Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub is a multi-sports complex located in the suburb of

Aidanfield Aidanfield is a suburb in the south-west of Christchurch, New Zealand, about from the city centre. The land, which had been owned by the Good Shepherd Sisters since 1886, now incorporates the Mount Magdala Institute and the St John of God Ch ...

in the city of Christchurch, in New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. The complex contains international standard sports facilities and was developed using a partnership between Christchurch City Council and regional sports organisations. Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub was officially opened on 8 March 2019.

Toponymy

The name means "many spring waters", referring to the artesian springs and streams in the area.

History

The Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub was developed on a greenfield site in a reserve in

adjacent to the Canterbury Agricultural Park. The new venue replaced international–quality sports facilities lost during the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, including athletics facilities at Queen Elizabeth II Park, rugby league fields at Lancaster Park (AMI Stadium), hockey pitches at Porritt Park, and tennis courts damaged at

Wilding Park Wilding Park is a tennis facility located in Christchurch, New Zealand. The land at Wilding Park was purchased by the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association in the early 1920s and gradually developed into a tennis centre. Several years ago, during t ...

. The sports hub was developed by the Christchurch City Council in collaboration with regional sporting organisations and philanthropic trusts. Sports organisations that participated in the development included Sport Canterbury, Canterbury Hockey, Athletics Canterbury, Tennis Canterbury and Rugby League Canterbury. The initial commitment to the project was made by the Christchurch City Council in March 2015, with the intention of developing the facility in stages over 10—30 years. The athletics track was the first stage of the complex to be opened, with the first track meet held in October 2018. The formal opening of Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub was held on 8 March 2019.

Facilities

The sports hub includes international standard facilities for track and field athletics, hockey, rugby league and tennis. It also has multi-purpose grass fields for community activities.

Track and field athletics

The athletics track is nine lanes, with an additional tenth lane in the front and rear straits. Construction of the track was completed in July 2018. The arena includes facilities for long jump and triple jump, a

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

water jump that is inside the main track, plus event stations for

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

, and the throwing events

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

, discus,

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

. A grandstand provides covered seating for up to 300 spectators, and a three-storey athletics event control building houses the

photo-finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

facilities. The first track and field meet at the new venue was held in October 2018. As at July 2023, Ngā Puna Wai is accredited as a Class 1 certified facility by World Athletics. The new facility was used to host the Athletics New Zealand National Track and Field Championships in 2019 and 2020.

Hockey

There are 2 hockey pitches that meet the category 2 standard set by the

International Hockey Federation The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym and initialism, acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are i ...

for international and top-level national competitions. There is also a grandstand with covered seating for up to 300 spectators. The new artificial turf pitches were opened in December 2018.

Rugby league

Canterbury Rugby League moved from its previous venue at

Christchurch Stadium Orangetheory Stadium is a rugby football stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was formerly called AMI Stadium, and before that, the Addington Showgrounds. History The park is part of a complex with Christchurch Arena and Addington Raceway a ...

(formerly Rugby League Park), to new dedicated Rugby League facilities at Ngā Puna Wai in 2019. The new sand-carpet pitches were opened on 23 February 2019. The facility includes covered seating for around 550 spectators.

Tennis

The sports hub includes 12 outdoor tennis courts meeting the International Tennis Federation class 1 standard. , the headquarters of Tennis Canterbury remain at

Netsal Sports Centre

The Netsal Sports Centre was opened at the Ngā Puna Wai site in November 2023. This facility is owned by the Christchurch Netball Centre and built on land leased from the Christchurch City Council. It has ten indoor courts and can host indoor sports including netball,

korfball Korfball ( nl, korfbal) is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of eight players with four female players and four male players in each team. The objective is to throw a ball into a netless bask ...

, futsal and volleyball and is also a venue for gymnastics.

Association football

In 2023, the venue hosted three

New Zealand National League The New Zealand Men's National League is a men's football league at the top of the New Zealand football league system. Founded in 2021, the New Zealand National League is the successor to the New Zealand Football Championship. The league will be ...

matches on the main Rugby League field, this is the first time that a national club level football match was hosted at the venue with each match drawing over 600 attendees.

Awards

The Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub was recognised with the Outstanding Project Award at the Recreation Aotearoa Awards in 2019.

References

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External links

Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub
Official website
Aerial images of Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub
at Polytan Sports venues in Christchurch Athletics (track and field) venues in New Zealand Netball venues in New Zealand Multi-purpose stadiums in New Zealand 2019 establishments in New Zealand Rugby league stadiums in New Zealand Tennis venues in New Zealand