Kia Ora Katou

Toku ingoa Ko Dana na Equestrian sports NZ

Another few weeks have gone by and we wait with baited breath to see if the majority of the country can go into Level 1 next week.  This will make a significant difference to our organising committees. 

The rollercoaster keeps on chugging on though, and we could go in and out of Levels for some time yet, so I urge organising committees to have a Plan B and C just in case.  We want to congratulate those organising committees who have found innovative ways to continue holding their events whilst complying with the guidelines. Keep up the great work and thank you for your commitment to the sport.

The 2020 AGA is approaching fast and we are looking forward to seeing our delegates there this year as we review the year that was 2019-20 – and what a year that turned out to be. Unfortunately for planning purposes we have had to limit the numbers that can come but the AGA will be livestreamed this year and we will post the link on the ESNZ and discipline facebook pages for those who are interested.  All the reports and presentations will be on the website as well for you to read.

We have an exciting young speaker this year – Georgia Trent leads the youth voice in governance at Netball NZ and was involved in working out the best way for the sport to engage with younger members. We know from our research that it is sometimes hard to engage with the younger views using traditional methods and that creating a position on a board for a young person can be terrifying for that person.  We look forward to Georgia’s views.

In the Change the Rein campaign – for organising committees we have developed some great key messages as downloadable files for including in your programmes and schedules, on your facebook pages or to plaster on the loo walls at your event. ESNZ will supply printed corflutes as well so get in touch with the office to order yours.

In addition we have created a new monthly award called Game Changers which is to be awarded to someone who did something that complies with our messages – so if youre a newcomer to the sport and someone helps you out, make sure you let us know. If you know someone who called out bad behaviour, we’d like to know. Email your story to the office with the subject line Gamechangers and we will do the rest. [email protected].

Lastly for this week – don’t forget to vote in the 2020 Presidential election. The voting instructions should have been emailed to you and voting closes on 28 September at 5pm. So if you haven’t received an email from Election Services with your code in it please let the office know on 04 499 8994 and they will resend it to you.

Have a great weekend ahead, make the most of the great spring weather and if you see a new face at your local event – give them a leg up into our sport.

Hei kona Mai – Goodbye for now.

Dana Kirkpatrick
Chief Executive