At the South Waikato Sports and Events Centre our community social sports initiative is a program that aims to promote active play, teamwork, and social interaction through sports and recreational activities.
These initiatives involve organizing sports leagues, tournaments, or casual games that are open to community and include all ages and skill levels.
The social sport leagues we currently run are Netball, Volleyball, Open court and coming soon Pickleball.
They have various goals, such as fostering a sense of community, improving wellbeing physical activity, and providing opportunities to build social engagement with new people.
Identifying the need for social leagues started a few years ago and the process to identify the needs was around interacting with the community. The facility after all belongs to the community and a lot of fundraising was done to get Tokoroa this amazing venue.
Starting with a Community Assessment:
We identify existing sports-related organizations or groups in your community.
We consider demographic factors like age, interests, and activity levels.
Needs Analysis:
Determine what types of activities or sports would best meet the community's needs and preferences.
Assessed the availability with the facility being a dual usage site.
Consider the time, day, and frequency preferences for running the leagues.
Barriers Identification:
Financial barriers: Some community members lack the funds for equipment or participation fees.
Lack of awareness: People not knowing we existed and the facilities we have to offer.
Scheduling conflicts: Finding suitable time slots for these activities
Solutions:
We accessed the financial barriers with our focus being customer participation and a social community event.
Promoted through social media, flyers, and local events to raise awareness.
Offered flexible scheduling options to accommodate different needs.
Community Involvement:
We take pride that we work closely with the community in the planning and decision-making process. (What time and day best suits) we cater to our social sports initiative to the specific needs of our community, increasing the likelihood of its success and impact.
In the past 12 months our social leagues have had several beneficial outcomes for both individuals and the community.
We achieved the following results:
Community Cohesion: - Our social leagues brought people together, fostering a sense of belonging within community. Participants build friendships and connections, which can strengthen social bonds.
Physical Health: - Engaging in regular activities promotes physical wellbeing. This helps address the need for our community to lead a healthier lifestyle.
Mental Health: - Participating in our social leagues can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. It provides an outlet for individuals to relax, have fun, and improve their mental health.
Inclusivity: - Addressing the needs of such a diverse community in Tokoroa by offering various activities and accommodating different skill levels ensures inclusivity. Everyone can participate and benefit.
Skill Development: - Our social leagues provide an opportunity for skill development in a supportive and non-competitive environment. This can address the need for personal growth and development.
Community Pride: - Our successful leagues instil a sense of pride and identity within the community, helping to address the need for a positive community image.
Social Engagement: - We have increased social interaction, especially after periods of isolation and COVID lockdowns, our social leagues provide a structured and an enjoyable way for people to engage and connect with others.
The social league has positively impacted on the lives of participants and contributes to the overall well-being and cohesiveness of our community.
Social leagues provide a fantastic experience and creates a strong community connection.
Passion: Community social leagues bring together individuals who share a common interest in a particular activity. This shared passion has created a strong bonding within the league families.
Building Teams: Participants learn to communicate effectively, trust their teammates, and work toward common goals, fostering great connections.
Friendly: While our social leagues are often less competitive than professional leagues, friendly competition can still be exciting and fun. It creates a sense of camaraderie among participants.
Events: Beyond the games, our social leagues often organize social events and gatherings. These provide additional opportunities for
community members to connect and socialize, building strong friendships and relationships.
Support: Participants often become a support system for one another, both on and off the court. They celebrate victories and provide encouragement during challenges.
Inclusivity: Welcome people of all skill levels and backgrounds, making them inclusive and diverse, leading to rich connections among community.
Physical Activity: Engaging in physical activity releases endorphins and promotes overall well-being. This positive impact on health can also contribute to stronger community connections. People easily get bored exercising but playing with a team they are more committed to show up.
Participants taking part in the social leagues walk away with a memorable experience, a shared experience of victories, defeats, and memorable moments on the court create lasting memories and bonds among participants.
We have received some great feedback from the participants and word of mouth has got out in the community and the last three leagues have been full to a point that we couldn't accommodate anymore teams.
We have built this up from running one league to now running three different leagues with three different sports. We are now planning to start a pickle ball league.
The creation of these social community social leagues have been a powerful tool to unite our community. It provides a safe and welcoming space where people of different backgrounds and perspectives can come together to pursue a common goal - the love of a sport they enjoy.
Overall, our community social leagues provide a structured and enjoyable way for people to come together, share experiences, and build lasting community connections while staying physically active and having fun.
We aim to encourage our community to become more active and we open the doors to everyone. These leagues are great to watch and amazing to host.
