Marcus Agnew
With a keen interest in all sports and a history of working with some of the country's top athletes, it's no surprise Marcus Agnew is right behind the new regional sports park developments for what will become AUT Millennium Hawke's Bay.
Mr Agnew moved to the region in 2008 where he began tutoring for the Eastern Institute of Technology Recreation and Sport programme.
He has his masters in health science and completed his thesis on Game Analysis in Rugby Union with New Zealand Rugby Union.
He now teaches biomechanics and physical conditioning for the institute.
"I've been working in that space for a long time and always wanted to get a system running here in Hawke's Bay."
Prior to coming to the region he had managed the academy for North Harbour Rugby, and was team analyst for the Auckland Rugby team, the Pacific Islanders' international team tours of Britain and Europe in 2006 and 2008.
He said Hawke's Bay was one of the only places in the country that did not have a sound system in place for athletes, and if the community got behind this venture it could be one of the best.
As Hawke's Bay's Pathway to Podium, a programme run by EIT and High Performance Sport New Zealand, athlete and coach programme coordinator, Mr Agnew is helping prepare some of the region's most promising young sports stars.
He said there were athletes currently training for world championships but there was no centre for them to go.
"I'm trying to bring that high level of experiences and expertise in a system to help the whole community."
Mr Agnew's passion to propel athletes further in their careers is proven by his work consulting for Samoa Rugby since 2011, as well as being a performance analyst with Manu Samoa throughout Rugby World Cup, and Pacific Nations Cups of 2011 and 2012 in Japan and Fiji.
He also toured United Kingdom and France, more recently as High Performance Advisor.
His wealth of experience does not stop there, he was a skills analyst for the New Zealand Under 20 team between 2008-2012, and works with Hawke's Bay Rugby Union.
While he enjoys bringing this experience to his students' development during teaching, he manages to pin point a highlight of his involvement in the programme so far - helping at-risk youth as well as those at the fringes.
Having recently travelled to Wairoa to present the new development he said he came away with an amazing feeling of support.
"We need the centre, the youth are not getting what they should be."
He said there were so many great aspects of the programme but seeing youth realise how good they could be was a front-runner.
"Providing that opportunity for them to be the best they can be. There's heaps of talent out there."
The programme will extend to all suburbs right across the region and pre-school to elderly, the general community to elite athletes will be involved through a satellite system.
"I'm pretty excited about what we can do. If we can get the system in place we will have a great impact."
Mr Agnew said he had carried out extensive research and had looked into possible options for a long time.
He said it was difficult finding the right people to make it happen, but now Sir Graeme Avery had become involved it was finally becoming plausible.
"If this falls over and it doesn't happen now then it will probably never happen again ... we might never get another chance."