Takapau Rugby Club could ‘fold’ after 140 years, with enough players for a team but not for a committee

Children’s rugby at Takapau’s War Memorial Park. The club is likely to go into recess if it can’t get members for its junior and club committees.

A Central Hawke’s Bay rugby club that has served its community for almost 140 years will fold if it can’t get enough people to form a committee this year.

Takapau Rugby Football Club treasurer Matt Wade, who is also chair of the board of trustees at the 135-pupil Takapau School, says enough hands have gone up to form a senior third division side this year and the club has its junior teams.

But the annual meeting was unable to form a new committee, and the call has gone out for new blood in the hope another meeting can be held on Sunday, otherwise the club will “fold”.

Wade told Hawke’s Bay Today the club has funds and “fold” means “probably” going into recess, pending any other decisions on the future of the club, which was established in 1886.

While just one family had put their hand up by Monday night, support was rallying externally with Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union community rugby manager Sean Davies saying the union and Sport Hawke’s Bay are keen to find out what the issues are and help in any way they can.

But he says the problem of sustainability is an issue for all community sports clubs relying on a volunteer base.

Davies cites issues including funding and resourcing, education (more physical education teachers in schools), and other pressures now detracting from the availability of people taking up the vital roles.

Davies says it needed to be dealt with by the government at a national level.

He says the issues have been with community sport at all levels for a long time, which is reflected in Hawke’s Bay Today files, including Eskview having almost gone into recess in 2015, and some of the issues being evident or foreseen in the mergers of top clubs.

Central Rugby and Sports was created in Waipukurau in 1994, while mergers have also occurred in Napier and Hastings as far back as Napier Marist and Napier HSOB 35 years ago.

Takapau, which in 1957 opened a grandstand at War Memorial Park, in sight of State Highway 2 about 20km west of Waipukurau, played in the Central Hawke’s Bay competition until Hawke’s Bay-wide competitions were started in the late 1980s.

The imminence of a possible shutdown came in a Facebook post this week, in which it said: “It is with great regret that the outgoing committee announces the folding of Takapau Rugby Football Club.”

But it pointed to a further meeting on Sunday if there is enough interest, and highlighted what the community stands to lose – the senior men’s team, a popular children’s schools Barefoot 7s tournament and the club’s junior teams, as well as club days.

“Unfortunately for the past few seasons the committee have been trying to find replacements for positions, with no such luck,” the post said.

“It has become unsustainable for the few still involved.”

It said the call was put out for new junior and senior committee members, which by Monday night had been answered by one family, but added: “We will do one final push to see if we can come up with sufficient support for the club.”

If there is enough interest, the meeting will be on Sunday at 6pm – allowing time for the farmers to get in from milking.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.