Sport and Recreation Forum a “roaring success”

The annual event features a networking period and presentations about ongoing projects, research and work in the industry.

Sport and Recreation Senior Lecturer Mike Annear said the forum was a “roaring success” and “far surpassed attendance and engagement from recent years.”

It was a valuable chance for students to meet potential employers and gain awareness of key local industry infrastructure projects. It also gave them an insight into employment trends in the field.

“The Forum provided a chance to highlight cutting-edge and applied research in Sport and Recreation by our faculty members and emerging scholars, both undergraduate and postgraduate.

“I was tremendously impressed by the willingness of industry and government representatives to engage with our young scholars.

“I was also pleased to see so many eager-eyed undergraduates in attendance and getting stuck into career conversations with our invited stakeholders.”

Students enjoyed the wide range of professionals at the event and the in-depth presentations into upcoming local projects, he said.

James Jowsey of the Christchurch City Council led the charge with an in-depth look into the city’s upcoming Parakiore Recreation and Sport Centre, breaking down the design philosophies and logistics of running a world-class community venue.

This included how the facility would be staffed, as it would need about 190 different people to operate. One staffing challenge was the need to hire many part-time fitness instructors as opposed to full-time, as they needed a chance to physically recover.

It was followed by Te Kaha Project Director Kent Summerfield, who gave an update on the One New Zealand Stadium, a multi-use arena with a seating capacity of up to 41,000.

Sociology of Sport Lecturer Thomas Kavanagh said students were eagerly engaged with these two presentations.

“Several students were looking at these specifically to understand job opportunities, while others were just broadly interested in some of the big projects that are underway within the region.”

After the presentations on the projects, Betterman Co-founder Ged Robinson spoke about the Betterman charity and how it was helping people become their best.

He was followed by Sport and Recreation Senior Lecturer Mike Annear, who presented his research on the changing face of sport and how demographics were shifting.

This was followed by two Lincoln University students.

Siyang Yang, an Exercise Science postgraduate student, discussed his work in movement and repeated high-intensity movement during basketball matches.

Sport and Recreation Management student Ella Scarlet spoke on the utilisation of outdoor fitness equipment.