Brent Eastwood Sport Thought: Governance Mark great news

Sport Northland board chairperson Nigel Brereton, left, receives the governance mark for sport and recreation from Sport New Zealand board deputy chairperson Jason Shoebridge. Photo / Supplied

Sport Northland received great news recently when we were awarded with the governance mark for sport and recreation in New Zealand from crown agency Sport NZ. The award was presented to Sport Northland chairperson Nigel Brereton by Jason Shoebridge, deputy chairperson of Sport NZ at the Conbrio Northland Sports Awards recently.

Sport NZ introduced the governance mark a number of years ago in an attempt to improve governance in the sport and recreation sector. Developed by the sector for the sector, the governance mark is a robust and independently verified process that assesses the standard of governance in an organisation.

To achieve the mark, we were required to go through an intensive process of self-assessment, third-party independent review, governance development and reassessment.

The mark indicates the organisation is clear about its purpose and the benefits it intends to deliver to its community. It indicates that it has good governance systems in place, understands its role as distinct from management and is correctly focused on strategy and the future direction of the organisation.

Organisations that complete the process and gain the mark are better placed for meaningful engagement with funders and stakeholders.

While it is a great acknowledgement to the way the current board operates, it is also a recognition of the legacy that the two immediate past chairpersons Richie Guy and Chris Biddles have left, as both were instrumental in setting the foundations that the governance mark was awarded for.

Since its introduction two years ago, 11 organisations have gained the governance mark across the country and another 30 are currently progressing towards it. Sport Northland is only the second regional sports trust in NZ to receive the mark.

As part of our role in developing an effective regional sport and recreation system in Northland, Sport Northland continues to work with the chairs of the 14 sports in Northland (that have governance boards) around increasing capability of both their boards and their board members.

It is hugely important that these organisations possess capability at board level to ensure that the strategic direction of their sport in Northland is effectively developed, and also that the implementation of that direction (by the paid resource) is properly measured and monitored.

This is not an easy process to get right, but the governance mark is a very effective tool for ensuring that the right foundations are in place from which a board can achieve this.

There's an old saying that "the fish rots from the head", and that phrase can certainly relate directly to the governance groups of sports organisations if they don't have the right people in the right places who are being developed in the right way (and as a board if they are not focused on the right things).