Kevin Jenkins – chairman of Poneke Football Club

The traditional rugby clubrooms, a community oasis where victors and vanquished come together to toast wins and drown sorrows, could soon be a thing of the past.

Rugby, football, cricket and netball clubs are being forced to join forces to cope with skyrocketing costs and dwindling player and volunteer numbers. 

To cope with rising maintenance and insurance costs for buildings that are not used year-round, many are creating sports “hubs”. 

These new-age “sportsvilles” will see multiple clubs and codes share changing rooms, office space and sometimes even staff.

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Some clubs, steeped in history, fear losing their identity in a shared space, but change proponents said well-run sports hubs will boost participation and cut costs.

Picton’s Waitohi Rugby Club has joined the sports hub at Endeavour Park in Picton.

Sport NZ’s Geoff Barry said the concept has been around for a decade – but amalgamations have ramped up as funding gets tighter and costs rise.

“It’s probably going to be pushed harder simply because people can’t afford to sustain all the assets that were built in the 1950s and 60s” he said.

While some choose to form one big hub – as many as 20 codes under one roof – others are a simple affair, such as two clubs on a park sharing one building.

The NZ National Masters Hockey Tournament was held at the Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park last year.

“You get a better use of people and the facility, as people join together and collaborate more. The experiences we’ve seen – doesn’t matter if it’s urban or rural, the hub concepts are effective”.

No matter the size, Sport NZ tries to offer help in managing a move – which can prove difficult for many clubs.

“You suddenly start to talk about how the trophy cabinet gets put on the wall, and what does the club get called, and how do you join balance sheets and that sort of thing” he said.

The Marlborough District Council wants to turn Blenheim’s Lansdowne Park into an all-inclusive sports hub.

The Hawke’s Bay Regional Sports Park Trust was an early adaptor of the concept.

It combined a sports park between Napier and Hastings – at a cost of $22 million – uniting an athletics track, netball courts, cycle track and hockey stadium in one.

Chief executive Jock Macintosh said the park was controversial – even prompting a referendum, which showed 62 per cent of residents supported it.

Plans for a sports hub at Lansdowne Park, in Blenheim.

The park added vibrancy to the area, drawing in 5000 people for Saturday sport.

But Macintosh cautioned clubs won’t suddenly be flush with money if they merge.

“The clubs don’t save money in a sports hub but they end up with a better facility” he said.

“It’s completely normal for there to be controversy, and fears [that] clubs will lose their identity.” 

Clubs could still have honours boards and hang up player photographs in a new set up.

That’s exactly the issue members of the local football club in Renwick, Marlborough, have had to grapple with.

The Renwick Football Rugby Club moved from clubrooms to the Giesen Sports Centre a decade ago, joining cricket and football.

President Chris Hammond said the facilities were “top notch”.

But their financial bottom line and the 100-year-old club’s psyche had suffered. 

“We didn’t want to lose our identity. As it turned out we probably have to some degree.”

Their old “rustic” clubroom built by locals was small, with a bar and a large fire and had a “community feel”, Hammond said.

“It was more than a rugby club, it was about community.

“When we owned the clubrooms it was a lot easier for people to get involved.”

In their old clubrooms the bar income was their biggest earner. 

Now they only got a percentage of the profits. 

“We have to pay for use of the facility which eats into our bottom line and we still rely heavily on volunteers. Financially we are not any better off” he said.

But he’s resigned to the fact that as clubs struggle to get sponsorship and pay for facility upgrades, sports hubs will become more common.

“Clubrooms are probably a thing of the past, which is a shame.”

In Blenheim, the Marlborough District Council was looking at a staged development over the next 10 to 15 years which could bring rugby, touch, softball, netball and athletics together at Lansdowne Park.

The 110-year-old Central Rugby Club remained unsure about moving into the Blenheim sportsville.

Life member Kelly Landon-Lane said he was willing to listen to what council had to say.

“Personally too much work has been done at this club by a lot of people to give it away easily.

“I am not against sports hubs but whether it fits the Central mould I am not so sure. There would have to be some hard talking to convince me its a good concept for us. The clubrooms don’t belong the club, they belong to the community.

 – Sunday Star Times