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Fact File |
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Age: |
53 |
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Born: |
Wallasey, England, UK, (Just across
the river from Liverpool)
emigrated to NZ when 6 years old |
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Key Positions Held: |
Convenor of the NZ Olympic
Committee's Athletes Commission |
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CEO Triathlon NZ |
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Deputy CEO NZ Football |
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Director of Bowls Development NZ
Bowls |
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Program Manager Sports Otago |
Mike Kernaghan starts with
Badminton NZ on March 31st - we caught up with him as he kindly
took some time out to have a chat.
What Lessons Stand out for You from
Your Experience so Far in Sports Administration?
"One of two really key things is to
establish very effective and good working relationships with
people. As a national office we need to develop good
working relationships with our regions who are delivering the
game domestically.
The other is listening - listening
to how the game is different in each region around NZ and what
we can do to help support their efforts to become stronger, and
overcome obstacles they may be facing."
What Funding Challenges Do You See
Facing Modern Sports Organisations?
"In addition to developing strong
relationships obviously funding is a key one.
Corporate sponsorship is not easy to come by even for relatively
large sports and all sports need to look at how they can fund
the game, both regionally and nationally. This applies
whether we are talking about high performance, or funding a local
tournament or event. There are two components to this -
what can the National Office do to develop grass roots
(e.g. developing and supporting coaches, officials,
administrators, players etc) and how do we fund the national
office itself."
"SPARC are also now focusing on
sports individually rather than as groups, which opens up
opportunities for them to talk to sports about strategies to
help them develop."
"Tapping
into the casual and public market is key also. Triathlon for
example only has about 1200 members nationally but most of the
participants in triathlon, duathlon and other multi sport events
are pay to play participants. So delivering services to the
growing casual market is important for the sport.”
You Have Played Sport To A High
Level Winning A
Bronze Medal At The Manchester Commonwealth Games In Bowls What
Are Some Of Things That Helped You?
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Yes - practice. Basically
working harder than everyone else. I'm a very
competitive person so having the knowledge and confidence that
you have honed your technique through hard work was a big
factor when the pressure came on. At that level is was all
about getting the head right and it is to me quite simple you
have to be willing to work very, very hard. Actually it was
something I noticed when flatting with Nigel Skelt (President of
Badminton NZ) when we were
both at teachers college. I saw how hard he worked - at
the time he was just getting into the NZ team - to be
successful. |
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It Is Often Hard For Badminton To Get
Into The Media Is That Your Experience Also?
Yes, even for Football which has the
highest participation rate in NZ for U13, is it difficult to get
media columns compared to say rugby or cricket (in summer).
Even Netball the top women's sport in NZ probably doesn't get the
coverage it deserves. However that is just how it is and
you have to accept that you need to do something exceptional to
get the broad coverage.
Do You Have Any Likes or Dislikes?
Likes: "I'm very passionate about sport but
also like a very good Indian Curry and am very keen on football."
Dislikes: "One
thing that I really don't like is arrogance. I don't mean
the on court or on field arrogance where you are imposing
yourself on the opposition - to me that is just confidence - but
off court or off field arrogance when someone is talking
themselves up, is something I don't like. I've been
fortunate through the NZ Olympic Committee (NZOC) and my sporting career to meet alot
of very top athletes Bevan Docherty, Barbara Kendall, Sarah
Ulmer etc. 99% of the time when you meet someone at the
top of their sport, they are very courteous humble people when
not competing because they have nothing to prove to anyone and
they also share a passion for their sport. That attitude
and humility is something I really admire."
Is there anything Else You Would
Like To Say To The Badminton Community Out There?
"I'm really
excited about the new role. Badminton is a truly global sport,
which not many sports in New Zealand are. There is a significant
opportunity to promote that and leverage off the impact the game
has around the world.”
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