John Kirkpatrick from Napier. John has won 149 open finals in New Zealand including Golden Shears (four times) and the New Zealand Champs (two times). He is the 2017 World Champion – Individual Shearing and the 2017 World Champion – Teams (two shearers). As well as running his own contracting business, Kirkpatrick, competes in more than 60 national competitions each year and world championships every 2-3 years. This is his 25th season of open class shearing.
Chrissy Spence of Morrinsville. Spence was the inaugural winner of this award in 2017. That same year, Spence lifted the bar taking out an unprecedented fifth world title at the 2017 International Tree Climbing Championship. Spence has five International Tree Climbing Championship titles (2005, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2017), six New Zealand National Women’s Championship titles (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010), and four Asia-Pacific titles (2008, 2009, 2010, 2015).
Jude McNabb of Owaka. McNabb is secretary of Shearing Sport’s New Zealand South Island committee and runs her own business. She was secretary for the New Zealand Shearing Foundation, which was established to run the 40th Anniversary World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships for which she was the event manager. More than 30 countries were represented, and 12,000 spectators attended. The championships were named New Zealand International Event of the Year at the NZ Events Association awards. In August, McNabb was appointed secretary of Shearing Sports New Zealand. By the end of the year she was also helping organise the Southern Shears and a Southern Field Days Speed Shear, both held in Gore in February 2018.
Paul van Beers from Porangahau. Van Beers retired from competing in 2016 after a fall from a horse. His competition career spanned the 1990s to 2016. No one else has ever – or is likely to ever again – repeat the staggering number of wins and podium finishes van Beers had through his 31-year competitive fencing career. He has under his belt 14 Wiremark Golden Pliers New Zealand National Singles Championship Titles, 12 Fieldays Silver Spades New Zealand National Doubles Championship Titles and two Patura World Power Fencing Champion Titles. In 2014 he was half of the first father and son (Jason) combination to win the Fieldays Silver Spades. Paul continues to help drive NZFC.
