Sports centre collaboration
A new Auckland facility is set to be ‘‘the Silicon Valley of sport’’.
Sport Central officially opened its doors on June 9, bringing Sport New Zealand, Triathlon New Zealand, Hockey New Zealand, Aktive and College Sport Auckland all under the same roof.
Aktive chief executive Sarah Sandley likens the Mt Eden complex to Silicon Valley, home of the world’s largest high-tech corporations.
‘‘We are very confident, even at this early stage, that we are actually helping each other to be more effective, more efficient,’’ she says.
The opening of the centre has come after 18 months of planning and negotiations led by Sport New Zealand.
The collaboration will allow knowledge in the high performance sport sector to filter down to the the grassroots level.
Sport and Recreation minister Jonathan Coleman says the centre is going to be a significant development.
‘‘There’s real potential there to use some of that role modelling from some of our finest athletes, not only to inspire the next generation of athletes but also to inspire young people to get more active,’’ he says
‘‘This partnership here ... is going to be really important as we look for Sport New Zealand to roll out their community strategy and to really continue to drive those levels of participation.’’
About $25 million has been spent developing Auckland’s sporting infrastructure over the past three years.
The $200,000 Sport Central development was established to allow major sporting bodies to share information and also save on unnecessary costs in the future.
Sandley says the organisations have already saved $150,000 a year in costs by sharing services.
‘‘In an industry which from the outside is defined by competition, we know the value of collaboration,’’ she says.
Sport New Zealand chief executive Peter Miskimmin says the centre is a step toward making New Zealand the most successful sporting nation in the world.
‘‘To do that we have to build a world-beating sports system,’’ he says.
‘‘If we’re going to do that we have to start here.’’