19 August 2025
Our Pirtek Volunteer of the Month award celebrates and recognises heroes from the grassroots rugby league community across Aotearoa, for their hard mahi dedicated to our game.
This award is given to volunteers who display the core values of NZRL’s Kiwi Way: being family first, innovative, inclusive, respectful, respectful, and humble.
We are proud to announce our third winner for 2025, the Pirtek Volunteer of the Month award for July goes to Nathan (Nate) Te Miha from the Te Atatu Roosters in Auckland.
Nate coaches the Te Atatu Roosters U16 boys team, but his role goes far beyond the field. You’ll find Nate driving boys to and from boarding school and training, making sure they’ve got kai, and checking in on their wellbeing. To his players, Nate isn’t just a coach, he is also a mentor, role model, and friend to all.
Alongside his coaching staff, Nate has built a strong team culture and kaupapa that players appreciate and are drawn to, growing the squad into its current large size. They’ve created a positive environment where boys are proud to support their teammates when not selected to play, knowing they’re still a valued part of the team.
Nate’s commitment extends beyond Te Atatū too. When he saw how many boys trialled for a chance to play for the Hokianga Storm Māori team, he stepped up to implement and coach a development team. Thanks to his vision and mahi, a whole group of boys who would have missed out were given the opportunity to play and grow. Today, Hokianga proudly fields three teams in the U17 boys grade.
He also went out of his way to support the Rugby League Northland 9s team, loading up his car with boys and driving them up to Whangārei every weekend for training, ensuring they had another pathway to play game, and on a representative stage.
What Nate does for his boys and so many other rangatahi, and the support his wife Kathleen gives alongside him, can never truly be measured. This award is just a small way of recognising the huge impact they both have on our game and their community, like so many of our other amazing volunteers around Aotearoa.
Pirtek CEO Chris Bourke shared, “Nate’s dedication as a coach and mentor is extraordinary. He goes above and beyond to provide opportunities, guidance, and care for all his players, helping to develop better humans on and off the field.
Nate is an exceptional role model and a truly deserving recipient of the Pirtek Volunteer of the Month for July!”
Know a volunteer who does exceptional mahi? Help us celebrate these grassroots heroes by nominating them for the next Pirtek Volunteer of the Month award.
Each monthly winner will receive $200 worth of vouchers and have their story shared across our channels.
Make a nomination here: https://share.hsforms.com/2Lq4cbueQRVCRwqK8vsfK_Qsy1ug
