Kind-hearted Napier City Rovers footballers ditched their playing boots for gumboots and helped out with the Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up.
Video / Neil Reid
But football was secondary to helping those who lost so much in their beloved Hawke’s Bay.
Liam Schofield, centre, flanked by mates and teammates Fergus Neil and Jim Hoyle clearing ruined items during the Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up around Napier. Photo / Napier City Rovers
The handbrake was put on pre-season training; with players swapping football boots for gumboots and getting involved in the huge clean-up that is still ongoing in some places a year on.
“We got into pre-season looking to hit the ground running,” left-back and midfielder Liam Schofield said.
“And then the cyclone hit . . . it was devastating what happened.
“We got together and wanted to help in the community and give something back to help families in need. They were tough times.
“It was shocking. Driving down Esk Valley . . . it was crazy . . . it’s just so surreal. I just couldn’t believe what had happened and how it had happened so fast as well.”
The level of destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in Esk Valley left footballer Liam Schofield shocked. Photo / Neil Reid
Just weeks before Cyclone Gabrielle hit, Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson was solely focused on moulding a squad that could make a strong start to the 2023 Central League; a competition in which they ultimately finished in third place.
The impact of vast devastation caused to areas on the outskirts of Napier and Hastings saw his focus – and that of his players and fellow off-field staff – turn to what they could do to help fellow Hawke’s Bay locals.
Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson says he was proud of his players' community response, and shocked by what he witnessed in Cyclone Gabrielle-hit areas. Photo / Neil Reid
That included the squad as a whole volunteering their time to help clear homes in two of the worst-hit rural areas, Waiohiki and Puketapu.
“I was proud of the players, and everyone connected with the club, in a devastating time for the region,” the coach said.
“We felt we had a part to play in helping those that needed help.
“A number of the players approached me . . . did that off their [own] backs . . . then we were able to galvanise a few more, and we went out as a squad to help.
The @thirstywhale Central League team ditched training to help the community of Waiohiki in the aftermath of the devastation left by the cyclone 💙 They'll be going to Puketapu soon. The club is very proud of the mahi you are doing out there boys 💙#StrongerTogetherpic.twitter.com/emdSA7H11h
Memories of the scenes that the players – and other kind-hearted Hawke’s Bay residents who helped those less fortunate than them – encountered remain fresh 12 months on.
As they shovelled loads of drying and stinking silt from ruined homes and helped remove ruined household appliances beds and other items, they came across locals who had lost virtually all their worldly possessions.
“It was difficult to fathom,” Robertson said. “You see things like this flooding and devastation on the news and you never think it’s not going to happen to Napier.
“Then you go out there and see some of the devastation. We were shovelling mud and clearing houses and people’s whole lives had just been upturned. It was shocking.”
Liam Schofield (left) and Jonny McNamara, No 11, helped lead Napier City Rovers' community response to Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Neil Reid
Schofield and forward Jonny McNamara were among the players who led the response from the club.
The pair were also among a smaller group who donated their time around work, family and football commitments to continue to help the clean-up.
“Me and my partner, Holly, got in touch with the community and we just wanted to help because we were in a state where we could help,” Schofield said.
“I just wanted to get down there and do my best to just put in some work and help clear up the mess.”
The badly damaged sports field at Eskdale School – covered in layers of silt and mud – pictured four days after Cyclone Gabrielle hit. Photo / Neil Reid
Raised in Barnsley, Yorkshire, Schofield joined Napier City Rovers in 2018 and is firmly a fan favourite.
He made an impressive return to the team later in the season and is again fizzing for Napier City Rovers’ upcoming Central League campaign, kicking off with a March 31 clash at Bluewater Stadium against national champions Wellington Olympic.
Wellington Olympic strength and conditioning coach James Mac Aodhagain - pictured with Napier City Rovers chairman Graeme Sole and Wellington Olympic captain Ben Mata – was formally thanked by Napier City Rovers for his post-Cyclone Gabrielle fundraising work. Photo / Neil Reid
That included a Givelittle page which raised money for football gear for children in the area. He also oversaw a large collection of donated football gear that has been distributed by Napier City Rovers to communities impacted by the cyclone.
Their memory was honoured throughout Napier City Rovers’ Central League and Northern League campaigns, with players wearing black armbands throughout the season.
Liam Schofield (right) during last year's National League. He says honouring Cyclone Gabrielle victims meant a lot to him and his teammates. Photo / Neil Reid
“Putting that armband on, we knew who we were playing for and supporting the community and the town,” Schofield said.
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience. He was on the frontline of NZME’s coverage of Cyclone Gabrielle when it hit Hawke’s Bay and closely followed the clean-up operation that has followed.
