NZCT Grant Kick-Starts Growth for Ōhope Junior Footballers.

"New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) has awarded Ōhope Beach Football Club a grant of $13,390 to purchase new playing uniforms and extra equipment for its growing junior football teams—ensuring all teams wear matching jerseys for the first time.

Club Secretary Gerard McCormack says “Participation in our club has grown significantly across the Whakatāne region, with junior registrations expected to rise by 15% this year. Thanks to this generous grant from NZCT, we’ll be able to accommodate the growing number of junior players.”

Club President Jon Barnes shares “With the number of players increasing every year, this grant will enable us to purchase additional training equipment and renew our jerseys across all the club’s junior age groups. The renewal of all the jerseys used by each of our junior teams in one go means they’ll all be wearing the same jerseys for the first time in the club’s history. The kids are all absolutely thrilled!”

Receiving new uniforms also sparked a unique reuse initiative. Instead of throwing out the old kits, McCormack came up with the idea of turning them into custom boot bags. Each bag features the club logo and the child’s name and will be sold back to families at a low cost to help raise extra funds.

McCormack adds “CReW donated thread and sewing machines and made a contribution to cover the children’s names being added, supporting the club’s ambitions to reuse their old jerseys and not just dump them into landfill.”

NZCT’s GM of Grants, Marketing and Communications, Ben Hodges, adds, “It’s great to see a club not only focused on developing young players but also coming up with smart ways to reuse old gear. This grant wouldn’t be possible without the responsible gaming partnership we share with Cobb & Co. Whakatane.”