that resulted in the creation of the Trigg Sports Arena.