The Waipā Community Facilities Trust has recognised a growth opportunity for Swim Waipā upon presenting its six-monthly report.
Te Awamutu Pool
Trust chief executive Matt Horne and chair Shane Walsh unveiled the July-December 2024 report at the Waipā District Council service delivery committee meeting last month.
“Last year was a very successful year for the trust and this year seems to be tracking better than that year,” Horne said.
“As of December, we were at just over 37,000 visits more than last year – up 19.3 per cent.
“As of February, we were at about 43,000 visits. We’ve had a good summer.”
The Te Awamutu Events Centre occupancy has gone from 37 per cent to 60 per cent within a short period, while there have been 53 per cent more visitors to the centre compared to the same time last year.
ASB Stadium, Te Awamutu
Perry Aquatic Centre in Cambridge and Club Waipā gym in Te Awamutu have also had more visits, but Swim Waipā participation has plateaued.
“The event centre itself is doing well; that’s up at around 26,000 visits. A lot of that is because we’ve had more events and more usage in the stadium side. The stadium is up by 13,000 visits or 68 per cent,” Horne said.
“Perry Aquatic Centre, once again the patronage is up, and its reputation is getting out there. The visits are up again by over 11,000.
“The Club Waipā gym is doing well. Our gym membership, as of last month, is at 1405 members. That’s pretty good with the amount of gyms and similar activities in [the Waipā].
“More members, means more visits. We’re up by more than 4000 visits, about 13 per cent.
“Swim Waipā is slightly down on last year. Last year was record numbers. If you look at the year prior, it’s around the same. It’s something we’re working on.”
The classes are for all ages and abilities at Te Awamutu and Cambridge facilities.
Horne said the numbers are still good but when the new Cambridge pool complex opened, the swim school grew by default.
“It’s got to that plateau now, so we need to work harder in that area.”
Walsh said the trust board is working to improve the numbers and a smartphone application could be one of the answers.
“We think cost may be a barrier in this economic climate that we’re in. It’s an upfront payment and then they get their swimming lessons,” Walsh said.
“We’re looking at [creating] an app. The app will have several functions. One will be to spread that payment out, more like a gym membership where you’re paying as you go.
“We want to be the best swimming school in New Zealand, that’s the vision. We want to have this app where parents know where children are in terms of their swimming, what level they’re at, just there on their phone.
“We’re trying to improve the communication.”
Horne said they’re going through the process and are down to a final selection of providers.
“[It would be] like a school app where you can log-in on your child and see how their progress is going. When you’ve got 2000 kids in the swim school, to get to talk to every parent on how their child is progressing and the turnaround between classes can get tough,” he said.
“If you’ve got comments, you can fire them through on the app and someone can reply. We’d love to be face to face with everybody, but sometimes that’s not possible.”
Matt Horne
