Mud, sweat and cheers
‘‘It’s not paying players, not paying support staff around teams, and trips.’’
Steve Lancaster
NZ Rugby general manager community rugby
‘‘For some of our smaller clubs it’ll have a huge impact.’’
Tanya Dearns chief executive of the Mid Canterbury union
New Zealand Rugby and the provincial unions’ crucial bid to sustain and revitalise the national sport game has started, with Waikato chief executive Carl Moon declaring: ‘‘We’re going to give it a damn good shot.’’
NZ Rugby, along with the 26 provincial unions, said yesterday they have opened applications for $7.5 million of funding as part of the Silver Lake deal.
More than 450 clubs throughout the country are in line for cash injections ranging from $10,000 and $40,000, depending on their player numbers, with the first payments to be made by the end of next month.
It’s part of a multilayered approach to make rugby clubs the centre of New Zealand communities once again, and came with a firm message from NZ Rugby on what the money is for.
‘‘We are very focused on these funds being applied to growing the role of rugby and the place of rugby in its local communities,’’ NZ Rugby general manager community rugby Steve Lancaster said. ‘‘That’s very much about grassroots participation.
‘‘We don’t want to be prescriptive around what it must be spent on, but we are not shying away from being prescriptive about what it may not be spent on.
‘‘It’s not paying players, not paying support staff around teams, and trips as well because it’s just a risk with trips that the money gets spent and no one ever benefits beyond that.’’
Challenges facing the community game have been well documented, with societal shifts beyond rugby’s control putting pressure on participation and club numbers.
However, Moon said plenty of thought had already gone into changing the game to make it work for the communities it serves. Funding would be targeted at areas such as artificial pitches and better lighting, so participation would not be something that could only occur on a Saturday morning or afternoon.
‘‘We need good quality facilities that enable us to play different grades, different age groups at different times of the week, which also effectively opens up the game right through the week, and it also delivers what our participants are telling us – they want more flexibility and less reliance on a Saturday and commitment on the weekend,’’ he said.
Moon also said there was a focus on opening rugby clubs up to other sports.
‘‘Many of our clubs are already going down that line with multiuse [facilities] so football, Gaelic football, lacrosse, American football, rugby league, touch.’’
The size of the payments will be based on a sliding scale. Clubs with more than 600 registered players will be eligible for $40,000, while smaller clubs with between 15-199 players will get their hands on $10,000.
For Tanya Dearns, chief executive of the Mid Canterbury union, the benefits of the cash injection were potentially enormous.
‘‘For some of our smaller clubs it’ll have a huge impact. If I take my smallest club – average membership over the past five years is about 65 members — it’s about $156 per person they’re going to get to invest back into their clubs.’’
Lancaster also ‘‘encouraged’’ clubs to think about upgrading their facilities for women and girls, in anticipation of a spike in interest following this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The Bunnings Assist programme had already awarded $30,000 grants for 10 clubs this to invest in better facilities for women, but Lancaster said that wouldn’t be the end of the investment in the fast-growing women’s game.
‘‘Those 10 clubs that were recipients of the Bunnings grant will also receive this grant, so you’re starting to see that layered investment that actually will enable them to do something quite significant with enhancing their facilities.’’