She said she saw that the Hastings District Council had been cleaning up the shattered glass the day before, so she decided to take her boys to apologise in person and help to clean the mess.
"My boys apologised, they said they shouldn't have touched it, once it smashed they should have left it, they shouldn't have made a mess of it."
She said after explaining the situation and hearing her sons' apologies the council was very understanding about the situation and her sons helped to make sure all the glass was picked up as there was still a lot in the grass.
She said she also took them to apologise to others in the community who had to manage the mess.
She said they are hoping to get all the boys responsible for the broken backboard together to go out and do some community work when they are found.
"Pick up rubbish around the village, park and all that stuff, just doing a bit of a clean up to give back to the community."
A council spokesperson said the boys had shown a willingness to make up for what they had done.
"This incident is very disappointing, but if they have taken some responsibility we hope that they, or any others who behave this way, will think twice in future before damaging public property that is there to be enjoyed by everyone in the community"
They said that the council has received information about the identity of those alleged to have been involved and have passed the information onto the police.
The spokesperson said they were not yet able to confirm when the backboard would be replaced and if the replacement would be tempered glass or another material.
"The installation of the court and hoops was a collaboration with Basketball NZ and Basketball Hawke's Bay. We are working with them on a suitable replacement given their experience. "
