Earlier this year we re-structured the Relationship Management team. One of the key contributing factors for this change was the $400,000 per annum reduction of funding from Sport NZ. We landed on a model that we hoped would have minimal impact on service delivery and club engagement with our regionally based staff, whilst cutting back on the administrative tasks that have always been a prominent part of their role. The centralisation of the majority of these administrative tasks through ‘helpdesk’ has meant that RMs are able to focus on the higher level project work that clubs require.

The RM team’s regions were stretched slightly to include the responsibility for supporting more clubs over a larger area. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet been able to source extra funding to employ in-situ staff in Southland, Bay of Plenty or Hawkes Bay/Poverty Bay as planned but this will remain a focus for us.