Volunteers are lifeblood of our sporting codes

They work late nights, they sacrifice much of their weekends, wash uniforms, transport teams, cut the oranges, fill the water bottles, clean the club rooms, coach, officiate as referees, umpires and other officials, sit on committees and give their time in other ways. Who are they? The answer is volunteers in sport.

Volunteers are a valuable resource in the sports sector. While there are around 41,000 people paid to work in sport in New Zealand, it is estimated that a further 750,000 volunteers give 50 million hours of their time each year to make sport happen. In the Bay of Plenty region there are approximately 43,000 sport and recreation volunteers equating to 2.6 million hours of time volunteered (figures from SportNZ).

This week is New Zealand Volunteer Awareness Week and the theme this year is "He tangata, He tangata, He tangata" translated as "It is people, it is people, it is people." This theme recognises the life force of volunteering - the people. As part of the week Sport Bay of Plenty is hosting a series of volunteer Thank You breakfasts in Rotorua and Tauranga on Friday. The breakfasts are an opportunity for clubs and sporting organisations to say thank you to their volunteers.

Without grassroots helpers, sport simply would not happen and players could never advance to world class level. Sport Bay of Plenty would like to thank all sport and recreation volunteers in the Bay who give their time, expertise and experience to ensure we all get to participate in sport.

The Sport Development Team at Sport Bay of Plenty works to improve the capability of regional sport in the Bay of Plenty in a number of ways. We assist regional sporting organisations, clubs and schools to become more efficient and effective organisations in the delivery of sport.

This help includes work on strategic and operational plans, positions descriptions for committees, project development with councils, coach development and volunteer training. For more information about what Sport Bay of Plenty can do for you please call 07 578 0016 or email admin@sportbop.co.nz or go to www.sportbop.co.nz.

The following clubs have nominated volunteers to attend the Thank You breakfasts. This is a snapshot of the 150+ volunteers attending.

Bowls Mount Maunganui has invited 14 volunteers to attend the breakfast. They are a club of 230 members with organised bowls on at least 160 days of the year that takes careful administration. The vast range and diversity of tasks undertaken by the volunteers enables them to function effectively as a club.

Sean Armstrong designed and maintains their website www.mountbowls.co.nz; Graeme Bones is the club coach; Bill Croad works as a handyman and in the club kitchen; Malcolm Hawkins runs their championship events; Tony Heath is a prolific worker around their greens; Jim McQuillan acts as a recorder for interclub and some other events; Allen Robinson is a handyman and jack of all trades; Colin Rogers runs their Tuesday club bowls; Terry Yule runs their Friday club bowls; Jacky Lock is their key organiser of their ladies club champs, other events and is also an umpire; Noeline Mace sees that their kitchen is fully stocked and organises the catering for some of their major events; Chris Topp organises social events and also works in the kitchen; Margaret Fletcher helps run their Twilight Bowls and also works in the kitchen; Don Burton is their sponsorship convenor and also takes a prominent role in organising their men's open tournaments.

Otumoetai Football Club: Richard Kluit has been the club president for many years. He is the glue holding everything together, highly motivated and forward thinking - responsible for organising and overseeing the growth within the club and always responding to the changes of direction within sport in general.

Richard is also responsible for the birth of the Otumoetai Sports and Recreation Club whose member organisations took ownership of the Fergusson Park facility and then created the recent extensions under his leadership are now the high standard of today for the community to benefit from. Kevin McDonagh is the Age Group Co-ordinator for Grade 9 teams, as well as an active parent and coach at a local and development level.