New sports centre a real match winner

THIS is exactly what the town needs.

That was the sentiment of people attending the opening of the Gallagher Recreation Centre in Te Kūiti on Saturday morning.

The new complex was officially opened by former Te Kūiti High School principal Bruce Stephens before a crowd of around 100 people.

Bruce, who was instrumental in the development of the stadium and getting it off the ground, said the complex was a real winner for the town.

“It’s massive for our small town. We no longer always have to travel to the Waikato to play sports indoors, we now have our own two-court complex, which is as good as any in New Zealand.

“Now we can see top level sport come to Te Kūiti.”

Bruce said the result was outstanding.

“It’s a fantastic state of the art facility. We are excited to see community teams in here using it and we’re incredibly thankful to everyone who has helped this become a reality for our town.”

Piopio’s Dame Farah Palmer was among those full of praise for the facility.

“Build it and they will come. More and more people will start to come; it will be really exciting,” she said.

“I remember playing netball on the outdoor courts and that made you resilient and now they have an amazing indoor area.

“It’s a nice option to have. It’s amazing for our rangatahi and tamariki and people in this area don’t have to tipi haere to Hamilton to play.

“A lot of people have supported it. It’s a great initiative. This is going to be a great asset to the community.”

She considers it a “game changer” for the town’s young people.

“There’s a gym that is useable, the pupils at Te Kūiti High School now have somewhere nice for PE and sporting teams have a place they can feel proud of to play at.”

Mayor John Robertson said seeing the stadium fully finished was a dream come true.

“It’s just fantastic, it really is. I have been involved in the building of three things: Bruce Pullman Park in Papakura, the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau and now this. It’s amazing.”

He said it would be a huge asset to the King Country going forward.

“It’s awesome and it’s the perfect size for us in Te Kūiti. It’s code-compliant, so we can host international games here in Te Kūiti.

“It’s a 10-year thing from a dream to here.

“Stadiums go up and down when planning; how do you get funded etc? I am a financial person and I have to say, this has been done right.

“We’ve covered the capital cost, built it on time and operationally we’ve appointed an operator and it’s not going to cost our rate payers.

“It is great for our tamariki and rangatahi.”

The two courts are sponsored by The Lines Company and Graymont Ltd, while Gallagher has naming rights as sponsor of the stadium itself.

Sport Waikato’s Matthew Cooper, who was the MC for the official opening, said it was of international quality.

Te Kūiti High School principal Gareth Williams, who has only been in charge at the school for a year, is looking forward to students using the facility.

“I have only been here since they started erecting it, but what a facility. It’s based here on our school land but it’s for the community. We’re super excited to start using it.”

Following the official opening, the stadium hosted a netball game between the Northern Stars and Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.

After that, two under-13 basketball teams faced off, Waitomo mixed under-13 and Maniapoto under-13 Māori Tama.

The main event was a basketball game featuring some NBL stars, which included Te Kuiti’s Connor Coll, up against the New Zealand Army basketball team.

Stars captain Maia Wilson labelled the facility “fantastic” and said it was an “honour” to be part of the first game on the new courts.