Sport Northland is delighted to announce three new senior appointments, as the Trust’s organisational structure starts to take shape in response to a bold new vision and purpose set by the Board.

Following the development of a new strategic plan in 2015 and the negotiation of a new investment contract with Sport NZ recently, Sport Northland has undertaken a comprehensive review of its operating structure to ensure the implementation of the new strategy is effective and efficient in pursuit of the Trust’s vision of ‘all Northlanders leading better lives through involvement in sport’.

The outcome of that review was the dissolution of the existing operational areas and the establishment of four new business units – Events, Community Sport, Places and Business Improvement.

Following a recruitment process, three new appointments have been made – Azelia Parkinson (Events Manager), Anna Markwick (Community Sport Manager) and Stu Middleton (Places Manager). The fourth business unit (Business Improvement) will be managed by the existing Chief Operating Officer, Brent Markwick.

Azelia Parkinson will lead a growing events programme, which features the award winning Run/Walk Series (including the iconic ASB Kerikeri Half Marathon) as well as the relatively new Fullers Great Sights Bay of Islands Beast and the Ray White Hatea Loop Challenge. In her new role, Azelia will also be tasked with completing a thorough investigation into the possibility of further events growth within the Trust, including what events already exist across Northland and a gap analysis, the result of which will determine if any new events are feasible.

The previous operational areas of Recreation and Sport have effectively been combined under the new structure to form the Community Sport team. Under Anna Markwick’s leadership, the new business unit will not only deliver directly to the end users through the existing Healthy Lifestyles team (Green Prescription and Active Workplaces), it will also feature five other teams (Sport Systems, Primary Schools, Secondary Schools, Maori Sport and Water Safety) who will work with people and providers of sport to increase the quality and quantity of experiences and opportunities available to Northlanders.

Stu Middleton will also lead a new business unit within the trust – that of Places (facilities and infrastructure). This will not only consist of overseeing the management of the ASB Leisure Centre (Sport Northland managed) and the Whangarei Aquatic Centre (CLM managed), the role will also entail providing advice and support to external groups on the most effective development and utilisation of facilities across the region, using the Northland Sports Facilities Plan for guidance.

Brent Markwick will directly lead the Corporate Services team in addition to two new roles (Sponsorship/Funding and Insights). The Insights role will ensure Sport Northland is collating quality, relevant data and insights (both existing and the capture of new data) so as to ensure that the new participant-focussed approach of the Trust is implemented. The role will also provide the wider sector with the tools and skills to do the same within their own organisations.

All four managers are now working hard on reviewing their own business unit structures, with the goal of having a fit-for-purpose workforce fully operating in the new year.

Sport Northland Chairman Chris Biddles and Chief Executive Brent Eastwood are both excited about the future for both Sport Northland and the sector. “The Board has set an ambitious strategic plan through until 2020 and we are thrilled that by January Brent will have the best possible team underway in the implementation of that new direction. He has a quality senior leadership team in place and we can now look forward to 2017 with much confidence” says Mr Biddles.

Brent Eastwood says that the new direction is closely aligned with that of Sport NZ and has gone away from the targeted sport approach to one of working on connecting and aligning the various sport systems that operate in the region. “We know we need to focus on what the participant (and non-participant) want, and we also know that much of the sport system in Northland is not well connected and not totally working together – we will be aiming to overcome this while also trying to expand the quality and quantity of relevant participation opportunities available to Northlanders”.