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A Hamilton sports club had more than $40,000 worth of football equipment burned on Guy Fawkes night after people were seen firing fireworks at each other nearby.
Northern United Sports Club stores gear across several sites because it doesn’t have permanent clubrooms. Important items for its junior footballers are kept
at Hamilton’s Discovery Park changing room.
On November 5, a fire in the changing room burned new pop-up goals, nets, balls, training gear, uniform kit, flags and the line marker for pitches, causing damage of about $42,000.
Detective Andrew Murphy confirmed police were investigating a suspicious fire at Discovery Park’s public toilets and changing rooms about 11pm on November 5.
“Witnesses reported seeing people firing fireworks at each other in the carpark shortly before the fire.
“The people were believed to have arrived in vehicles and reportedly left the area shortly before the fire was discovered.”
Club spokesman Mark Oliphant told the Herald the incident had hurt the club financially and its members emotionally.
“We were all pretty despondent. It was gutting, is all I can say.
“You work really hard to build the club up and then something like that happens. It’s like a punch in the gut, really, after all you do.
“We work hard to fundraise. And volunteers, we’re always after volunteers, as are most clubs.
“It’s heading into Christmas, there’s the cost of living to factor in. So, for myself, it wasn’t just gutting insofar as what we’ve lost, it was just the ramifications of what we would have to ask of our members under the circumstances.”
Oliphant said insurance would cover about half the cost of the damaged kit, while $6700 in existing club funds would help. A Givealittle page has been set up to cover the rest, and he said he was pleasantly surprised at how positive the response has been.
“It’s brought a tear to my eye, I must say, because sometimes you feel it can be a bit thankless, volunteering.
“The response was pretty quick and not only [from] our own community but just the wider community of clubs as well, some as far as Bay of Plenty.
“We’ve had support from other clubs around the area as well. Obviously, they’re friends and rivals to a degree, so just having them reach out too has just been amazing.
“One of the positives that’s come out of it is helping remind us of the support that is and can be out there.”
Once the club recovers from the fire, Oliphant is keen to see it have its own clubrooms.
Murphy confirmed that the fire caused extensive damage to the building and sports equipment, and appealed to the public for more information.
“Police are appealing to anyone who was in the Discovery Drive or Discovery Park area between 10.30pm and 11.15pm on Thursday, and who might have witnessed suspicious activity.
“We are particularly interested to hear from anyone with photos, video or information regarding the vehicles seen leaving the area around the time of the fire.”
Samuel Sherry is a live news and sport journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Auckland.
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