In the middle of winter 2024, Sport Hawke’s Bay kicked off HUNGERBALL for a 12-month period.
General manager Sue Smith was contacted by HUNGERBALL and asked one of her team members to investigate the game. The initial feedback was that it looked awesome.
Andu Iordache, HUNGERBALL CEO, organised a demo for Sport Hawke’s Bay’s Healthy Active Learning team, which supports school leaders and teachers in planning and providing quality physical activity and health education to tamariki.
“We thought it was a pretty cool arena, but also a great opportunity for Hawke’s Bay to be exposed to HUNGERBALL, so we leased it for 12 months,” says Sue.
Andu worked with Sue and Sport Hawke’s Bay CEO, Ryan Hambleton, to develop a model that met the organisation’s objectives.
The challenge for Sport Hawke’s Bay’s Healthy Active Learning team was that they delivered a minimum of physical activity directly to tamariki, focusing on building capability and confidence in teachers to deliver the Health and PE curriculum. Their staff are extremely busy and may not always have the capacity to deliver activities, so a different approach was developed to establish HUNGERBALL in Hawke’s Bay.
To make it work, the Matariki Kāhui Ako had Healthy Active Learning staff demonstrate the game, training teachers how to deliver HUNGERBALL and then leave the arena in each school for a week.
“The model has worked well. We’ve taught them how to set it up, pack it down, and cover all the health and safety requirements. Everything Andu did with us, we have done with them. From that aspect, it aligns well with us.”
Arenas could be set up in school halls, making the game accessible in all weather and secure overnight.
“I’ve seen it at a couple of schools, and the kids are pumping – they love it. A lot of schools want it back.”
Sport Hawke’s Bay supports physical activity leaders (PALs), Year 5 and 6 students who are upskilled to run games and PE activities during lunchtime.
“At the end of 2024, there was a big PALs celebration at Napier Aquatic Centre, and we included HUNGERBALL. Many of the kids had played it at their school and were familiar with the game. We didn’t need to do much teaching – we only needed to facilitate to get everyone in and out. It was amazing.”
Like most regional sports trusts, Sport Hawke’s Bay is prioritising communities where they may have greater needs throughout their rohe. HUNGERBALL allows them to connect with those communities.
“This opens doors for us, in terms of making strong connections. We can run a HUNGERBALL session, build relationships and get a lot of kids and people active at the same time – achieving two objectives,” Sue says.
Communities that want to keep tamariki active during school holidays or community events, such as Matariki, come to Healthy Active Learning for support and ideas. The value of HUNGERBALL lies in its adaptability, with the ability to create entertaining and high-intensity games for all ages, from under-fives through to rangatahi.
Now, Sue and Andu are looking at ways to continue the HUNGERBALL action throughout Hawke’s Bay for many years.
