Hockey back on a level playing field

Hockey Manawatu is getting back on an even keel financially after coming out on the other side of a lengthy legal battle.

The association announced a decreasing deficit at an uneventful annual meeting at the twin turfs on Monday night, which was a good result considering the cost of the legal battle with former operations manager, Warren Banks, which was resolved last year.

Chairman Andrew Bethwaite said unfortunately they were not able to present a finalised financial report because the audit hasn’t been completed.

Still a draft financial statement was presented and they had a net deficit of $19,522 after depreciation, down from last year’s $163,150 deficit.

‘‘The major challenge for not just 2016, but over the past few years, has been the on-going employment dispute, which finally reached resolution in 2016,’’ Bethwaite said.

‘‘That has now meant we as a board can put our focus on our future governance role and focus on supporting [general manager] Kevin [Nicholson] and the team to implement key initiatives to continue to grow and strengthen strategically.’’

Bethwaite said the main component was the legal fees Hockey Manawatu incurred as a result of the dispute.

‘‘That total of [last] year was $125,000 [expenses] plus $75,000 of administration costs.’’

They still have healthy cash levels, Bethwaite said.

He said their goal is not to make money but to cover costs and put resources to put back into hockey.

The 2015 year was also skewed because some of the grant income changed to 2016.

They will have a special general meeting to adopt the report.

Nicholson said they had a lot of success that Hockey Manawatu can be proud of, particularly the award they received from Hockey New Zealand for their 28 per cent growth rate last year, the biggest participation growth in the country.

‘‘In today’s sporting environment, to see an increase in secondary schools is a huge success.’’

Nicholson said they made an operational surplus of $76,733, which was generated from an increase in grant funding, $134,000 in the past year, which was up by 9 per cent.

‘‘The focus still remains to build a strong financial and sustainable organisation.’’

There has been a couple of changes to the board.

Angela Rainham stood down at the end of last year and Deanne Austin stood down at the meeting, while Beth Tootell has come on.

The rest of the board is Bethwaite, Simon Fowler, Kiran Parbhu and Hillary Mckenna.

The third turf for the city was announced last year to be built at Massey University, with Palmerston North City Council paying $500,000.

Nicholson said they have completed a memorandum of understanding, which they still need to go through before going any further.