At Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls, Sarah shone at a range of sports, but cycling drew her. Sarah Ulmer became New Zealand's first Olympic cycling gold medalist when she won the 3000m individual pursuit at Athens in 2004. She was Sportswoman of the Year in 1994 and won the Halberg Award after her 2004 heroics. She was twice awarded the Lonsdale Cup, in 2002 and 2004. Her games team-mates tended to seek her out before their events, valuing her positive attitude, experience and encouraging manner. She was captain of the 2002 Commonwealth Games team and given the honour of carrying the flag at the Athens Olympics closing ceremony. Join us at the Coaches /Managers /Supporters Gathering to mix and mingle and meet Sarah.

John Reid (General Manager Community Sport and Recreation team) leads the team tasked with delivering on SPARC's strategies relating to community sport, young people and recreation. Working at SPARC since 2006, John has had a significant impact the organisation's approach to community sport and recreation. John has a background of 20 years experience in sports management and development at national and regional levels. This included ten years as operations manager and then high performance manager for New Zealand Cricket. He also has an extensive cricket coaching and playing record. John represented New Zealand between 1979 and 1986, posting six centuries in his 19 tests. His average of 46.28 remains one of the highest by a Black Cap. Following his career John had coaching stints with both the New Zealand men's and women's teams.