Merry Christmas, New Zealand handball community!
Just a brief update for you to round off the year and a fairly intensive few months of admin input from your Executive Committee.
First up, I am delighted to announce that the NZHF has been granted Sport NZ Investment Eligibility status.
What does that mean, you ask? Good question. In essence, it means we have been officially recognised by Sport NZ as the organisation representing handball in New Zealand. While many might think that is a no-brainer, in order to get that recognition Sport NZ needed to be convinced that we have the organisational attributes it is looking for in its investment partners, and that we have the capability to receive and manage public monies. It took a lot of hard work from the previous and current Executive Committee to get us there, and it doesn’t mean we automatically receive a flow of riches from the public purse, but it opens a lot of doors for us.
The first door that status has opened has been to enable a Sport Betting Agreement with TAB to come into effect. That’s right – pretty soon you will be able to place bets at the TAB on handball games from around the globe, and the NZHF will benefit from some of the revenue TAB generates from that betting activity. We are still working through the logistics of getting that up and running, so look out for further info and a formal launch early in the New Year, hopefully in time for the Egypt World Cup.
Huge thanks to past and current Executive Committee members who played a part in getting the above two key strategic partnerships over the line. Legend.
Also legendary was the great work of Willy Silcock and the beach handball volunteers in pulling off a well-attended beach handball training camp in Christchurch on 19 and 20 December. It’s a fantastic non-beach sand stadium in the Garden City for those who haven’t seen it before, and seeing 50-odd beach enthusiasts train and play some pretty decent beach handball was a real pre-Xmas treat. A huge success, and augurs well for the great programme Willy and the team have in place for the next few months.
The other plan for the next few months we will kick off shortly after Christmas is the NZHF Constitution Review. I know you have all been hanging out for this, and you will be able to fill your boots with considering key aspects of our constitution over the New Year holidays. Don’t say we didn’t give you something for Christmas. The review proposals will be posted on or just after Boxing Day, and you will have a few weeks to get your feedback to us to inform the drafting of a replacement constitution. I’m excited about it, and I hope you are as well.
That’s it for now. While it’s a shame we couldn’t get more handball in over the course of 2020 and much of the 2021 international programme is uncertain, we can celebrate the opportunities we have been able to enjoy of playing our great sport and watching it live. Constitution review aside, we’re working hard to make next year’s handball programme as exciting for you as we can. Travel safe these holidays for those heading away – make sure you keep yourselves safe to be able to enjoy all that handball has to offer in 2021!
All the best
David Ireland
President, NZHF