Culhane named University of Otago Sportsperson of the Year
"It was a bit unexpected; it was a bit of a surprise to get that one."
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Southland’s Benji Culhane has been named Sportsperson of the Year at the University of Otago’s annual Blues and Golds Awards on Wednesday night.
The awards, co-ordinated by the Otago University Students’ Association (OUSA) in collaboration with the University of Otago celebrate sporting, cultural, community and arts achievements among students.
Culhane has emerged as one of the country’s rising stars in New Zealand hockey with the 21-year-old playing 15 matches for the Black Sticks national men’s team since making his debut last year.
While missing out on Olympic Games selection this year he was named as a non-travelling reserve, and at 21 the former Southland Boys’ High School pupil has plenty of years ahead of him to have a crack at that Olympic dream again.
Culhane also captained the New Zealand under-21 Junior Black Sticks team last year.
He received an invite to attend the University of Otago awards evening and was left a bit shocked when on the night he was handed the Sportsperson of the Year honour.
“It was a bit unexpected; it was a bit of a surprise to get that one,” Culhane told The Tribune.
The end of 2024 is shaping as a busy one for Culhane given he will again head to Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia with the Junior Black Sticks in October.
“It’s my last crack at the Under-21s before I’m out of the age-group so it will be good.”
Culhane will then return to lineup in New Zealand’s new Premier Hockey League with four new franchises created for the competition.
It will be played across six weekends starting on November 2 with teams playing each other home and away.
Culhane will play for the South Island team called the Alpiners.
He recently represented Otago in the National Hockey Championships which in rugby terms is effectively NPC.
The new Premier Hockey League will be hockey’s equivalent to Super Rugby.
“We’re looking to have pretty much all of the Black Sticks involved for each of the teams so it’s going to be real cool,” Culhane said.
“It’s a pretty full-on back end of the year to be fair with two weeks in Malaysia with the Under-21s and then back for the [Premier Hockey League] in November and December.”
Culhane is in his final year studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Otago. He is still working through his plans for next year.