Cricket Wellington recently partnered with Naenae Old Boys Cricket Club to deliver our take on play and active recreation in the community. This programme was dubbed the ‘Naenae Festival of Cricket’. The aim of the programme was to provide our local tamariki with an opportunity to play, develop skills, create friendships, and get active, whilst using cricket as the motivating factor. The idea of play and activating Naenae Park was supported by Marty and the NOBCC committee as a way of giving back to the community and creating an atmosphere that was inviting to all members, regardless of their ability or knowledge of cricket. We wanted to create an atmosphere that was non-judgemental and full of fun and learning for our tamariki and their whanau.

Quite quickly our ‘regulars’ were bringing along family and friends to participate in the Naenae Festival of Cricket and started to connect with other tamariki from different schools within the region. We had students attend from varying schools including Boulcott Primary School, Kelson Primary School, Rata Street School, Naenae Primary School, Taita Central School, Hutt Central School and more. It was great to see parents attending with their children also, especially on our last day of delivery. 

“The festival has been fantastic; my daughter has loved coming every Friday night. It is great for our kids to be able to play sport without being too competitive, especially when we come from a performance background. This has really helped my daughter to gain some confidence and have fun! I hope you’ll be back in Term 1!”

The highlight of the festival for me was the last night which we themed “Christmas in the Park”. This was a great night which saw our tamariki having a blast! The music was pumping, sausages were cooking, kids were playing the multiple games on offer and parents were able to sit back, relax and catch up whilst our ambassadors and volunteers delivered a fantastic evening – the weather played its part too! Santa made an appearance at the end of the session and delivered gifts to all our tamariki, neatly wrapping up a great community-based initiative.

I would like to extend my gratitude to all who were involved in making the Naenae Festival of Cricket a successful community programme; Marty and the Naenae Old Boys Cricket Club committee members for being so supportive of the initiative and volunteering their time on Friday nights, opening the club rooms, supporting tamariki to learn to play cricket and providing the snags each week for the barbeque, the Hutt City Council for their giveaways which were well received by all participants involved, and the Community Cricket Ambassadors who bring positive energy and encouragement to ensure all tamariki are engaged and given an opportunity to have a go.

I look forward to working with community groups, clubs, and other organisations to see more community-based initiatives ran in high deprivations areas throughout the region, providing the opportunities for our tamariki to engage in physical activity and play.

Jaimee Bialy
Community Manager - Participation

Article added: Tuesday 09 February 2021