Club Mark Launch
Wednesday 8 October 2003
Good afternoon. In the last month I have had two trips to politician's
hell while taking part in multispeaker events. Politician hell
is where you have to sit politely and listen as every single line
in your own speech gets delivered by some other speaker.
Where a
wonderful confection of careful phrasing, thoughtful content
and topical asides just melts before your ears and eyes. I'm very mindful today of trying not to do the same thing to other
speakers and leave them hanging and scrambling for a new line of
chat in a hurry. There are quite a few on the menu. Sports fans
might like a good workout to get the adrenalin running, for public
speakers having all your lines nicked has a very similar effect.
I'm also mindful that there has never been a news story about
a riot started when a politician has talked for less time than
expected. So today I shall be both brief, and also hopefully stick
to the script. Club Mark comes from the survey done for the Christchurch
City Council last year by Sport Canterbury.
We wanted some answers
on the health and viability of our sports clubs. We got the answers
and Sport Mark is part of the solutions
that have come out of that process.
As a Council we have quite a specific vision for sport and recreation
in Christchurch. To quote, we are aiming to "provide a city
where people participate and enjoy, and have the opportunity to
perform and excel in physical recreation and sport." Sports
clubs are key players in helping achieve that vision. We have strong
links with sports clubs and associations. These come through:
- Club leases- well over 250 sports clubs lease
Council land.
- Funding, we do lots of it.
- Sports ground provision - we have
presently have over 100 summer and winter sports parks in the
city.
- Support and advice.
- Event bidding and promotion.
- Facilities. We have some of the
best in New Zealand. We have spent hundreds of millions on
these assets for the people
of Christchurch
- Staff. We are a large employer with many staff
actively involved in sport.
- Co-ordination
And finally:
- Providing encouragement and opportunity for all to
take part in sport.
We believe that the Club Mark will ensure:
- Club security and longevity
- Strengthening of structures
- Provision of better services
- More efficient use of city resources
- Resulting lessened demands
- Less club failure
In short - it's a great idea.
|
