New Zealand football team, Vodafone Warriors, a member of the National Rugby League, announced in December 2019, they were adopting the northern New South Wales town of Tenterfield, one of many communities suffering acutely after being ravaged by drought and bushfires.
Warriors Chief Executive Officer, Cameron George, said, “We feel deeply for the New South Wales communities that have suffered such extreme hardship lately.
“They’re really hurting, including in Tenterfield, where the community has demonstrated such resilience through ongoing drought and recent bushfire events.
“While there are a lot of relief efforts across New South Wales, we wanted to take it to another level by reaching out and adopting a town like Tenterfield.”
Tenterfield Shire Mayor, Peter Petty, said, “This
newly established partnership whereby the New Zealand based National Rugby League (NRL) team has ‘adopted’ Tenterfield for the 2020 season will have a significant impact for the sports groups in our community.
“A range of exciting activities and joint initiatives for the year ahead have been discussed and planning for these is already underway.
“Activities will include an Ambassador program, a skill-exchange between Vodafone Warriors club employees and Tenterfield-based community members, and a fundraising dinner in Tenterfield, welcoming a motivational speaker from the Vodafone Warriors to establish a youth skills-development fund.
“The Warriors will also be bringing their community team to Tenterfield Shire for school visits and training days which will include schools in the outlying areas”, the Mayor added.
“In addition, Warriors’ CEO Mr Cameron George indicated that the Warriors’ Club will provide funding for water infrastructure to allow watering of the Tenterfield Tigers home ground which will prove of great benefit for our local rugby clubs as well as improving the visual aspect for travellers heading into town from the south.”
Last month, Mayor Petty and Tourism and Marketing Manager, Caitlin Reid, visited the Warriors at their home ground, Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland.
Their visit came at the invitation of the Warriors CEO, giving Mayor Petty the opportunity to thank Warriors’ players and staff for the enormous gift they have granted to the Tenterfield community.
