Now in its sixth year, the 2025 Big Little Sponsorship saw an incredible response from communities across the country. With the generous support of our partners at Eden Park, we're thrilled to announce this year’s deserving winners.
Nominations from across the country
Since 2018, the Big Little Sponsorship has helped our youngest athletes take their first steps toward achieving their sporting dreams. Communities from across the nation are encouraged to nominate primary schools who could do with a helping hand. This year, we received over 4,000 nominations for 1,075 schools. Each nomination gave schools a chance to win one of four $10,000 sports grants.
The judging panel
Our panel of judges was made up of representatives from Eden Park and AA Insurance. The judges had the challenge of picking our 2025 winning schools using our competition criteria: eligibility, strength of nomination, value of winning and the importance of sport to the school.
Our Big Little Sponsorship 2025 winners
We’re thrilled to share that Mahana School near Nelson, Matipo School in Auckland, Our Lady of Kapiti School in Wellington and Ohaupo School in Waikato each won a $10,000 sports grant!
Mahana School hopes to use the sports grant to buy sports equipment and update their netball hoops. Tumuaki (Principal) Clay Boyd was delighted to accept the sports grant: “We're absolutely thrilled to receive the $10,000 award from AA Insurance! As a smaller school, we often miss out on opportunities like this, so it was a wonderful surprise. This generous boost of hope will allow us to revitalise our deteriorating sports shed and equipment. We're looking forward to investing in general sports gear and exploring sustainable outdoor fun, like outdoor table tennis or boxing, for all our students to enjoy. Thank you, AA Insurance, for this incredible opportunity!” Matipo School in Auckland intend to use the sports grant to provide students with new sports uniforms, giving every student the opportunity to participate in sport at school. they are working on the designs of these uniforms as we speak. Tumuaki (Principal) Jonnie Black was delighted to accept the sports grant: “This is a game changer for us. It’s not just about new gear—it’s about confidence, inclusion, and giving our kids the chance to shine”.
Our Lady of Kapiti School have plans to use the sports grant to repair their school field. Tumuaki (Principal) Viv was delighted to accept the sports grant: “Our Lady of Kapiti is so grateful to have received the Big Little Scholarship Sports Grant as it means we can finally start growing the perfect sports field for our children to use! We are especially excited that one of our students, Juka, took it upon himself to apply for this grant and made it all possible. From all of us here at OLOK, Thank you so much AAI!”. Ohaupo School showed an incredible amount of dedication to their students. Parents teamed up to mend netball uniforms to ensure there were enough for every student to wear on game day. They’ll be using the sports grant to buy new, high-quality uniforms for their sports teams. Tumuaki (Principal) Chris Rennie was delighted to accept the sports grant: “Sport plays a huge role in building resilience, teamwork, and mental wellbeing. Every student deserves to feel like they belong — and this support helps make that possible. It enables our students to step onto the field with confidence, knowing they are part of something special. It’s like Christmas has come early — a real gift for our students and community”.
A heartfelt congratulations to our 2025 winning schools and to the communities who got behind them! Here’s a sneak peek into the celebrations: