New Sport Waitaki regional co-ordinator Kate Cartwright is getting to grips with her turf.
There is enough of it, with the Waitaki District stretching from the Waitaki River to beyond Palmerston and inland to the Ahuriri valley.
The Christchurch native, who holds physical education and marketing degrees from Otago University, and who studied in Christchurch at the New Zealand Graduate School of Education, has spent the last month canvassing the district; assessing resources and marshalling an assorted army of volunteer sporting troops.
She has been pleasantly surprised with what she has found.
"I've been really impressed by the number of sports clubs and passion," she said.
"There are some really great people around. I walked away from a barbecue with some runners the other night and thought they were some of the nicest people I had ever met."
While not an elite athlete herself, Ms Cartwright said she enjoyed a number of different sports.
She had been "playing a bit of everything" since arriving with her partner, who had taken up a job at St Kevin's College, and visited a number of different sports clubs who were crying out for members.
Her focus is something which has increasingly vexed coaches, teachers, parents and health professionals up and down the country for some time.
"I'm really keen to look at people who are active, and at the barriers for people who aren't active," she said.
A lot of emphasis would be placed on getting those who did not generally participate to give it a go. She believed more activities were needed for senior citizens. In the Waitaki District, 25% of the population is over the age of 65.
Clubs in the district were all non-profit, and relied heavily on the work put in by a small number of loyal volunteers.
Funding seminars are planned for early next year to inform clubs of avenues for funding, such as the Otago Community Trust and lotteries commission.
This month the Sport Waitaki initiative shifts up the Waitaki Valley, with the summer holidaymakers. A Les Mills class has been scheduled for the Otematata Community Centre for today and a Zumba class for the same venue tomorrow night.
