Stories
Sport New Zealand - Waka Ama Strengthen and Adapt Project
In May 2020, the New Zealand Government announced funding in the form of a Recovery Package to assist play, active recreation, and sport organisations to deal with the impacts of COVID-19. Sport NZ has formulated an approach to assist a group of National Partners to make the best use of the Recovery Package, which includes a National Partner Strengthen and Adapt Programme. Waka Ama NZ has been chosen by Sport NZ to be part of this programme because of the impact our strategy is having on the physical activity outcomes of New Zealanders.
Sport NZ has made it clear that the future of the sport sector will not be maximised if we simply replay the current approach. They want to see innovation. The disruption caused by COVID-19 has created a once in 30-year opportunity for organisations to rethink and reimagine their future.
Through this Strengthen and Adapt Programme, Waka Ama NZ aims to evolve our delivery, capacity, and capability to ensure that we can support the growth of Waka Ama in a meaningful and sustainable way.
Consultation
Sport NZ expects Waka Ama NZ to submit a ‘Strengthen and Adapt Plan’, after which they will consider any investment. Sport NZ is supporting this Waka Ama Strengthen and Adapt Project through providing Ian Harre as an independent advisor and Tracey Diack as project manager.
To achieve this plan, we will undertake two steps:
Step one will include consulting with the waka ama community as well as bringing all previous data and research together. From mid-January to mid-February, the waka ama community will have the opportunity to be part of a consultation process which will include surveys and online forums. The aim is to thoroughly understand the current state of waka ama, the potential future state of waka ama, and to propose a small number of key areas within the waka ama delivery system that we could transform to support our growth.
Step two will involve exploring further the proposed key area of transformation including further targeted consultation (yet to be determined) before Waka Ama NZ submits our plan to Sport NZ at the end of March 2022.
This is an exciting one-off opportunity to access additional funding to think beyond the status quo and explore and implement positive transformational changes that may not have been previously possible.
Our aim is to understand and implement a delivery model to achieve the Waka Ama NZ Strategic Plan, in particular, to ensure that we can support our growth in a meaningful and sustainable way whilst still providing quality waka ama experiences.
As part of the consultation process, we need to understand what is working well and what could be improved to achieve the future we want. We will be undertaking a variety of initial consultations with our waka ama community including:
A survey for our regional entities (24 January – 7 February)
On-line forums for clubs in each region (Beginning of February) – these forums will be on weekday evenings for 90 minutes. They will be hosted by Waka Ama NZ and facilitated by Tracey Diack who is project managing our application process.
The forum will be an opportunity for us to listen to our members and to understand the opportunities for, and barriers to, growth in a meaningful and sustainable way. To make the most of the time we have, Tracey will be focusing the forum on the potential transformational changes and any discussion on current issues will be parked.
We will be sending out the date the details to clubs in each region within the next week so keep an eye out for that and register your attendance. (Forums will be held on in the first two weeks of February)
Focus group discussions with Te Reo Taohi o Ngā Kaihoe o Aotearoa - Rangatahi Voice for Waka Ama NZ, and Te Tohu Whakarewa Tāngata o Ngā Kaihoe o Aotearoa - Waka Ama Hall of Fame/life achievement rōpū (February)
