Train in Town, Play in Paradise
Overlooking Lyttelton Harbour, Diamond Harbour has long been renowned for its beauty and views, and it’s now a message its Rugby Club is looking to capitalise on, with the Diamond Harbour Rugby Club utilising their location wisely in the search for playing numbers.
Playing at the picturesque Stoddart Park, Diamond Harbour finds itself an attractive location for seniors and juniors alike. That’s why, in its search to help boost playing numbers and accessibility to training, the club’s Division 2 side trains at South Hagley on a Wednesday night, lending itself to the phrase “Train in Town, Play in Paradise.”
“It started a few years ago now,” said Club President Paul Dennis, “and with Diamond Harbour being a relatively small community, it enables the club to prosper and attract people to our great little club. One of the barriers for us is that people have the impression that Diamond Harbour is too far away, which can be a good thing sometimes, but having the training at Hagley Park allows players to access and get involved with the club.”
Despite only a handful of the squad living in Diamond Harbour, hosting training in town tends to suit everyone, with many of the team working and living near Christchurch. Dennis is one of those who permanently reside in Diamond Harbour but having training on the way home from work means that he too can get down and be involved with the Ellesmere Division 2 side.
“Our mission as a club is to remove the barriers to playing rugby, but especially for playing for Diamond Harbour. So, for training, it allows us to remove the barrier of driving to Diamond Harbour after work and be agile as a club to make ourselves a welcoming destination to play rugby.”
It’s not the only great initiative being run out of the club, with the club hosting Halswell Wigram on the 9th of April in what is hoped to become an annual pre-season fixture, with this year’s addition being used to support the ‘I Am Hope’ charity and their positive mental health messaging.
“Over the last few years since I have been President, and even before that, mental health has been something that the club’s gravitated towards. For us, this is focusing on a supportive environment and to build up the comradery off the field too so that we have boys that will support each other through all sorts of challenges.” Dennis said.
“We’re going to be competing for the Fox Cup with the Halswell Wigram Battlers. We played them at the end of last year and we’re excited to have it as a pre-season game this year. Kerry Hocking will be refereeing the game this weekend and he suggested we make the game in support of the ‘I Am Hope’ foundation. Alongside the fundraiser, we’ll have Ronnie Moore guest speaking about the cause and of course, the rugby in what has been a tough time of late with Covid and the like. This game allows us to use that vehicle to connect people and let them know that they are not alone and there’s pathways to get the tools to help deal with any challenges they have got.”
Initiatives such as these all go in to making Diamond Harbour an attractive place to play rugby and be involved with a club, and why wouldn’t it, when you get to play rugby in paradise.