Sportsville officially launched

Thank you all for being here today to celebrate the launch of Sportsville Hutt City.  It’s good to see representatives from our key Sportsville partners and so many of our local sports clubs.

We have a proud history of excellence in sport in the Hutt, including on the world stage.  We’re all familiar with the wonderful achievements of sportspeople such as medal winning athlete Nick Willis and All Black Tana Umaga.  It’s a pleasure to have one of our rugby legends here – former All Black captain Andy Leslie.

Behind the success of every sportsperson lies years of commitment by grassroots sports clubs and the individuals who give their time and skill to run them. By introducing people to sport and providing opportunities and encouragement, clubs help individuals and teams to achieve their potential.

Clubs also play an important role in our community, from supporting healthy lifestyles, to providing venues for social interaction and opportunities for young people to develop self esteem.

We know that our clubs are facing some challenges.  Volunteers have less and less time to put into administration and coaching, and funding to maintain or develop facilities is harder to come by.  Administration demands are growing, and clubs are having to meet the needs of social participants while retaining the more serious and competitive participants.

Many of the solutions to these challenges lie in working together to share ideas and resources.  This is exactly what Sportsville is all about, promoting partnerships that create real benefits for everyone involved.

Through Sportsville, we hope that clubs will enjoy the benefits of streamlined administration, improved financial sustainability and more joint facilities.  The building we are in today is an example of how sporting groups, funders and government can work together to achieve wonderful things.

As a council, we’re very pleased to be supporting this exciting initiative, and to be working with such committed partners.  In particular, I’d like to acknowledge SPARC who are providing both funding and expertise.  Thanks also to Sport Wellington, the Pelorus Trust and the New Zealand Community Trust. Your involvement and your continued support for sport within our community is greatly appreciated.

Lastly the most important participants in this project are our local sports clubs.  I hope that all of you will take the opportunity to be part of Sportsville, and I’m confident that by working together we can do something wonderful for sport and our city.