Death, tax 'not merger's making'

TENNIS
Trevor HintonTennis clubs in Hawke's Bay may well die but it won't be because the region has forged ties with Tennis Waikato-Bays or any ensuing decisions, according to Trevor Hinton.
A Waikato-Bays (TWB) employee who serves as Hawke's Bay/East Coast development officer, Hinton was responding to a mayday call from Hastings stalwart Ian Purdon who warned this week some drastic measures were needed to prevent the code from rapidly sliding into oblivion.
Purdon, who stepped down as Hastings Tennis and Squash Club president a fortnight ago, felt the merger with Waikato was a contributing factor but believed getting out of that marriage wasn't a viable proposition.
A Sparc shake-up of Tennis New Zealand three years prompted the redefining of boundaries in a rationalisation process for fewer but larger regions.
Hinton told SportToday yesterday most Bay clubs were under financial pressure because of loss of players or a lack of alternative sources of income but were historically on a slippery path "due to other reasons".
"Private courts have been on the increase in the Bay for the last 30 years and at more than $60,000 to put one in hardly suggests it is a cheaper option to own your own than be a member of a club," he said, countering Purdon's assertion that Bay tennis lovers are building private courts and reluctant to volunteer their services.
At $180 subscription a year, Hinton said, $60,000 would give a member 333 years club membership, even allowing for inflation and multiple family members.
He felt club fees, that Purdon labelled as "a tax to TWB", were too cheap to sustain clubs, let alone improve and maintain facilities.
"If these clubs were privately owned I would suggest fees may well be more like $500, not $180."
Clubs relying on gaming funds rather than opting for traditional income-generating activities, including increasing subs, was the key problem.
While clubs devoid of resident coaches tended to have fewer junior members, Hinton said there wasn't enough demand to have full-time coaches at all the clubs.
Five seasoned Bay coaches would employ a new regional programme this season.
While the G5 alliance - Hastings, Greendale, Hawke's Bay Lawn, Nelson Park and Havelock North clubs - meeting once a month to brainstorm was a good concept, Hinton asked why was it formed?
"If the clubs had put their hands up four years ago to be involved at a board level, the need to merge may well never have arisen."
Tennis didn't have to compete with other codes to survive, he felt, but Purdon's suggestion of a "capitulation" mentality among Bay protagonists to play on other days to avoid clashes was unfair.
"Junior interclub has 40 or more teams playing.
"Seven years ago we had none," he said, adding the demand to play on Fridays was higher than weekends, even for the men's reserve graders who want to revert to Fridays.
A grasshopper programme, involving nine Bay schools, exposed 2500 youngsters, among 35,000 nationally, to tennis.
Secondary schools, Hinton said, boasted more than 100 teams with five pupils a team but the burning question was why were some of them not club members.
Player numbers fell for those between the age of 20 to 35 years, something the code recognised and, consequently, offered business house or team competitions to counter for a fee.
The pay-to-play model, he said, was to entice those not wanting to join clubs.
Hamilton's indoor centre funded its own way by charging casual players.
"Money we pay to Tennis Waikato-Bays is redirected back to run affairs in Hawke's Bay so it's mischievous to suggest our money is used to pay for the infrastructure there."
The wet winter in the Bay, Hinton said, made the proposal of indoor courts at the Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park, in Hastings, viable as part of the velodrome.
TWB's goal was to cater for club members wanting to play in organised events but also having the freedom to choose other programs as well as compete against other clubs.
The pay-to-play module was to cater for those casual players to use a centre programme that worked for them.
TWB, he said, accommodated six old associations which were all represented on the board with a mixture of gender and business expertise to ensure accountability.
Communication and viability, Hinton said, were priorities for CEO Leslie Wilkinson, Hamilton.