The size and activities of the sport and recreation club will determine the kind of facilities needed. A small club with just one team, such as a children's soccer or netball team, is unlikely to need the same scale of club facilities as a large rugby club with many teams.

Finding facilities

Work out basic requirements first. Do you need:

• a field or court?
• somewhere for players to change and toilet facilities?
• space for how many teams - if more than one are they all able to play at the same time?
• rooms for your committee to meet in or is it possible to meet at someone's house?

Once this is decided, have a look around the local community to see what kind of facilities are available and whether you can share these. Drive around and note down any suitable facilities which might include:

• a local school with fields or netball courts that could be used or hired by the club
• a nearby public park - many parks are available to be used for smaller informal practices so check with your local council
• universities, polytechnics, or colleges - many of these institutions have their own facilities that they make available to other clubs
• larger community clubs may be keen to build a partnership with a new club that involves sharing facilities.

Make contact with these community facilities. Find out if your club can use them and what obligations or fees are involved. Also find out if these facilities need maintaining. Public facilities are usually maintained by the local council but it's important to check out what the conditions of use are.

If your sports club is a large one, or if you require a more specialist facility, you may need to lease a facility. If so, find out if there are other sports clubs who could be interested in sharing with you. Check your local Yellow Pages or your local council website for any potentially suitable facilities that your club may be able to hire.

Is there funding available to help your club?

The club may be eligible for a funding grant to help with costs. This may include fees for hiring or leasing facilities. Grants are funds received from statutory, voluntary or philanthropic agencies established with the primary purpose of giving out money. Grants are not the same as sponsorship or funds raised by the club. Organisations must meet strict criteria in order to qualify for a grant.

The Lotteries Commission and Department of Internal Affairs are the main sources of community grants. Their websites have lots of information about what your club may be eligible for. You'll also be able to download grant application forms from these websites.There may also be funding available from community groups in your area. These may include community-based groups such as Lions or Rotary or existing sporting organisations.

Sport New Zealand provides a directory of these types of organisations so check if there's an organisation that may be able to assist your club. Other funding sources include:

• Funding Information Service
• Fundraising Institute of NZ
• Foundation North

The Fundraising and sponsorship of Clubkit also has information on how to apply for grants and what is available.

Leases and agreements

The club may be able to lease a facility that suits your activities. This decision needs to be made by your management committee.

There are three basic types of tenancy agreements recognised by the Residential Tenancies Act 1986:

• fixed-term tenancies are for a specific length of time and cannot be ended with notice
• periodic tenancies are ongoing tenancies of no fixed length that can be ended by giving notice
• service tenancies are related to a contract of service between the landlord as employer and the tenant as employee - a service tenancy may not need to be drawn up in writing and rent may not have to be payable.

The type of tenancy agreement should be clearly stated on the tenancy agreement as the Act may treat them differently under various circumstances. Tenancy agreements should be in writing but can still be enforced if they are verbal.

Resources and more information

• The Funding and Information Service has information about available grants and how to apply.
• The Lotteries Community Facilities Fund administered by the Department of Internal Affairs funds a wide range of projects to build and improve community facilities.