King has been competing in rhythmic gymnastics for 13 years and reached the pinnacle of her career by winning a bronze medal for her ball routine at the Australian championships in Brisbane in July.
King was the only gymnast in the region to compete in level 10, the highest New Zealand level outside the high performance programme.
She also had her best performance at a national championships when she won bronze in the overall level 10 and also picked up bronze medals in the hoop, rhythm and the rope.
Like most competitive athletes, King has had to learn time management skills to juggle her school work, training commitments, coaching and judging.
Her coaching skills were evident at the weekend when several of the gymnasts she has been coaching received awards at their own levels.
"I find the variety of bodywork and apparatus skills physically and mentally challenging," she said.
"There is always something new to learn and goals to work towards."
King intends to retire from competition and put her time into coaching.
She starts a physical education course at the University of Otago next year and wants to put her energies into study and into her coaching.
King said the 13 years she has been involved in rhythmic gymnastics has been significant in her growth.
"I have learned that to succeed you have to work hard and persevere," she said.
"Like anyone else, I have had my ups and downs and have learnt to deal with disappointments.
"I have had to organise myself and learn better time management skills as I have grown up in the sport."
The coaches of the year are the Southern Rhythmic Gymnastics Club pair of Keita McGowan and Luciana Blaga.
McGowan is a Southern Gymnastics Academy board member and both coaches are volunteers for GymSports New Zealand.
"I have been involved in Rhythmic Gymnastics since I was 5 and have always loved the sport," McGowan said.
"I enjoy the challenge of coaching athletes to be the best they can and helping them learn more "about the sport."
Andrew Miller, who has been involved in gymnastics for 10 years, was named the volunteer of the year.
He is the assistant co-ordinator for the GymSports competition at the New Zealand Masters Games in Dunedin next year.
By ALISTAIR McMURRAN
