Foreword
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Sport and physical recreation play a vital role in the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of New Zealand.
Sport and recreation organisations around New Zealand are part of our social fabric.
They provide great opportunities for all New Zealanders to take part in physical activity and stay healthy.
With support from the New Zealand Academy of Sport, our champion sports men and women help to put New Zealand on the world map and provide us with a source of pride in our identity as New Zealanders.
Sport and recreation is big business and generates valuable economic opportunities such as hosting major sports events or developing innovative sports and recreation technology.
As Sport & Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) enters its fourth year of operations, the importance of sport and physical recreation to the wellbeing of New Zealand is becoming more widely recognised. In particular, there is growing recognition that physical activity is an important tool in the fi ght against lifestyle diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Encouraging greater participation
Over the past three years, SPARC has been designing and putting in place systems to encourage and sustain greater participation in sport and physical recreation by New Zealanders.
We have reached the end of our establishment phase and, as we look to the future, we have restructured our organisation to make us more nimble, focused and efficient, so that we can contribute to better outcomes for New Zealand.
We have come a long way, but there is still a lot to achieve:
- While there is good evidence that our investment in encouraging physical activity is successful, a significant proportion of New Zealanders are still not doing enough physical activity to maintain their basic health.
- Although more of our elite athletes are competitive on the world stage, New Zealanders expect our investment in high performance sports to produce better results at the Beijing Olympics and beyond.
- Our investments in the sport and recreation sector have increased its strength and capability, but many organisations still do not have the skills and vitality to keep pace with changes in society.
Five-year strategic plan
In 2006/07 we will be developing a five-year strategic plan to address these challenges. S
PARC's intention over the next five years is to develop a widely shared understanding of how all New Zealanders can be provided with opportunities to explore, learn, participate, perform and excel.
The coming years promise to be an exciting period for SPARC and we look forward to working with the sport and recreation sector, the wider community and other government agencies to achieve our vision.
John Wells
Chairperson
Elizabeth Coutts
Board Member
Sport & Recreation New Zealand
Contents | >> Next: Background and Vision
Updated | 22 Mar 2007.
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