Sport Northland's Brent Eastwood Sport Thought: Ahipara courts revamp a godsend

The redevelopment of the Ahipara courts included new netball goals with nets and pads, a new tennis net and two new basketball hoops. Photo / Supplied

As I have mentioned before in this column, one of Sport Northland's new approaches in striving to reach our bold vision of "all Northlanders leading better lives through involvement in play, active recreation and sport", is to influence and enable targeted Northland communities to focus on young people in a community-led way.

Te Kopuru, just south of Dargaville, was featured in this column in June for the redevelopment of their local domain for the benefit of young people. Paparoa, another Kaipara community, featured in September for their efforts in connecting their community through bike tracks.

This time round we feature Ahipara, a small coast community 14 kilometres northeast of Kaitaia, who have upgraded their sports courts.

Upgrading the courts was initially highlighted as a possible project in the Ahipara Community Plan in early 2019.

Fast forward a few months and after lots of community support, the courts were fully resurfaced, incorporating line markings for netball, tennis and basketball.

The redevelopment also includes new netball goals with nets and pads, a new tennis net and two new basketball hoops.

Matua John Paitai blessed the courts with a specially composed karakia alongside newly elected Te Hiku Community Board member and Te Rarawa Rugby Club committee member Jaqi Brown, who had the honour of snipping the ribbon on the multi-sport facility.

The Te Rarawa Rugby Club asked the Far North District Council (FNDC) for this facility to be included in its lease so that it can care and maintain it.

In handing it to the club, FNDC agreed to upgrade it to meet the expectations and requests of the community. The need for a multi-purpose court facility was highlighted not only in the Ahipara Community Plan hui, but also in the various surveys conducted by local stakeholders.

"The club would like to acknowledge those pioneering volunteers from the old Ahipara Tennis and Netball Club who originally fundraised and commissioned the courts all those years ago," Brown said.

"Without them who laid the groundwork, this next phase would not have been possible."

The development of the courts signals new opportunities for Ahipara, with a facility that caters for tennis in the summer, netball in the winter and basketball all year round.

Locals are already talking about junior coaching, summer tennis leagues and 3v3 basketball competitions.

Te Rarawa Rugby Club would like to thank FNDC, Te Hiku Community Board and Fulton Hogan for their support in this project too.

The last word goes to local 14-year-old Jack Walter: "We finally have somewhere to play, I can't wait!"

Community spirit is alive and well in Northland's remote communities.