Titahi Bay Raptors score award
‘‘Our motto is 4TK - for the kids, that's why everyone is doing it’’
A year ago the Raptors sports club didn’t have a ball, cones, or a whistle now they have 152 players and an award.
On Wednesday night the Titahi Bay based Raptors Tag Club scored the top prize in the Porirua section of the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards.
Club secretary Barbara Edmonds said the club was a perfect example of a grass roots organisation backed by local businesses.
‘‘It’s only happened because of the parents and businesses that have put their hands up...we had one thing in common which was our kids.’’
At the wind-up of the 2014 winter rugby union season, a group of rugby parents decided to register their kid’s team into the Porirua City Tag summer module, to help keep their kid’s rugby skills up over the summer.
Edmonds said after the first season parents formed a small committee and opened up registrations to any other families who were keen to play.
‘‘The response was overwhelming, over three registration nights we had 152 kids and 22 adults register to play. We had to turn 30 kids away which was so hard.’’
She said the majority of players had never played the sport before and the small committee began scrambling for the coming competition.
‘‘We had a month to prepare and had no gear, no balls, no cones, whistles or flags. We had uniforms from the last year and no coaches or managers.’’
‘‘Local businesses really got behind us, Bunnings, C Gas Plumbing, uniform provider CUS and Delmira Homes have been great.
‘‘Our motto is 4TK - for the kids, that’s why everyone is doing it.’’
Edmonds, a lawyer and mother of 8, said the award was a surprise and recognition for the hours of voluntary work put in by the committee.
‘‘The majority of our families are from Porirua, but families are travelling from around Wellington which shows it’s fulfilling a need.’’
Mayor Nick Leggett said the Raptors were worthy Supreme Award winners, having made a huge impact on the non-contact sport in Porirua.
‘‘The club’s volunteers work incredibly hard to make the Raptors child-centred, they promote health messages to whanau, and through fundraising have provided players with sports gear and made participation possible for all.
‘‘With a cultural mix of Ma¯ori, Pacific Islands and Pa¯keha whanau, the Raptors are a wonderful example of how our diverse community can build strong connections, and celebrate health and wellbeing, all for the benefit of our kids.’’