Hadleigh Pierson, of Christchurch, MNZM, for services to paralympic sport
Hadleigh Pierson is Sports Manager at ParaFed Canterbury, and the number of athletes in the Canterbury region has steadily grown under his management. In his previous role as Sports Coordinator, he guided athletes through the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games. Despite being born with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bones), he has had an active sports career and was selected for two New Zealand Paralympic teams. He has worked as a Talent Identification Manager at Paralympics New Zealand and developed policies and procedures to support disabled athletes. Mr Pierson established and maintained athlete development squads in the lead-up to the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.