There was never any doubt at all about Sports Hawke's Bay lacing up the boots and partnering Hawke's Bay Today in the now-annual appeal which sparks a remarkable, and heart-warming response.
Hawke's Bay Today started the campaign in 2014 in a bid to give back to the community. Editor Andrew Austin approached Sports Hawke's Bay to distribute the boots and the initiative took off from there. The paper's readers and public embraced it, big-time.
The following year when the Sports Hawke's Bay crews arrived at Hawke's Bay Today's office in Hastings where the boxes and boxes of donated boots were stored, it took nine car-loads to remove them.
Mr Austin said the paper had been looking for a meaningful way to give back to the community.
"We had heard about how similar projects had been succesful at other newspapers in the (NZME) group and so decided to give it a shot. To say that we have been overwhelmed by the response from our readers is an understatement."
Mr Austin said the paper would keep the initiative going for as long as there was a need.
"How knows there could be a future-All Black or Black Sticks who will say this campaign kick-started their career."
More than 2000 boots were donated during the first three years of the appeal, and this year is almost certainly going to greatly raise that figure.
Dealing with hundreds of boots and sports shoes of all sizes and types for distribution is no quick or easy job but that's just fine with Mr Hambleton and the Sport in Schools crew.
"It's always a great problem to have and at the end of it all there's not one pair left. They all go to a new home."
How it all started
Last November, way, way before the 2017 appeal start date was even officially stamped, a woman arrived at the Napier office of Sport Hawke's Bay with a bag containing four pairs of boots, a couple in kids' sizes and a couple for teenage feet.
That effectively reflected the feeling out there across the public landscape now.
Time to get the no-longer-used or fitting boots and sports shoes out and gift them to someone else so they can take their place out on the sporting spots across the Bay.
"We have been starting to get calls from people asking when it's going to start again and where they drop things off. It's a really great community thing and naturally we're proud to be part of it," Mr Hambleton said.
"Our target is we want a healthy and vibrant community and this helps push that," he said.
"There are numerous benefits for kids being active and we want to help inspire a more active lifestyle. We want the kids to be active."
The boots and shoes campaign ties in strongly with Sport Hawke's Bay's committal to school sporting programmes through its School Sports team.
Its philosophy is simple.
"To nurture an equitable and inclusive environment for young people to build a life-long love of sport and physical activity through positive and meaningful experiences."
Level playing field
Part of that overall approach is the Sport Skills in Schools project.
The aim of Sport Skills in Schools is to provide a wider variety of equitable sporting opportunities to young people and schools, and to support the development of quality delivery people.
"Bring Yer Boots is a great offshoot of that," Mr Hambleton said.
"There are heaps of kids out there who want to get out and take part but they don't have the boots."
He said the School Sports Team crew wanted to get as many young people involved in sport as they could but conceded there were certain barriers for some - and a major one was not having the right footwear.
"Our schools team has the pleasure of distributing them and it's so heartwarming to see those faces. We get some great feedback," he said.
Mr Hambleton said Sport Hawke's Bay had linked in with all schools to ensure young people needing sports boots or shoes could be taken care of.
They focused on determining where there was a need. In many cases where there were children whose parents and caregivers were going through tough times and needed some community help to get their young ones on to the sports fields, courts and tracks.
In the past couple of campaigns the rugby and football boots had also been joined by spiked running shoes, cycling shoes and general running shoes, so the latest campaign has been expanded to take a wider spread of footwear.
"It's great to see kids active and it's great the community can help us do that through this campaign."
When told about the Bring Yer Boots campaign Massey University senior lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science Dr Andrew Foskett said: "That is amazing; that is so valuable."
Dr Foskett said one of the main barriers to getting into sport that was difficult to break down was cost.
"So anything you can do to break that down is great."
He had seen it himself and the evidence was widespread; when children got into a sport they enjoyed and developed an affinity for it that devotion would be there for life.
"They will start off playing at school and you'll find many still playing when they're over 35 and into masters sport."
He said apart from the obvious physical benefit of exercise and fitness he had also seen, especially in the past decade, the benefits to mental health.
Sport was a valuable release from stress, and it was equally valuable in helping develop friendships, often for life.
"You build a bond with teammates, on the field of battle if you like.
"You go through the defeats and the victories together."
For many youngsters there was also the personal development often sparked and guided by their coaches who were effectively strong, positive role models.
Dr Foskett said people who caught the love of sport and general exercise early tended to develop it into a valuable habit; of getting up, putting the boots on and getting out there.
"It's getting that motivation under way and when it does it becomes part of a daily ritual so the sooner we can start these positive associations the better."
Hawke's Bay Rugby Union commercial manager Jay Campbell was also delighted the Bring Yer Boots campaign had sparked into life again.
He has described it as a "fantastic initiative" which had clearly captured the support of Bay communities.
"The Hawke's Bay Today Bring Yer Boots campaign is an outstanding initiative that has gone from strength to strength and anything that enables more kids to play footy this winter is fantastic and Hawke's Bay rugby whole-heartedly supports that."