Hawkes’ Bay club members the most satisfied in the country

Sport Hawke’s Bay has been given the thumbs up by local clubs, with a nationwide survey showing that local clubs are the most satisfied in New Zealand.

The Sport New Zealand Voice of the Participant Programme asks club members of sports throughout the country a range of questions from satisfaction levels to the joining process through to reasons belonging to a club and length as a club member.

The results from 15 national sporting organisations from throughout the country show Hawke’s Bay is one of the highest performing regions. Over 25,000 people were surveyed nationally with 72 percent of Hawke’s Bay respondents saying they were satisfied with their club with the national average being 61 percent.

Sport Hawke’s Bay Community Sport Manager, Junior Armstrong says, “these results back up what a lot of people in our community already know, grassroot sport is strong in provincial New Zealand”

“The way people participate is changing but for those involved in sport through a club it is pleasing to know that satisfaction levels are the highest across the country.”

Sport Hawke’s Bay has worked closely with Squash Eastern, Croquet Hawke’s Bay, Volleyball Hawke’s Bay, Omni Gymnastics, Napier Golf Club and Badminton Hawke’s Bay over the past 12 months to help grow capability and capacity at each sports organisations. The results have been positive with Badminton Hawke’s Bay employing a Development Officer to replace what was a volunteer role.

Interestingly, people primarily belong to a club to play competitively followed by having fun.

Napier Golf Club Golf Coordinator Peter Wallace said Sport Hawke’s Bay provided invaluable support as the club looked to promote golf to youngsters.

“With the support from Sport Hawke’s Bay staff we’ve designed a new club initiative aimed at introducing children to golf and helping us to grow our relationships with schools in our immediate area. We knew we wanted to grow our junior development program and working with Sport Hawke’s Bay has allowed us to get approach underway to achieve this,” he said.

Kia Toa Bowling Club Committee Member Heather Morrish said Sport Hawke’s Bay provided much needed prior to that start of the season.

“From feeling overwhelmed about where to start, thanks to Sport Hawke's Bay the club members now have a combined approach to our coming season”.

The report highlighted the risk of an ageing club membership base with 49 percent of respondents were 50 years of age or older, compared to only 8 percent between the ages of 20 – 39 years of age.

“Sport across the country needs to adapt to the changing face of sport,” Armstrong adds.

“Sport Hawke’s Bay launched a new Strategic Plan in January 2017 that has allowed us to rethink our priorities. From this we have developed a Sport Capability Manager role, a dedicated person to help grow sport within the region, weather that be at club level or informally”

Hawke’s Bay has over 350 sports clubs and organisations spread throughout the region. Although the region is amongst the highest secondary school participation across the country, only the 2012 Ministry of Health National Health survey shows only 42.9 percent of adults meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity, a decline of 12 percent since 2006.

Over the past five years, Sport Hawke’s Bay has granted over $150,000 to sports clubs throughout the region through the Sport New Zealand KiwiSport fund. The fund is a government funding initiative to promote sport for school-aged children.

Sport Hawke’s Bay also invests into supporting young people through sport and physical activity. Programmes such as the Growing Leaders, Growing Coaches, Physical Activity Leaders and Teacher Support programmes are all aimed at helping ensure kids have a positive and meaningful experience in sport.

For more information or for the full Voice of the Participant Regional Results report please visit the Sport Hawke’s Bay website.

ENDS

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