{"id":193787,"date":"2025-12-20T19:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T19:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/193787\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T19:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T19:00:10","slug":"tauranga-young-leaders-recognised-with-boys-brigade-kings-badge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/193787\/","title":{"rendered":"Tauranga young leaders recognised with Boys\u2019 Brigade King\u2019s Badge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat I learned was that you have to take things one step at a time. Don\u2019t be too focused on the outcome, be focused on what you do in the present,\u201d Joshua Brown said.<\/p>\n

Brown, 17, is a student at Tauranga Boys\u2019 College, and said he was \u201cquite proud\u201d of himself because he had been working towards the King\u2019s Badge for a long time. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty systematic process that starts when you\u2019re 13, so a large component of getting it is consistently showing up to the Boys\u2019 Brigade.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said there was a lot of character development along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the main components to get the King\u2019s Badge are what they call DIRT. It\u2019s discipline, integrity, respect and tenacity. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know for sure that that\u2019s been instilled within me and their value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown told NZME receiving the King\u2019s Badge was a testament to all the people who supported him. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very, very valuable in developing me as a young man and finding more within myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leader of the Boys\u2019 Brigade ICONZ group in Tauranga Central, Richard Harkness<\/a>, said the King\u2019s Badge was the \u201cultimate\u201d achievement for the young men. <\/p>\n

Harkness has known them for more than 10 years, leading them through the Boys\u2019 Brigade since they were 6 or 7 years old. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very proud moment, and I\u2019m very excited to see this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the climb to receiving the King\u2019s Badge was like running up a ladder. <\/p>\n

\"JoshuaJoshua Brown (left), Elijah Keam, Dominic Absalom and Matthew Kliskey were invited by Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale to an afternoon tea in the Mayoral Chambers. Photo \/ Clare Dowthwaite<\/p>\n

\u201cThey start at the bottom and work their way through as time goes on, but not all boys make it to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harkness said the badge represented those who were able to hang in there, showing commitment to stay the course. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that they will go and do great things with their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elijah Keam, 17, said he felt honoured and proud of his achievement. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing awarded the King\u2019s Badge gives me a great sense of accomplishment; it reminds me of how hard I have worked over the past nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keam said the expeditions he went on to gain the King\u2019s Badge taught him the importance of perseverance, \u201cand how you can achieve far more than your mind can limit you to\u201d.<\/p>\n

The recipients were also invited by Tauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale to an afternoon tea on December 12 in the mayoral chambers. <\/p>\n

Keam said this was a \u201creal surprise\u201d and a great experience. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt meant a lot to receive encouragement from someone who has achieved such great things in his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a post to social media, Drysdale said it was an honour to meet the four \u201cremarkable\u201d young men.<\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving the King\u2019s Badge is no small feat. It reflects character, tenacity and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

He congratulated the \u201cyoung leaders\u201d, their wh\u0101nau and others who supported them on their journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep aiming high \u2013 the future is bright.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Morrell<\/a> is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat I learned was that you have to take things one step at a time. Don\u2019t be too…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[50316,1848,50960,27981,26477,111,43,139,69,11547,1227,102,4741],"class_list":["post-193787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-badge","tag-boys","tag-brigade","tag-kings","tag-leaders","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-recognised","tag-tauranga","tag-with","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}