Latest news with #SportNorthland
Scoop
15-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
$3.8M Of Regional Sporting Facilities Rate Funding Allocated
Ruakākā Wahitakaro and Northland Regional Volleyball Arena will receive up to $2.6 million and Sportsville Dargaville Stage Two up to $1.2M in the latest allocations from the Northland Regional Council's Regional Sporting Facilities Rate. The council's Strategic & Commercial Projects Manager Phil Heatley says the GST exclusive sums will go to Ruakākā Wahitakaro and Northland Regional Volleyball Arena in the current financial year and to Sportsville Dargaville Stage Two in 2026-2027. Stage One of Ruakākā Wahitakaro was a community centre completed in 2024. The estimated total project cost for Stage Two is $8.5M and will include a multi-sport indoor facility featuring two indoor courts and supporting meeting spaces. It will also include 'Northland's Home of Volleyball', a regional facility for volleyball providing training and competition opportunities and the ability to host regional, district and community events. Mr Heatley says Sportsville Dargaville Stage One was completed in December 2018 and involved six multi-purpose outdoor courts with a supporting multi-sport facility. "The estimated project cost of Stage Two is $9M and will include a multi-sport indoor facility featuring two indoor courts and supporting meeting spaces." "It is designed to provide opportunities for training and district competitions and the ability to host regional, district and community level events." Mr Heatley says the NRC struck the targeted $14.07 plus GST Regional Sporting Facilities Rate (per SUIP/Rating Unit) in its 2024-2034 Long Term Plan to provide funding support to assist in the development of Northland sporting facilities that are of regional or district-wide benefit. A working group made up of representatives from the NRC, Northland's three district council's and Sport Northland had recommended the funding for the 2024-2027 financial years. Regional councillors had confirmed the group's recommendation at a council meeting late last month. "This will give those overseeing the projects a degree of certainty to plan and a platform to apply for third party funding." Mr Heatley says potential recipient projects are identified through a regionwide consultation process, initially to inform 'Kokiri ai Te Waka Hourua', a strategy for play, active recreation and sport. The strategy was produced in partnership by the NRC, Sport Northland, Northland's three district councils and Sport New Zealand. "A proposed project is presented to Sport Northland in the first instance, by a regional or district not-for-profit sporting focussed group, for consideration and prioritisation." "Substantial work by the working group sees the prioritisation of regional sporting facility projects. Mr Heatley says for this allocation, 16 projects had been in varying states of readiness with six being advanced enough to be able to be scored and benchmarked against council-approved criteria.
NZ Herald
02-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Balance is better: Why we should let our kids have fun playing sport
The 'Balance is Better' philosophy developed by Sport NZ focuses on putting the interests of our young people first. It is about balancing the aspiration to win and perform with making participation in sport enjoyable. This requires a balanced focus rather than simply a win-at-all-costs approach. As adults, we need to align our expectations and behaviour with what is motivating our tamariki to participate. If we expect children to train and play like they are All Blacks at the expense of having fun, we will inevitably see participation drop off. This will be to the detriment of those missing out as well as the sustainability of the sport. Many sporting codes realise the importance of this and are changing the way they coach and play. The Balance is Better approach also extends to encouraging our tamariki to participate in a wide range of physical activity and sporting opportunities. Specialisation may be appropriate later in high school, but studies show participation in different sports will support greater skill development and co-ordination. There are many good resources for parents, coaches and administrators on the Balance is Better website that can help those involved with youth sport to build their knowledge and understanding around these topics. The other elephant in the room is sideline behaviour. At Sport Northland, we are working with sporting codes to help improve this. Participation data shows that 50% of children who play sport stop participating at age 11. Poor sideline behaviour is a key contributor, with 61% of surveyed parents, carers and supporters having witnessed bad behaviour. We all get passionate about sport. It brings up strong feelings for many people and sometimes those strong feelings can have unintended consequences. So next time you're on the sidelines, try to remember to use actions and language that celebrates effort and improvement, focusing the kids' growth, and remembering their why, rather than just focusing on winning – 'That was a great game, it looked like you were having heaps of fun out there' or 'The opposition was pretty tough today, but I saw how you enjoyed it, went for every ball and didn't give up.' And always be respectful to the refs/officials and coaches. Without our community volunteers who tirelessly give up their time to coach, umpire or referee, we wouldn't have sport in Northland. If you would like to read more about some of our outstanding volunteers or would like to find out how you can contribute as well, check out Good Sports on the Sport Northland website.
