Esk Valley trio rescue survivors from flood waters in jet boat. Video / Supplied
The football community is rallying around Hawke’s Bay youth in acts of generosity which it hopes will bring some sense of normality to life for kids in the cyclone-ravaged province.
James Mac Aodhagain – a sports scientist and also the strength and conditioning coach for football’s Central League champions Wellington Olympic – has kickstarted two initiatives to help give kids in the region some sporting relief from the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.
At least 11 people were killed around New Zealand – with the majority in Hawke’s Bay – while hundreds of families have lost their homes and all their possessions.
Mac Aodhagain has launched a Givelittle page dubbed “Let the kids play” to raise money for football gear for children in the area.
He is also overseeing the collection of donated football shirts, boots, balls and other gear that will be distributed by Napier City Rovers in the community.
“While you and I will understand the gravity of the situation, a child will just be sitting there having lost all their toys and just wanting to play,” the kind-hearted Mac Aodhagain told the Herald.
“We want to give them that opportunity.
“What we saw from the pandemic was that at times of strife, the kids that are living in lower decile areas and with the harshest of depravation are the ones that don’t come back to sport.
“As well as being both mentally and physically healthy, and growing up to be a well-adjusted [person], sport plays a huge part in that. Even if it is just kicking a ball around a field with your mates.
Napier City Rovers will distribute donated funds and gear to children who lost all their football kit in the deadly cyclone. Photo / Neil Reid
“We just want kids to be able to have something meaningful to do with each other. Sport is something that brings us together. It can make a huge difference to people as they go through this.
“We just want to be able to help.”
Mac Aodhagain said the reaction he had received since launching the “boot drive” had been “super supportive”, with several other Wellington clubs also spreading the message to their members.
“People have started going through their houses and their garages to see what gear they have that they could donate,” he said.
“I have said we are after good quality boots, sports shoes, shorts, jerseys, jumpers and jackets. I am also collecting footballs.
There are some absolute awesome people in our country. Thanks @MacAodhagainJ and @WgtnOlympic for your love, thoughts and support at this truely sad and extremely tough time. 💙 https://t.co/UeShhQsgHd
“The reason why I thought of the boot drive was that, aside from the cyclone, a lot of us are doing it tough at the moment.
“Some of us can’t part with money from our pocket because rates have gone up, rents have gone up, interest rates and mortgages have gone up.
“But almost all of us will have boots, jerseys, and stuff like that; they may be inconsequential to how people [in Hawke’s Bay] are living their life, but they will make an incredible difference for kids across Hawke’s Bay.”
While the gear and financial donations from the Givealittle fundraiser will be gifted to Napier City Rovers to distribute, children across Hawke’s Bay who play for other clubs will benefit.
That includes in Bay View and Esk Valley, the latter which was decimated by the cyclone, with families losing all their possessions in houses destroyed by raging floodwaters and walls of mud and silt.
Mac Aodhagain created the charity drives after speaking to Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson and Napier City Rovers player Fergus Neil; who is also a schoolteacher.
Napier City Rovers coach Bill Robertson said he was hugely impressed with the acts of generosity that will help kids in Hawke's Bay. Photo / Neil Reid
Robertson said he thought the initiatives launched by Mac Aodhagain were outstanding and would help make a difference.
“It is a generous initiative that Jim and Wellington Olympic have set up,” he said.
“If Napier City Rovers can help facilitate equipment and cash going to people that need it, we are only too keen to be able to do so.”
He said it was great the football community could help provide some “respite” to those who are going through such hard times and “we want to help in any way we can”.
While Wellington Olympic and Napier City Rovers are fierce rivals on the field, Mac Aodhagain said his club hugely respected the Hawke’s Bay-based club and wanted to do all they could to help.
“As much as you have a rivalry, you have that rivalry because they are good, they are fit and they challenge you,” he said.
Napier City Rovers captain James Hoyle in action against Wellington Olympic last year at Napier's Bluewater Stadium. Photo / Ian Cooper
“But there is no malice in that rivalry; we are now normal people trying to help each other. As soon as the whistle blows [in the league] we are all friends and talk to each other in the aftermatch.
