Selwyn_Times: October 25, 2023

Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Wednesday October 25 2023 Selwyn Times
NEWS 13
Board to be set up for major sports hub
• By Daniel Alvey
PLANNING FOR a major sports
hub in the district continues to
roll forward.
Lincoln rugby, cricket, netball,
tennis, bowls, and pickleball are
working together to set up the
hub at Lincoln Domain, with a
key goal being new facilities.
The next step will see a board
set up in the new year.
The hub will be made up of a
board of about seven members
which will help clubs get better
use of current facilities and potentially
help fund new ones.
The idea was initiated after the
netball and tennis clubs got together
as they were sharing court
space, and then they invited
other domain users to come
together as one collective.
Selwyn Netball Centre board
chair Andrea James said the
process started in July and has
been able to move quickly due to
a good understanding between
clubs.
“Facilities are tight in Selwyn,
and it’s not just for netball,” she
said.
James said they were unsure
yet what facilities they would
build.
Lincoln Cricket Club president
Tony McKenzie said junior
cricket is nearing team capacity
due to the number of fields
available.
“Basically what we want out
of them is better facilities and
that’s what we all need. Hopefully
down the track some more
playing space as well because as
a cricket club we have outgrown
the domain.
“Last year we talked about the
maximum number of junior
teams we could cope with
before we’d have the day that we
couldn’t take any more kids on,
and we were expecting that to
be a five-year thing, but it’s quite
possible by the end of the season
we are going to hit that number
(about 20 teams),” McKenzie
said.
Lincoln Rugby Club president
Corran Pyrell said the club will
run through the working group
process and weigh up their options.
“Our club rooms are coming
to their lives’ end basically so
we need to upgrade, and we’re
outgrowing the space.”
Pyrell said they may end up
with a combined facility between
other codes.
Lincoln Bowling Club spokesperson
Dave Kelly said he was
looking forward to seeing what
the hub could offer for the bowls
club, which is hoping to get more
young players on board.
Selwyn Times approached Lincoln
Tennis Club and Pickleball
Selwyn which did not respond.
Assisting in the hub’s setup is
UPGRADE: Lincoln rugby and cricket club rooms
(left) and the bowls club are looking to improve
their facilities.
PHOTOS: BARRY CLARKE
consultant Peter Burley, who has
been involved in setting up other
hubs across New Zealand.
Currently, the council and
Sport Canterbury are paying the
consultancy fees to avoid any
financial burden on the clubs.
Burley said about 100 hubs
are operating currently in New
Zealand.
“We have about 16,000 sports
clubs in New Zealand and hubs
are a way of having an entity
that’s set up to help groups of
clubs to do the more complex
jobs that sports clubs often
struggle with.
“They’re things like capital
projects, working with councils
to do feasibility work and strategies
about fields, courts, and
green placements.”
Burley said the combined
approach can make getting upgrades
more feasible for clubs.
“In New Zealand, because the
traditional approach is to have a
whole lot of sports club buildings
across a reserve, everybody has
a secretary and treasurer and a
changing room that is falling
apart and social space that is not
getting enough people in it.”
Council head of sport and
recreation James Richmond said
supporting the formation of the
hub in Lincoln directly aligns
with the council’s Play Active
Recreation and Sport (PARS)
Strategic Action Plan.
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