With delivery of sport to Kiwis in the hands of volunteer-led incorporated community clubs, the cost-of-living crisis and overbearing regulatory change is placing increased pressure on those who coach, administer and govern local clubs, “for the love of the game”.

Grassroots feedback suggests that some community clubs may struggle to remain viable, with the combined impact of the cost of using local authority resources, falling volunteer numbers and increased compliance obligations together creating a potential “extinction event” for community sport.

The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc. is pleased to announce that the inaugural Te Tohu Tiketike o Matariki award has been won by Ōtaki Surf Life-Saving Club Inc. (OSLSC). The winner of the inaugural award was announced last week by Association Patron, Andy Leslie, MNZM who convened the judging panel.

For the first time in New Zealand’s long and celebrated sporting history, nearly two hundred community sport entities were gazetted by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies on 19 August 2021 as no longer having incorporated (legal) status.

In total, 192 formerly incorporated bodies were dissolved by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies, either voluntarily, or for non-compliance with the requirements of the 1908 Act.

The passage of the Incorporated Societies Bill into law is likely to result in unintended consequences for community sport organisations (CSOs) in New Zealand, which have not been fully considered in the drafting of the legislation.

The Association believes that the Bill (as currently drafted) is likely to: accelerate the voluntary and involuntary dissolution of CSOs; impair the recruitment of volunteers to govern and administer CSOs; reduce the ability of CSOs to deliver the physical and social benefits of organised amateur sport to local communities; and as a result decrease the overall level of participation in CSOs nationally.

Insights from the 2020 National Sport Club Survey (NSCS) are now available. Over 1,100 sport clubs responded across 80 sports and all 17 regions of New Zealand responded to the survey invitation. Among key survey findings, a higher proportion of clubs connected to New Zealand’s most traditional sports like rugby, cricket and netball report being “hit hard” by the impact of COVID-19 compared to other team sports.

While sportspeople and sporting communities across the country eagerly await the lifting of restrictions on community sporting activities, both on-field and off-field, there is a challenge for all sporting codes to describe what will constitute a “safe” environment for playing sport and socialising around sport in the future.

To move community sport “from crisis to confidence”, an open and honest discussion by all stakeholders will be required, with the Association willing to support this process through its comprehensive network and database of New Zealand community sport clubs.

Results of the 2019 National Sport Club Survey (NSCS), recently undertaken by the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association (NZASA) and Auckland University of Technology’s Sport Performance Research Institute of New Zealand (SPRINZ), reveal that many people deeply involved in amateur sport are not assured of a positive future. A lack of support and resources were identified as pressing issues.

Over three-quarters of Clubs (77%) report receiving no direct funding from any governing body, despite most (90%) having to pay affiliation fees or levies, according to the results of a recent survey of Sports Clubs undertaken by the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc., in partnership with the Auckland University of Technology.

The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc. recommends that all sporting clubs and codes in New Zealand adopt a framework which is similar in effect and reach to "Rowan’s Law", given the concussion risks borne by all sportspeople when competing as amateurs.

The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc. encourages all local communities to support their local Harriers Clubs. An article in the press this weekend suggested that some Clubs “… are running towards oblivion as they fail to attract new members and suffer from the growing commercialisation of large-scale social running events”.

The newly formed New Zealand Amateur Sport Association acknowledges the concerns of school principals with the professionalisation of sports in the education system and recommends steps are taken to preserve and promote amateur values.