Ngā mihi o te Tau Hou and my warmest greetings to you all.

Our most heartfelt thoughts go out to everyone affected by that Friday's tragedy.

It's been heartwarming to see our community rally together with your outpouring of love, support and empathy during these  extremely difficult times.

Hate and discrimination have no place in our community, particularly within our sporting community and activities.

Kia kaha and much aroha from the Ngā Puna Wai project team.

Nga mihi,

David Bailey

Christchurch City Council Manager, Recreation and Sport Services

Last month Christchurch's sporting community came together at Ngā Puna Wai to celebrate the official grand opening of this amazing place.

The sporting facilities have been opening in stages since October last year, but Friday 8 March was the the grand opening, timed to coincide with the first day of the New Zealand Track and Field Championships.

Thank you to everyone who attended, it was great to come together and celebrate the hard work, vision and dedication of everyone who has helped create this fantastic place for future generations to enjoy.

A tōtara tree is planted in front of The Hub building to mark the official opening.

Mementoes of sporting facilities lost due to the earthquakes now have a new home at Christchurch’s Nga Puna Wai Sports Hub.

A discus thrown during the 1974 Commonwealth Games at QEII Park, a framed photo of Porritt Park, a street sign for Rugby League Park, and a framed photograph of a Davis Cup tie played between New Zealand and Argentina at Wilding Park in the 1980s were today presented to Mayor Lianne Dalziel for safe keeping at the Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub. Read the full story on Newsline:

With most of the major build now complete, it's time to put the finishing touches to Ngā Puna Wai. 

Landscaping, Rugby League and Change Village CV1 progress

• Remaining landscaping works are underway on the north-eastern future car park and future Hockey H3 areas, with these areas now seeded.

• RL1 & RL2 fields were sown on 3 February & 22 February with a 12 week grow-in period.

• Associated Lighting Towers erected with commissioning in mid-April 2019.

• Rugby League Change Village CV1 is complete and will be operational on Friday 12 April. There are some finishing touches to be made on the Rugby League Covered Seating, and we're expecting these to be complete by mid-May, aligning with the rugby league fields' grass grow-in period.

Hockey kicked off their senior season at Ngā Puna Wai on Sat 30th March.

The Athletics season is coming to an end with the final event at Ngā Puna Wai for 2018/19 being the New Zealand Grade 12 & 13 Interprovincial Meeting held over Easter weekend 20 & 21st April all day.

Rugby League kicked off their U16 & U18 season this week (8th April ), playing a 9s tournament at Ngā Puna Wai.  The U18 teams will play under temporary lights on the Community Field and the U16 teams will play on the inner Athletics field, making it truly versatile venue!

The tennis courts are now complete and fully operational. Canterbury Tennis held its first tournament on the new courts with the National Secondary Schools Championships running from 25-28th March. They are due to host their Juniors (U10s) in the Canterbury Championships over the weekend of the 13th & 14th April.

March 8-10 marked the official return of the New Zealand Track and Field Championships to Christchurch, the first time our city has hosted the nationals since 2010. The earthquakes left track and field without a quality all-weather home in Christchurch, but the opening of Ngā Puna Wai has righted that wrong by providing athletics with a new international-standard track.

Check out some of the highlights from this outstanding event!