Community sport event management in New Zealand: planning, promotion, and partnership

This chapter focuses on the organisation of sport events at the community level and, more specifically, how such events can be successfully leveraged to increase sport participation. Initiatives that increase community participation in sport and physical activity (PA) have become increasingly important at a time when countries across the globe are witnessing rising levels of inactivity and declining or stagnant rates of sport participation (Sport New Zealand, 2019). While participation in sport may not always translate directly into increased levels of PA, there is nevertheless a positive relationship between sport participation and PA; conversely, not participating in sport has been linked to higher levels of physical inactivity (Pfeiffer & Wierenga, 2019). Therefore, as sport organisations seek to increase participation and retention, they also need to consider the fact that they have a potentially critical role to play in improving contemporary public health.