Golden Oldies axes sports after low entries
Poor numbers have forced organisers to axe four sports from the Golden Oldies line-up.
Soccer, basketball, squash and softball were pulled from the event, scheduled to kick off an Christchurch’s Hagley Park tomorrow, as would-be players criticised the competition’s hidden costs.
Event director Peter McDermott said the programme had been ‘‘realigned’’ to ‘‘reflect the interest of the teams’’.
Expected participant numbers have halved. Originally marketed as involving
10,000 players from 16 countries across 10 sports, the event would now have six sports – hockey, netball, rugby, cricket, lawn bowls and golf – and attract 5000 players and supporters.
Critics said although the price initially appeared reasonable, compulsory add-ons and packages pushed prices up making it unattainable for some social groups. A team entry soccer cost
$200, however out-of-town players also had to buy a Festival Package, making the seven-night event an ‘‘absolute joke’’.
Vintage Sport and Leisure (VSL) chief executive Simon Brady said packages started from about $400, which included the costs of ‘‘multiple catered functions, the goody bag and scheduled matches’’.
"A Golden Oldies festival is about much more than taking to the field, with a large emphasis placed on the social functions." Simon Brady, Vintage Sport and Leisure (VSL) chief executive
He said prices varied between different sports, but VSL was ‘‘extremely confident’’ the costs were value for money. ‘‘A Golden Oldies festival is about much more than taking to the field, with a large emphasis placed on the social functions.’’
Brady said the decision to pull the four sports was made in the last fortnight, after they did not meet minimum requirements.
‘‘We can assume that with the recently staged and highly successful World Masters event in 2017, some of those players who might have otherwise taken part in the Golden Oldies festival chose to join in the World Masters programme instead.’’
Graeme Smith said the issue was the same at the World Masters Games in Auckland last year. The opening and closing ceremonies and social functions were days away from the event he wanted to compete in and the cost of the compulsory all-inclusive ticket was ‘‘too expensive’’, he said.
ChristchurchNZ manager of attraction Linda Falwasser said the sports festival was a ‘‘great opportunity for Christchurch to share our new city with the world’’.
She said competitors were travelling from Russia, Japan, Argentina, England, the United States and Australia.
“For many of these players this will be the first time they’ve visited Christchurch so we’re looking forward to showing them a good time in our beautiful city,”
Formed in 1979, Golden Oldies sports tournaments are held biennially all over the world, but this is the first year multiple sports would be held in the same city. The tournaments are open to men and women aged 35 and above and could benefit the Canterbury economy up to $33 million.
Up to 70 per cent of visitors were expected to travel from overseas and 20 per cent from outside Canterbury, meaning up to 75,000 bed nights for the accommodation sector. Ten thousand bottles of wine, 2.5 tonnes of meat, 700 cucumbers and 100 litres of pesto would be used in a gourmet feast for competitors.