Arcus, a director of business advisory firm Huddle Advisory, said two key focus areas for him were the long-term financial sustainability of the organisation and ensuring all children have opportunities to participate in sport and recreation.
“We are potentially moving into more difficult financial times that will have an impact on not only sport organisations, but some families may also struggle to afford sport equipment and sport fees,” Arcus said.
“We need to make sure that money isn’t a barrier to playing sport, as the positive benefits of sport are so far-reaching.”
Arcus said he had been impressed by Sport Hawke’s Bay’s broad role in the community and that the trust wasn’t just focused on sport, but also on creating opportunities for people to be active, as well as improving health outcomes.
Arcus has had a long involvement in sport, particularly rugby at all levels - junior club, school and senior club. He is the current manager of the Havelock North Senior Rugby Team.
Rawinia Lewis has an extensive background in health and social development, having held senior policy and management roles in the public sector.
Lewis currently works for the commercial arm of Ngāti Kahungunu, looking after the iwi’s interests in farming, fishing, forestry and property.
She is actively involved in netball as a player and is a trained yoga teacher.
Reflecting the Te Whare Tapa Wha model, Lewis said she appreciates the positive benefits sport and physical activity can have on many aspects of a young person’s life - particularly young wāhine, as she has two daughters aged 12 and 14 who are involved in multiple sports.
“We need to promote the wide range of positive benefits of being active and ensuring that as well as sport being competitive, ultimately it’s about having fun and having a lifelong love of playing sport,” Lewis said.
“Many young wāhine stop to participate in the mid teenage years, and it’s important that we create opportunities for them to continue to be active.”
Chris Petersen recently returned with his young family to Hawke’s Bay after 18 years and is the general manager of Hawke’s Bay Brewing Co.
Petersen said it had been a long-standing desire to contribute back into the community, especially in sport and wellbeing.
“I have a young family and I want to make sure that my children and young people across the region have access to sport and physical recreation,” Petersen said.
“I grew up here and we enjoyed being very active and I want to ensure that this generation and future generations also have opportunities to participate and enjoy the wide range of benefits sport and active recreation offer.”
The full Sport Hawke’s Bay Board is Graeme Taylor (chair), Naomi Fergusson (deputy chair), Heidi Beech (Chair of Risk and Audit Committee), Dionne Thomas, Lisa Pohatu, Susan Jacobs, Tania Karauria, Chris Petersen, Rawinia Lewis, Mat Arcus.
