King Country Rugby Union backs Mangakino sportsground lighting upgrade

Ballers and footy players in Mangakino hope for a brighter future now Taupō District Council has applied for funding to extend and upgrade the lights.

Taupō district councillor Hope Woodward said she had heard of people using cars to light up the basketball court on Rangatira Drive when playing at night.

A local rugby player also reached out to her, saying basketball players weren't the only ones jumping around in the dark as the Mangakino Sportsgrounds on Wairenga Rd didn't have a full night-lighting set-up.

Aside from being the local rugby battlefield, the Mangakino Sportsgrounds house the training barracks of the King Country Rugby Union youth and senior grade rep teams.

The union covers parts of the King Country, Taupō and South Waikato districts, which puts the Mangakino Sportsground roughly in the middle.

King Country Rugby Union community rugby manager, Joshua Standen, said they used the grounds often for age-grade and senior rep teams.

"We [also] have a lot of development days and coaching clinics out there."

Standen said the grounds would benefit from night lights since training on weeknights was common, because rep squads held games on the weekends.

The council agreed that the current sportsground lighting was limited and uneven.

Lighting upgrades left out of budget

The council has been working with the Mangakino community on an upgrade proposal for the lights, which includes new poles and LED floodlights.

However, the upgrades weren't included in Taupō District Council's annual budget with council staff instead hoping for funding through the NZ Rugby Legacy Fund and Sports NZ Grassroots Spaces & Places Fund.

The council hopes to secure $122,550 needed to fund the lights project.

A council spokesperson confirmed their application to the Legacy Fund was endorsed days before applications closed this month.

The Sports NZ Grassroots funds are accessible through Sport Waikato and the council is also working with them to secure funding to light the sportsgrounds.

Standen said he wrote a letter supporting these applications because the upgrades would make the sportsgrounds, "a bit more user-friendly."

Re-purposing the old lights

Meanwhile, Woodward said she has an idea of how to solve the issue for the ballers.

"I've also asked that the existing rugby ground lights be considered for our basketball courts."

She said the upgrades had been a long time coming and her community needed the upgrades.

"Our sportsgrounds are more than just places to play sport," she said.

"They're spaces where our people, particularly our rangatahi, find belonging, confidence and connection.

"In communities like Mangakino, these spaces are invaluable."

The council said that if it was successful in securing the funding, new lights could be in place in time for the 2027 winter rugby season.