Sport NZ works closely with our partners to ensure that, together, we can keep New Zealanders active. 

When New Zealand first went into lockdown in 2020, Sport NZ re-prioritised budgets to make $25m available for immediate financial support in the sector.  The Government then provided a further $264.6m to help the sector respond to and recover from the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.  

Some of this funding has been allocated to initiatives that support Sport NZ’s national and regional partners.

View the breakdown of investment by partner in the following link:

This includes:

Partner Support Fund  

This fund was created from Sport NZ’s re-prioritised budget. Its purpose was to provide additional support to ensure the immediate and short-term sustainability of Sport NZ and HPSNZ’s partners who had been severely impacted by COVID-19.  

$4.7m was distributed in 2020/21 to 26 partner organisations that met the criteria for this fund. 

Reset and Rebuild Support (National Partners and RSTs)

This funding was made available from the Government’s Sport Recovery Package. The initiative was approved to support and protect existing Sport NZ Partnerships and High Performance Core Investment in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 and its resulting impact on New Zealanders, totalling $21.7m. 

National Partner Strengthen and Adapt Programme

$31.5m was committed to the National Partner Strengthen and Adapt Programme which is enabling partners to explore and deliver change projects intended to future proof their organisations and networks. Twenty-one partners were supported to develop Strengthen and Adapt plans with dedicated investment in Waves One and Two (which started in 2021 and 2022, respectively). A further seven partners commenced the programme in 2022, and six partners are participating in the fourth and final wave which began in March 2023. Our People and Culture Capability project and our support for Regional Sports Trusts is also part of the overall National Partner Strengthen and Adapt programme. Learn more.

National Leagues

Sport NZ recognised that national leagues and competitions were impacted by COVID-19. A dozen national partners, with national competitions that met the criteria, received financial support ($4.7m in total) toward the cost of running their premier national leagues in 2020/21.

Wellbeing of Olympic and Paralympic Teams 

An additional $350,000 was contributed to the wider athlete wellbeing initiative, providing extra support to athletes in the leadup to, and beyond, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in 2021. 

International Travel support for national partners 

The border controls that were in place from 2020 to early 2022, and the immediate impact on travel costs in 2022, meant that additional support was required to help get our Olympic and Paralympic athletes safely to and home from the games and qualifying competitions.  

Around $4m from the Sport Recovery Package was reimbursed to partners, to help cover the costs of Managed Isolation Quarantine (MIQ), Covid-testing, and travel costs that had increased due to Covid.

Targeted Event Support Fund  

Up to $2m has been allocated for significant match or competition events in New Zealand in 2023, to support them in providing opportunities for our high-performance athletes to compete in front of domestic audiences, and to support player development of pathway opportunities. 

Last updated June 2023