1. Where will you be and what will you be doing for Christmas?
2. What was your highlight of 2024?
3. What are your hopes for 2025?
Ben Smith
Highlanders assistant coach
1. I will be up in Wanaka with my family. On Christmas Day, if it’s nice, we’ll be getting the boat out. The kids always get pretty excited so they will make sure we are up nice and early. We often have a good breakfast, and then a bit of a mid-afternoon lunch. My mum and dad are going to stay with us. It’ll be busy but I’m looking forward to it.
2.We live by a golf course and my kids have taken up golf. They just pick up the clubs and want to go have a hit at Balmacewen. Watching them find a love for golf, and having a hit around with them at night, has been pretty cool. We also had a bit of a family holiday to Fiji. Just spending time with the family was awesome.
3. The goal is for the Highlanders to win the Super Rugby competition. And just to take time to watch my family grow up and everything they do in their busy lives.
Jaylah Kennedy
Jockey
1. I’ll be in Ballarat feeding and mucking out the horses on Christmas Day.
2. My highlight was definitely winning the Ballarat Cup and riding 100 winners - a goal I set and wanted to complete by the end of this year.
3. To keep riding the winners and aim to take out the leading metropolitan apprentice premiership.
Angela Ruske
Nuggets/Hoiho general manager
1. We’ll be spending Christmas in Wanaka with family, soaking in the outdoor adventures the area has to offer. Afterward, we’re heading to Italy for a week of skiing in the Dolomites, followed by a trip to Norway to witness the Northern Lights. The highlight will be our oldest daughter joining us, as she is living in Amsterdam and we haven’t seen her for a year.
2. It’s always challenging to choose just one highlight, but for both the Nuggets and the Hoiho, the standout has to be the incredible impact our players have made in the community. Seeing how their presence inspires and uplifts others is truly heartwarming. It’s especially rewarding to receive heartfelt messages from the public expressing gratitude for the positive difference our players have made in their child’s wellbeing.
3. My hopes are for us to build upon the successes of previous seasons, both on and off the court, while delivering exciting and entertaining basketball. I would love to see the Edgar Centre filled with sell-out crowds, creating an electrifying atmosphere. Most importantly, I hope that our on-court performances and community engagement inspire people to pursue their basketball dreams - whether as a player, coach, administrator, or official - at any level.
Abby Lawson
Southern Steel defender
1. Spending time with family and all my nieces and nephews, over-indulging on delicious food. Hopefully the weather is nice to get out and play some backyard games.
2. I don’t really have any major highlights but it was nice being back playing professional netball again.
3. The Southern Steel win the ANZ premiership. And I’ve always talked about running a full marathon so hopefully I will get that ticked off the bucket list.
Hannah MacKay-Wright
Southern United defender
1. I will head up to my family bach in Golden Bay for the Christmas-New Year period. Hopefully relaxing in the sun, plenty of swimming, food, and family times. I’ll also spend some time in Omarama with my partner’s family until I head back to Dunedin and kick back into planning for the school year.
2. Many highlights, but the most exciting and promising that stands out to me is coaching the Queen’s High School First XI at the New Zealand secondary schools premier tournament. For the team’s first national tournament, they exceeded all expectations by placing 12th. It was such a great experience for the girls and my first proper coaching experience.
3. Continue playing and coaching football, especially finding ways I can develop the talented generation of female footballers in this region. As work and football get busier, I also want to make sure I put more time into myself and other hobbies such as skiing and staying more connected with family out of Dunedin.
Polly Inglis
Otago Sparks cricketer
1. Christmas is in Arrowtown with my parents. Unfortunately my brothers are all overseas for Christmas Day this year which is a bit of a shame. But there will be extended family there. I joke that my Christmas presents have got a lot better since my brothers have got partners.
2. Tough call between the White Ferns contract and the Sparks winning the HBJ. They’re first equal.
3. I’d love to win the double - the Super Smash and the HBJ - with the Sparks and to make my international debut.
Matthew Bardsley
Otago Nuggets basketballer
1. Christmas morning, I'll be driving to Arrowtown to meet my wife and her family. They've got a little crib up there, and we usually spend Christmas there. It'll just be the stock standard. They actually do a big turkey, and then a few drinks and presents, and then just hopefully some sunshine.
2. I got married on January 6, so that was definitely a highlight. In terms of basketball, it was a bit of a low season. But winning the Tupu [League] was a good consolation prize. To be able to get some of the local boys together and work hard to win nationals was a highlight.
3. I want to keep building the Nuggets culture, and, yeah, it's going to be a bit of a transition period for us. It's going to look quite different, but I think if we can continue to build on what we've built, I think a realistic goal for us is making the playoffs.
