Keeping our sport champions local

Relationships are important to Heidi Lichtwark, Chief Executive of Sport BOP, who heads a multi - team operation within and across our local community – including schools, clubs, agencies and organisations.

Sport BOP has touch points everywhere – from supporting the inactive and unwell to improve their quality of life, to developing promising young sport stars to ensuring the school environment provides positive and meaningful experiences to build a lifelong love of sport.

As so much of her organisation’s work is educational, it’s no surprise that Heidi takes a keen interest in the tertiary education qualifications available in the Bay. Heidi is a strong advocate of Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology’s Bachelor of Sport and Recreation (awarded jointly by Auckland University of Technology and Toi Ohomai), taught at Toi Ohomai’s Windermere campus. 

“We have longstanding interactions dating back many years. I have been part of the institute’s consultation panel, we share trade information and new research findings, Pete Sommers [Group Leader and Senior Academic Staff Member at Toi Ohomai] is on our judging panel for the annual sports awards… we’re fairly well synergised!”

Another cross-over is the work placements Sport BOP offer for third year students as part of their study.

“The students understand the sector, they have a good knowledge of the workplace and fit into our existing teams really easily.” 

In fact, Heidi has been so impressed with the calibre of students, she has employed seven of them, and, “they’re all working out really well.”

Perhaps the most significant reason for this success is the pool of local talent to select from, and the decision they and their classmates have made to complete their university qualifications locally. 

“We call our tutors by their first names here – they’re Pete, Laz, KP, Duddy…it never felt like ‘us and them’…and we were never lost in a sea of faces, the way we might have been on a huge campus.”

“There was no hierarchy, the teachers built strong relationships with us, and between us – we’re still good friends. From the beginning, we were part of the team. Now, they call in, invite us back to talk to classes, present final awards…”

Cameron Andrews, Danelle Stevens, Michelle Barns and Zane Jensen, are four of the Bachelor of Sport and Recreation graduates who have joined the staff at Sport BOP. With roles from youth engagement, sporting and side-line culture, to event coordination and community health, they are a great illustration of the many and varied career options available for sport studies graduates, even though they had originally, mostly expected to be working as gym staff or team coaches. 

As Michelle says: “The programme shows you your strengths, and I also learnt what I didn’t want to be!” 

One thing they all agree on, their three-year programme opened their eyes to options and opportunities they hadn’t ever expected to come across, or be so successful at. 

All four have either completed additional post-graduate study, or are planning to, in public health, nutrition, teaching and outdoor recreation, even those who weren’t ‘nerds’ at school. They say that the programme  enabled them to enjoy all their papers and has given them the confidence and communication skills to work anywhere in the world – it just so happens that they all love the Bay too much and want to stay here – home-grown champions for sport, and for sport education!