Sports
Auckland City FC will face tough challenge at club world champs
Imagine what it would be like playing football in front of more than 45,000 fans in Japan when you’re more used to being in front of a few hundred at a smallish Auckland park.
That’s what awaits Auckland City FC in December’s World Club Championship in Japan.
The competition’s draw means the Auckland club will play the [...]
Riders get airborne at Woodhill’s Dirt Jump Open
This year’s Monster Energy Woodhill Dirt Jump Open still delivered on adrenalin pumping action despite injury and equipment failure.
Rain during the week prior to the competition meant that 2 tonnes of sandstone had to be trucked in and shovelled by hand onto the jumps by park staff.
After the try-outs on Saturday May 21 as many [...]
NZ water polo teams caught in ‘chicken and egg’ funding issue
Some top Kiwi athletes – outside the world top 12 in their sport – are being hamstrung by a lack of funding and are struggling to succeed on the international stage.
SPARC allocates money to elite, or “carded”, athletes in 16 disciplines, including rowing, netball, cycling and swimming.
To be a carded athlete you must be near [...]
Big names in the line-up for dirt jump open
If you’ve ever wondered what a “superman seat grab” or a “no footed can” is, you should get to Woodhill Mountain Bike Park this weekend.
Terms like this will be in constant use to describe how some of the country’s most skilled dirt jump bikers compete for the prize pool at the Woodhill Dirt Jump Open.
“We’ve [...]
Auckland to be Tongan-red for RWC
In the opening game of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks will stare down a gauntlet of Tongans who promise a flurry of passion, noise, and fervour – and that’s just the fans.
The Tonga Rugby World Cup Komiti 2011 is launching a campaign to paint Auckland in Tongan-red for the world cup.
“I’m not [...]
RWC a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for buskers
Kitted out in rugby gear and painted from head to toe in silver, busker Creaghie Beere strikes a familiar pose for passers-by in the Auckland CBD.
Beere, who often stands for hours plying his trade, and other buskers are being urged to seize the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to perform in front of thousands [...]
Football season faces darkness but optimism stays high
Despite Auckland Council’s latest efforts to upgrade Madills Farm, there are three more football pitches that still need lighting.
Madills Farm is a recreational reserve in Kohimarama, a stone’s throw from the waterfront and host to the Eastern Bays Suburb Football Club where hundreds of children take part in after school sports activities.
Last year, though, winter weather led [...]
Sailors out of work as Team New Zealand forced to make cuts
The move to catamarans for the next America’s Cup could see more than half of Team New Zealand’s sailors lose their jobs.
The 2013 America’s Cup will be raced in San Francisco in the new AC72 catamarans which require 11 sailors. Seventeen were needed to sail the more traditional monohulls, of which the team had two.
For [...]
Pedals going flat out for Les Mills quake victims
Staff and gym-goers from Auckland’s largest fitness centre took part in a 24-hour Cycle for Christchurch fundraiser that raised more than $26,000 on April 1.
People from Les Mills cycled to raise money for their peers and colleagues in Christchurch, who are out of work and have little financial help.
Since the February 22 quake hit the [...]
Warriors’ community programme is one for the books
They’ve lost more than games they have won in the early stages of the National Rugby League this season, but the New Zealand Warriors have been championing another cause altogether with their school literacy programme.
League in Libraries is run by the Warriors and printing company Konica Minolta. It aims to boost literacy levels and encourage [...]
