Netball grant helps Northland rural community set up first club since 1980s

The Kapotai Kubs netball team with club manager Chejaan Mokaraka, Yvonne 'Nan' Hepe and club founder Kris Hansey. Photo / supplied

A young netball team in the rural Far North have been given a boost to help set up the community's first netball team since the 1980s.

The Kapotai Kubs, who are based in rural Waikare, 20km east of Kawakawa, can take their netball game to the next level after being awarded an ANZ Netball Grant.

ANZ has also honoured Bay of Islands local netball legend Yvonne Hepe, who now coaches the team, with an extra special grant.

The Kapotai Kubs were awarded new uniforms, training gear, portable hoops, and fuel vouchers to help them set up their new team.

Club manager Chejaan Mokaraka, who applied for the grant, said the tight-knit community of 150 needed some help to get set up.

Mokaraka said it has made a huge difference as fundraising opportunities are hard to come by in Waikare.

"We're basically in the bush.

"A lot of these girls have two or three siblings and they all want to get into sport so it's hard on the families to pay for these things."

Club founder and local parent Kris Hansey launched the team in November 2021 because she wanted her girls to join a netball team but the nearest clubs were an hour's drive away.

To get the team up and running, Hansey enlisted the help of Hepe, also known as "Nan".

Nan has been involved in netball for more than 40 years and the Kapotai Kubs are the fourth generation of netballers she has coached.

When ANZ heard of her commitment to netball, they wanted to thank her with an extra special grant - a trip for her and the Kapotai Kubs to a Silver Ferns game in Auckland.

Maiarangi Reti and Waiarahia Marsh are happy to have new netball gear, thanks to an ANZ netball grant. Photo / supplied

"Nan has been a driving force for this team," Mokaraka said.

"She is really known in our community for being the netball lady.

"Everyone around her who plays netball, you can be guaranteed that they've been coached by her."

ANZ Netball Grants give players across Aotearoa an opportunity to apply for items needed to keep playing the game they love, from uniforms and training gear to resurfaced courts.

After another difficult year for community netball, where Covid-19 cancelled games and shortened seasons, ANZ is helping to ease the fundraising effort for clubs and teams across the country.

Mokaraka said netball was already having a positive impact on the community.

"The girls haven't really had their own thing for a long time, there's only been rugby or softball.

"It has made them so happy to have a team of their own.

"It gives them an opportunity to play a sport they wouldn't otherwise be able to and it's building their confidence and their teamwork."

ANZ general manager marketing Matt Pickering said he hoped ANZ's support "makes it easier for players to continue playing the game they love".

"We know it's the clubs and schools across the country that help to nurture the next generation of players and we hope these grants give teams a boost and fill them with the confidence to play their best game."