Hawera Football Club

South Taranaki’s Hāwera Football Club is thriving, with three senior men’s teams, one women’s team and a massive 270 junior players, managed by the Junior Committee.

However, the club offers the Hāwera community more than a chance to play soccer each winter.

“We’re a community sports facility and we use the grounds 12 months of the year,” said Peter Mihaljevich, President. 

Funding of $30k from Toi Foundation enabled the Hāwera Football Club to make much-needed improvements to their fields and community clubrooms. 

“First, we bought junior equipment – mobile soccer goals with nets attached that we can easily move around as needed. 

“Then inside the old Lockwood clubrooms we upgraded to LED lighting, painted the kitchen and recoated the walls which had lost their varnish over the years. We also put a non-slip surface on our balcony which can get pretty slippery in wet weather,” said Peter.

The club needed to update their Turuturu grounds and buildings because they're so well used by the community.

“We use our grounds every weekend during the winter for football – men’s, women’s and juniors. Then in summer we use it for cricket and touch.”

The clubrooms are regularly used for referee coaching courses, committee meetings and other events like the Turuturu Darts Club which plays there each Wednesday night in winter. 

“With the funding the club can go forward and utilise community needs for all the stakeholders that use the clubrooms,” said Peter.