Sporting memories club helps connections
The success of New Zealand’s first Sporting Memories Club is a powerful example of the healing powers of connection and fun, says AUT’s Richard Wright.
Associate professor Dr Wright is the co-director of the AUT Active Ageing Research Centre, who helped bring Sporting Memories to New Zealand from the UK, where there are more than 150 clubs.
He says sport is crucially important for people’s mental, social and physical health, bringing people together in a unique way.
“It’s about belonging. It’s about identity, laughter, and being seen. These moments fight loneliness. They spark joy. They build whānau,” he said.
Wright said social isolation can be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
“Research suggests that staying socially connected can reduce the risk of early death by up to 50% and add an estimated seven years to your life expectancy.”
The first NZ club, in Kerikeri, has just marked its one-year anniversary, and recently featured in the Northern Advocate and NZ Herald.
The group, which meets fortnightly and has close to 40 members, offers a chance for nostalgia-fuelled reminiscence and low intensity recreation, for those who might be in the early stages of dementia and their caregivers.
Sport is the key focus of the club: from members talking about the sports they used to play as a child, to everyone having a go at sports like walking football.
To get the Sporting Memories Clubs established in New Zealand, Wright found a group of local people was needed to help drive them.
In Kerikeri, the club was started by Dementia Tai Tokerau community advisor Philippa Cooper, who noticed people in the early stages of cognitive decline were socially isolated but too anxious to join an existing club.
She was supported by chief executive Trudi Bridges, who knew Wright and his quest to bring Sporting Memories to New Zealand.
Wright, who helped set up Sporting Memories Aotearoa New Zealand as a charitable trust, now wants other communities to be inspired by Kerikeri and set up clubs in their area.
A second club, on Auckland’s North Shore, launched last month in partnership with the Birkenhead Senior Citizens Association, and Wright suggests that there is plenty of potential in other areas of Tamaki Makaurau and beyond.
Useful Links
- Richard Keith Wright academic staff profile
- AUT Active Ageing Research Centre
- Bachelor of Sport, Exercise and Health
- Study sport and recreation
- On The Up: New Zealand’s first Sporting Memories Club marks successful year - NZ Herald
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