by Hamish Haika, Deputy Chair, Whangaruru Coastal Community Group – published in the Pothole, March 2022 edition

There has been great progress made on our Whangaruru Community Sports Hub in Oakura over the last few months, despite the impacts of Covid. It’s been a long journey, but we hope to be done in a few weeks and have a place all in Whangaruru can be proud of. The community has willingly given their time and we are very grateful. From the rugby boys cleaning and painting to Craig and the NUD team donating machinery and their time to help with the power connection, to Dave and Pete on the brushes, our kuia/kaumatua support and many more. Even the smallest of tasks has made a difference.

As a community, we are gearing up for the start of winter sports and we are very strong in many codes, both seniors and juniors, including rugby, netball and basketball. Our Rugby Club has not been able to play home games during the build and like many sports, has had to meet the demands of Covid. It will be great to soon play at home at this new multi-code facility. This year, our rugby juniors will play an in-house competition and there are four Whangaruru teams already with the possibility of more to join. They will be our senior curtain raisers and we invite you all to come along and support them. As we complete this building and look forward to a wide range of events being held here, we are already well into planning for the next stage which includes an additional rugby field and hard courts. We want to ensure the current and future generations of Whangaruru will enjoy and benefit from our efforts and the aspirations of the community.

Update: Although the community sports hub building was not completed in time and therefore is yet to officially open, the first home game of the season was able to be played on 21 May 2022 on home ground. Whangaruru RFC won their game against Marist 31-19. Congratulations!

Photography courtesy of Samzsz Sun