Six years of sports promotion in Wanganui will end next month with Akiwa Events co-owner Paul Berridge confirming he and his family are following their HoopNation basketball tournament to Tauranga to live permanently.
Their departure will end Akiwa's other events in this town such as the Rise of the Fallenboxing show, as well his ownership of the popular FightFit gym and assistance with Wanganui's youth basketball teams.
Berridge had initially announced he was remaining in Wanganui when HoopNation signed a three-year agreement with the nine-court ASB Arena, as he and partner KJ Allen felt their tournament had outgrown Springvale Stadium. They were also at loggerheads with Whanganui District Council over receiving more assistance from the Economic Development Impact Fund and whether serious plans would be made to expand the Springvale complex.
While this was going on, the Tauranga City Council offered HoopNation $40,000 in major events funding this year, followed by $30,000 next year and $20,000 earmarked for 2018-19.
Berridge's wife has also found employment in Tauranga and Berridge said he needed to be there fulltime to build on his contacts and partnerships.
"Participation is higher in Tauranga and the facilities are world class." Since coming back to Wanganui after 11 years away, Berridge said he had enjoyed working in the community and trying to bring "fresh ideas" to the town.
He was involved in everything from youth basketball to training the Steelform Wanganui rugby team, to founding HoopNation and doubling its entry numbers in four years, to running Rise of the Fallen, which was headlined by his cousin and New Zealand's former No1 ranked fighter Robert Berridge.
Some of his dealings with WDC left a "bitter taste", as Wanganui needed to find a way to embrace more concepts, he said.
"The city's got a lot of things going on where it's still trying to find its identity.
"There was a lot of negatives happening more than pros at the moment.
"Even with Air New Zealand pulling out, that's got to say something."
Berridge said it was not necessarily the end of FightFit, as he was "pleasantly surprised" to be approached by four people interested in taking it over.
It was possible he could leave the equipment here and set up a fresh FightFit in Tauranga to begin the start of a franchise chain.
"It has to be a good fit [in Wanganui] too, it just can't be anyone."
