Fund Helps Young Sportspeople get to Their Games

$10,000 of SPARC Rural Travel Fund Grants have opened the door to better sporting opportunities for a large number of young Kaipara sportspeople.

Kaipara District Council is one of three councils in New Zealand funded by the Central Government Scheme which provides money to assist children, aged between five and 19 years, from outlying areas to travel to sports and for teams to attend local competitions.

After assessment by a local committee, this year seven organisations received grants ranging from $500 to $2,125.

They include Pouto School which has received funding to encourage its children to become involved in sport by helping transport them to competitions in Dargaville. Previous grants have been credited with increasing the number of Pouto children playing weekend sports from three to 14, out of a school roll of only 24.

Others assisted are:

Dargaville High School girls and boys soccer and rugby teams to play in seven away games.
Dargaville Under 16 rugby team to compete in the Northland competition, which is the nearest available competition.
Northern Wairoa Soccer Club’s Under 14 team to take part in the Northland-wide competition.
Otamatea Hawks Under 15 Rugby team getting to local competition games.
Otamatea High School Boys First Xl hockey team to take part in 19 local competition games.
Otamatea High School other school teams to travel to their local competitions.
In Kaipara the fund is allocated by a committee comprising John Edwards and Rangiora Timutimu (Iwi Representatives), Chris Biddles, Vern Stevens and Karen Smales (Community Representatives), Roxanne Kelly (Sport Northland), Julie Geange (Kaipara District Council) and Charlane White (Committee Administrator).