PRESIDENTS REPORT 2011 AGM

The 2010/2011 Year has again been a busy and eventful year for our sport. But unfortunately it has not been without loss.

Over this last 12 months we have lost two very important people to our sport and to our Waka Ama Whanau: Ace Cuthers and Kris Kjeldsen

They are 2 men who dedicated nearly 30 years of their lives to our sport and without the time, dedication and commitment they along with many others gave, we would not be sitting here today. Ace and Kris are part of the fabric that makes up our sport, their lives will forever be woven into that fabric and the legacy they have left behind will be enjoyed by thousands and thousands of paddlers forever. We are indebted to them, we thank them and we will always miss them.

I know from talking with both these gentlemen over the last 3 years that they were pleased with the growth the sport was experiencing and excited about what the future holds.

And the Future is certainly exciting!

The last 12 months have seen us work through a consultative process to review and restructure the Governance on of our sport and our Constitution. Both of these key goals were outlined in our Strategic plan back in 2009.
These were big goals to set and to have achieved them is quite outstanding.

The process we went through for this change was lengthy but thorough and we achieved the change in our governance model with 100% buy in. Something rarely heard of in sporting circles around this country.

The announcement of our new board members today is an exciting change to our sport and one that will create new opportunities for our membership.

This year we also had an extremely successful sprint nationals on a new and improved Lake Karaprio development. We introduced our new lane infrastructure at this event and they were well received. Those lanes will service events at Karaprio for decades to come.

Our National Secondary School Championships turned 10 years old this year and that is a big milestone. The future of our sport is with Rangatahi and it is important to ensure there are pathways for them to take part, compete and make connections with clubs. We have a strong relationship with Te Wairiki Purea Trust who host a fantastic event in Rotorua and this year we had 1400 students from 81 Secondary Schools take part. (I would love to see 100 schools take part within the next 3 years)

We have continued to develop meaningful relationships with organisations and create partnerships that help to develop our sport wherever possible. The most recent and exciting of these is our new partnership with New Zealand Post and New Zealand Water Safety. A partnership that will, overtime give our sport a tremendous amount of exposure.
Keep your eye out shortly for information coming out about the NZ Post Corporate Challenge taking place in 4 regions in December.

Paralympic V1 racing: Sending George Thomas to Poznan, Poland last year And Szeged Hungary this year to compete in the V1 Par canoeing championship has been a highlight and seeing the potential this has for the future growth of our sport is incredible. V1 will be included in the PARALYMPICS in Rio in 2016 and we will have paddlers represented there.
George has been a fantastic role model and ambassador for our sport at these 2 events and is helping to drive paracanoeing opportunities for others here at home.

To be honest there are so many highlights. They happen almost on a daily basis lately and that is largely due to the work that has been done over the past 3 years and more.

3 years ago at the AGM in Hoe Tonga in 2008 there was a turning point in our sports history and so much has happened over that time. It would be very hard to write it all in this report.

To the Executive: Corrina Gage, Charmaine Matiaha and Alex Ryder, Thanks for all that you have done. It has been a long 3 years and I’m not sure we can add up all the hours spent. There have been 1000’s of emails, texts and telephone calls, time away from family and personal expense. Thank – You!

The council members: Thanks for your commitment and to the open and forward thinking brains that you have brought to our council meetings. They were long days (understatement) and we got through a lot. But without our collective discussions and decision making over the last 3 years we would not have achieved so much.

TTPCA: Robert Gabel ,Mere Taylor-Tuiloma
AROCA: Donna Tamaariki ,Cherie Collison,Sam Walters
TPOTI: Nana P ,Helen Messenger
TUOTR: Moana Houkamau,Kapua Waikari,Tim Marshall
HOE TONGA: Samantha Tamanui, Marinna Millanta-Lowrey,Joern Scherzer
TWOA: Shaun Hardcastle
(all council members at some time during the 2008 - 2011 period)

Danielle Rouse was co-opted as assistant treasurer last year and has been a valuable addition to our team.

I would like to give special mention to Alex Ryder
Without Alex’s commitment to our sport over the last 3 years (and more), we would not have achieved all that we have. Through his role as Treasurer he has ensured our sport is an extremely healthy position. No small feat, given the situation the accounts were in in 2008.

This financial position has been achieved with a serious amount of good management and without increasing fees to paddlers, or clubs.

Alex’s expertise with I.T and our website puts us ahead of most sports in New Zealand when it comes to I.T and administrative organisation. We have now come to rely on online entries, results posted on the web within 30 minutes of racing and 1000’s of photos for us all to enjoy and share.

3 years ago Alex introduced me to SKYPE…and I’m sure he now regrets that. Over those 3 years I have conversed with Alex on a daily basis and we have dreamed up many Waka Ama ideas that have been put in place over that time. I cannot express enough my personal thanks to Alex. The sport of Waka Ama has been and is very lucky.

Personally, the last 3 years have been an amazing journey. I have really enjoyed the challenge and I have learnt so much. There have been some awesome milestones achieved.

Visiting and meeting with all the regions and clubs on various occasions has been a real highlight and it is so important to have that connection for the sport moving forward. There is no doubt that the strength of our sport is with our membership. And our sport would be nothing without the paddlers, clubs and regions who drive Waka Ama at a community level. This is the key to future growth.
Those who give their time as volunteers, coaches, managers, People who tow waka, committee members etc are invaluable and hopefully the work we are doing nationally to try and provide pathways for Coach recognition and development will help to support the sports growth in clubs.

Thanks to everyone for all your support over the last 3 years. The next year is going to be very exciting for the sport and Nationals 2012 is already on the horizon.

I can’t wait to see the future and our vision unfold!

Lara Collins
President (2008-2011)
Nga Kaihoe O Aotearoa
[email protected]