National to slash support for grassroots sport

Sport and Recreation Minister Clayton Cosgrove said the National Party should come clean on which grassroots sports and recreation programmes it would deprive communities of, given the chance.

The National Party has attacked the government agency Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC), wrongly claiming that a third of its budget is spent on administration, when in fact SPARC’s total administration costs are only 12 percent.

Mr Cosgrove said National should get its facts straight.

“When National leader John Key is talking about administration and bureaucracy costs he is including the money that goes to develop and deliver a wide range of grassroots sport and recreation programmes around the country. This includes money to run workshops to up-skill our sports clubs so they can be efficient and financially viable; it includes money so our schools can employ Sport Co-ordinators to organise and run after-school and weekend sports tournaments for our kids; and successful national social awareness programmes such as Push Play, that uses popular media such as television to encourage all kiwis, young and old, to be physically active.”

Other programmes included on Mr Key’s so-called “administration costs” hit list include;

Club Kit (an online resource to help volunteers and officials organise and run their clubs); SPARC’s volunteers and officials programme; sport coaching programmes; Green Prescriptions (funding for doctor-prescribed physical activity for people with weight related health problems); He Oranga Poutama (community development programme that aims to increase physical activity levels of Maori); and Mission-On (a package of initiatives aimed at improving the lifestyles of young New Zealanders by targeting improved nutrition and increased physical activity).

Mr Cosgrove said the National Party’s sport and recreation policy is simplistic and bizarre.

“Mr Key is proposing to give more sports equipment to schools – but to cut the programmes and resources that SPARC provides to teachers to help them get the students using that sport equipment. And he wants to give more money to sports clubs – but cut the training and capability development programmes that SPARC provides to sport volunteers, officials and coaches so they can use that money effectively.”

Mr Cosgrove said National clearly thinks that SPARC should no longer provide any leadership in the sport and recreation sector or demand any accountability for the money it distributes. “Mr Key said to the media today that “in terms of schools, firstly the plan is literally to give them money and to measure them on a pretty low touch…high trust model which will simply say, here’s some more money, you can choose to spend it how you like,” so this party would provide no real support or capability development to the sport and recreation sector, but would just throw money at it, in the hope it would make a difference.”

Mr Cosgrove said the government’s role is to provide leadership and support, as well as funding, so that the sport and recreation sector can operate effectively at the grassroots and elite level. “It is only by providing this whole package that we can ensure kiwi kids develop a love of being active and grow up to be healthy adults as well as our future sporting heroes.”