Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust new General Manager Brendan Bourke has been officially welcomed into the role.

Brendan has a vast background in national and international event management. His last role was Head of Operations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

Although he’s lived in Hawke’s Bay for the last three years, he’s spent a lot of time away from the region in his previous position, so he is really looking forward to being locally based.

“I’ve been involved in the events sector for close to 20 years and had some fantastic experiences, but this role provides a great opportunity to immerse myself into the community as well as continue to be involved in sport.

With young twins Brendan was keen to work locally and had been interested in the growth of the facilities and programmes offered by HBCFCT, both in the community as well as at the Regional Sports Park.

“When I first moved to Hawke’s Bay I met with Sir Graeme Avery, who shared his vision of creating a healthier Hawke’s Bay and it was something that struck a chord with me, especially with having two young children.

“I’ve since watched the entire facility develop, most recently the addition of the Hawke's Bay Regional Aquatic Centre powered by Hastings Pak’nSave and Avery House which opened in 2022, and is now regularly booked out.

“What I’ve now seen first-hand is that the HBCFCT delivers high-calibre athlete development and community focussed programmes that are wide reaching and have many positive outcomes relating to health, wellbeing and high performance.

The place is always buzzing with activity – the aquatic centre could have water polo, swim squads, the very popular learn to swim programmes and hydrotherapy all at once, while the EIT Institute of Sport & Health building houses the Royston Health & Fitness Centre - fully open to the community - alongside our athlete development programmes utilising the basketball and badminton courts, sprint track and pole vault facility, weightlifting and performance gym.  So, the energy out here is really positive, especially with some dedicated staff who are all striving to make a real difference in people's lives. 

Hawke’s Bay is an enviable position, and I’ve worked around the world and seen some fantastic sport facilities and what we have here is up there with the best, it’s world class.

Brendan says as the HBCFCT team looks to 2024 and beyond, it will be about growing the use of the facilities and broadening its community outreach programmes, reviewing the commercial structure and looking at the trust’s strategy.

“Now we have been operational for more than 12 months, across all three facilities, we need to re-look at the commercial structure and framework, to ensure our programmes can be delivered successfully and at the same time keeping on top of operational expenditure.   

“Given we are a Charitable Trust, we do need to look at where we can tighten the belts and avoid unnecessary spending, but also ensuring the facilities are maintained to a world class standard, so this will be a focus for 2024.

“A strategic framework and recreating our identity and values will also be on the to-do-list for next year.