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<strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>March</strong> 6 <strong>2024</strong><br />
6<br />
NEWS<br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Celebrating the dedicated women who<br />
Right across the district,<br />
some amazing women<br />
help their community<br />
every day. To mark<br />
International Women’s<br />
Day on Friday, reporter<br />
Daniel Alvey spoke to<br />
community stalwart<br />
Fiona Sloan and<br />
Darfield volunteer Rose<br />
Craven<br />
FIONA SLOAN is a great grandmother,<br />
former rugby coach and<br />
player, and also helps run Ngāti<br />
Moki Marae at Taumutu.<br />
Sloan, 55, has worked at the<br />
marae for the past 23 years and<br />
has lived in the community for<br />
30 years. Her family has lived in<br />
the area for hundreds of years,<br />
and now Sloan lives in her grandmother’s<br />
house.<br />
“It’s an awesome wee community.<br />
Everyone knows everyone,<br />
and a lot of the families have been<br />
here second third, fourth generations<br />
out here in our community,”<br />
Sloan said.<br />
“My mum grew up out here<br />
with her brother and sister, myself,<br />
my sisters and my cousins were<br />
out here every school holiday.”<br />
When she started at the marae<br />
her role was to provide council<br />
and Environment Canterbury<br />
with opinions on behalf of the<br />
marae for resource consents that<br />
affected it. Sloan then moved into<br />
looking after visiting groups including<br />
catering and maintenance<br />
at the marae, taking over a role<br />
once held by her grandmother.<br />
“You get to meet all sorts<br />
of people, make all sorts of<br />
connections.”<br />
Sloan said her favourite part of<br />
the role was teaching the youth.<br />
“I love interacting with the kids<br />
and giving them some memories.”<br />
Sloan is also the Ngāi Tahu<br />
representative on the Department<br />
of Conservation’s kea recovery<br />
programme.<br />
She has had plenty of experience<br />
with kids, spending 11 years, up to<br />
about 2018, coaching under 8s at<br />
the Southbridge club.<br />
“When I started (coaching) I<br />
was one of six per cent of women<br />
coaches in New Zealand. By the<br />
time I’d finished, it had grown to<br />
about 20 per cent,” Sloan said.<br />
Her coaching role came after<br />
playing for about 12 years and described<br />
herself as a ‘Jonah Lomu’.<br />
“I could run fast and played on<br />
the wing. I was playing centre but<br />
tore my cartilage in my knee, so<br />
they chucked me out on the wing,<br />
and someone passed me the ball<br />
and I took off like lightning and<br />
got the nickname ‘Wheels’.”<br />
She now spends her time<br />
travelling to markets with her arts<br />
and crafts which include display<br />
korowai (cloaks).<br />
COMMUNITY: Fiona Sloan helps run Ngāti Moki Marae, inset, and uses her spare to time<br />
to make arts and crafts.<br />
Looking for Volunteer Board<br />
Members (Classified)<br />
Location: Lincoln Township<br />
Duration: 3-5 year minimum<br />
“The Lincoln Sport<br />
and Recreation Hub a<br />
vibrant, connected, and<br />
accessible central hub<br />
of sport and activity for<br />
all Lincoln residents”.<br />
Skills: Sport and recreation management, club administration,<br />
events, programmes, activities, community involvement,<br />
facilities management/development, leadership, promotion,<br />
financial and business.<br />
Email peterb@glg.nz for an Application Pack<br />
Applications Close: Friday 22nd <strong>March</strong>, 5 pm <strong>2024</strong><br />
Lincoln sport and recreation hub<br />
Our organisation will be focused on supporting opportunities<br />
for enjoyable sport and activities and creating spaces and<br />
places throughout Lincoln Domain (and beyond) for residents<br />
and visitors in the simplest and most easily accessible way. We<br />
will do this by working with our member recreation organisations<br />
including schools and sports clubs, our partners including <strong>Selwyn</strong><br />
District Council and Sport Canterbury and, through a collective<br />
voice on issues and opportunities of relevance.<br />
Tony McKenzie a member of the Hub Establishment Working<br />
Party says: We therefore are looking for sport and recreation<br />
minded people to serve in various roles on the board. We want<br />
people who have skills and knowledge especially related to<br />
all forms of community based sport and recreation; people<br />
who can think strategically; whom enjoy working with others who<br />
have complementary skills; people with time and knowledge to<br />
contribute to a worthwhile community endeavour; who can stay<br />
involved for a reasonable period of time (at least one term of office);<br />
and above all are up for a bit of collegial fun and enjoyment as we<br />
build an inclusive culture around increasing peoples access to sport<br />
and recreation in all forms.<br />
Tony indicates we are serious about getting the right people on<br />
board…Applications will be assessed via a selection committee<br />
which may undertake enquiries and hold interviews with applicants.<br />
These positions are unpaid.<br />
All applications, including a cover letter (or email) with a<br />
relevant CV, should be forwarded to:<br />
Convenor: Lincoln Sport and Recreation Hub Incorporated -<br />
Appointments Sub-committee<br />
Peter Burley Email: peterb@glg.nz<br />
Phone: 0211940104<br />
Applications Close: Friday 22nd <strong>March</strong>, 5 pm <strong>2024</strong>
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