Kelly Shortt, events and operations manager of the Pettigrew Green Arena, with Amanda Isada, event manager at Volleyball NZ, in the new Rodney Green Foundation Arena. Photo / Paul Taylor
Kelly Shortt, events and operations manager of the Pettigrew Green Arena, with Amanda Isada, event manager at Volleyball NZ, in the new Rodney Green Foundation Arena. Photo / Paul Taylor
Over 500 volleyballers are in Hawke’s Bay over King’s Birthday weekend for their sport’s biggest tournament and the biggest test of a $20 million stadiums expansion completed just four months ago.
Draws list 73 teams for the national interprovincial championships, with 12 of Volleyball New Zealand’s 14 regions represented acrossthree women’s grades and three men’s grades. The tournament could not have been held in Hawke’s Bay without the expansion at what is now known as Rodney Green Arenas, in Taradale.
The facilities include the Pettigrew Green Arena, which was opened earlier this year and has become known as the home of the Taylor Bay Hawks in the Sal’s national men’s basketball league.
At least 12 courts will be used, with open, under-19 and under-17 grades in both men’s and women’s volleyball. Games will be played from 8am to late afternoon each day, with major men’s and women’s finals on Monday afternoon as the tournament comes to Hawke’s Bay for the first time.
North Shore-based Harbour Volleyball teams are the favourites, having won five of eight titles at last year’s championships in Wellington, including the men’s and women’s grades.
Hawke’s Bay teams did not feature in the top three of any of the grades last year but improvement is being forecast with the sport enjoying nationwide growth. There are now over 60,000 players, with an increase of close to 25 per cent from 2021-22.
Volleyball New Zealand business administration and events manager Amanda Isada says the Rodney Green Foundation Arena provides a new dimension for the growth of the sport, with the tournament supported by the Napier City Council and the Napier District Council.
The Rodney Green Foundation Arena in Taradale is an extension of the existing Pettigrew Green Arena and is one of the country's largest indoor sports centres. Photo / Paul Taylor
After Cyclone Gabrielle, teams were “keen to go but a bit hesitant” because of difficulties finding accommodation, she said.
“But, with the help of the councils and PGA staff, we were able to assist the regions in looking for accommodation.”
A big part of the tournament will be the use of a “taraflex” floor, which Volleyball NZ bought from the London Olympics and which will be set up as the “show” court for the senior men’s and women’s matches. There will be live-streaming from three courts during the tournament.
In February, Regional Indoor Sports and Events Centre Trust chairman Craig Waterhouse said there was strong demand in Hawke’s Bay for indoor court space, and a massive shortage of it as basketball, volleyball, netball, futsal and badminton had all experienced significant growth.
He said this week that the holding of the volleyball tournament so soon after the arena’s completion had justified the expansion and other sports would be watching closely with a view to holding large-scale national basketball and futsal tournaments.
