Travel Grants Bring Sport Closer For Rural Youngsters
Friday 29 May 2009, 11:33AM
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Young Kaipara sportspeople are receiving help to play their favourite sport thanks to $10,687 in grants from the SPARC Rural Travel Fund, administered through Kaipara District Council.
Kaipara is one of only three councils nationally to be included in the SPARC Rural Travel Fund which is funded by Central Government and subsidises travel for junior teams, aged five to 19 years, to help them participate in their local competitions.
In the 2009 funding round a local assessment committee has approved 12 applications, making grants from $500 to $2,000 and covering a variety of sporting codes.
Examples of grants helping overcome rural isolation include helping Tinopai School’s netball team travel the 140 kilometres needed each weekend to reach their local competition and assisting 18 children from Pouto School get to Dargaville for weekly sport. Previous grants have been credited with greatly increasing the number of Pouto youngsters playing sport.
Others assisted were:
Dargaville High School’s clay target team to travel to competition shoots in Kaikohe and Whangarei.
Dargaville High School Under-15 rugby team to compete in the Northland competition - its nearest competition.
Kaihu Valley Rugby Club Under-16 team travelling to games in Whangarei and Wellsford.
Kaipara Soccer Club to transport children from Matakohe and Kaiwaka to their local competition at Port Albert.
Kaiwaka Junior Netball for travel to their weekly competition in Wellsford.
Northern Wairoa Soccer Club Incorporated to help transport 15 children to games in Kerikeri, Ruakaka and Whangarei.
Otamatea High School Mixed Hockey First XI to travel to Whangarei each week.
Otamatea High School Netball Club to enable Team One players to travel to Wellsford, Hibiscus Coast and Kaipara Netball Centre.
Otamatea Rugby Club to help its Under 18 team compete in its local competition.
Ruawai College to help its trapshooting team to local Northland competition events.
Two applications were declined as they were considered outside the fund’s scope and a late application was not considered.
Assessment Committee Chairman Chris Biddles says the fund, which has been in existence for a number of years, provides a welcome boost for rural areas like Kaipara.
“Although we do not distribute a large amount of money, it does reduce the financial difficulties of clubs, schools and families that receive this contribution.”
Mr Biddles says the committee works hard to fairly distribute the available funds. “The committee finds the requests for modest amounts of money that have an equivalent contribution from the applicant far more appealing than those that appear greedy and often have no contribution from the applicant.”
“We are grateful to Kaipara District Council for providing the administration which allows the full amount of money to be distributed.”
The Kaipara Allocation Committee members are; Chris Biddles, Vern Stevens and Karen Smales (Community Representatives), John Edwards and Rangiora Timutimu (Iwi Representatives), Roxanne Kelly (Sport Northland), Julie Geange (Kaipara District Council) and Charlane White (Committee Administrator).