Final Boroughs basketball court opens in Glen Innes

Spark and the Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board opened a brand-new, community basketball court at Elstree North Reserve in Glen Innes today.

Nicknamed ‘The Post Office’ by locals, the court comes with free Spark WiFi and is the final of five courts to be delivered as part of Spark and Auckland Council’s ‘Spark Boroughs’ project. The new East Auckland court follows the opening of courts in North, West and Central Auckland late last year, and South Auckland the year before.

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board members joined Auckland Council representatives, Spark staff, local Tamaki Regeneration Company representatives and basketball teams from neighbouring Tāmaki College for a formal ribbon cutting and a maiden basketball game to christen the new facility and hand it over to the community.

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board member Chris Makoare said the board were really pleased to be able to partner with Spark to create the court in Glen Innes.

“The purpose of the Boroughs project, ‘to create spaces where Auckland young people could engage with a sport they love, in the ways they wanted to,’ fits perfectly with the board’s priority to provide opportunities for people in our community to increase physical activity through leisure activities.”

Maungakiekie-Tāmaki Local Board Chair Josephine Bartley said “Basketball courts are hugely popular and the standard of this court is awesome.  I’m sure with the free Wi-Fi we’ll see lots of social media activity showing off people’s skills.”

Spark’s Head of Brand, Communications and Experience, Sarah Williams, said the company was thrilled to deliver the new facility to the Glen Innes community: “We hope local families and young people embrace the new space, take pride in it and enjoy it as their own.

“For us, this court is pretty special as it marks the completion of a project we’ve put a lot of work into with Auckland Council and communities across the city. It’s been a huge privilege to do this, and we’ve been truly humbled to start seeing these spaces used in amazing ways by their communities.”

Like the other four Boroughs basketball courts, the Elstree North Reserve court comes complete with free Spark WiFi, something Williams hopes will enable basketballers to share their experiences with others around the city, as they happen.

“Over forty thousand people have used the WiFi at the other courts since they opened, so we know it’s something basketballers and spectators are going to love having available.”

Notes to the editor:

• Photos of the new Elstree North Reserve court can be downloaded here.

• Spark’s free WiFi: 1GB of data is available every day on the Spark Free WiFi Network. This can be accessed by Spark customers on any Spark Mobile plan $19 and over or any Spark Broadband plan. Non-Spark customers can get a 15min free trial of the Free WiFi Network, and if they wish to continue on it, can then pay $9.95 for each 30 day period.
  

• Background on the Boroughs: At the end of 2014 Spark announced plans to build five basketball courts across Auckland – one in each of Auckland’s ‘boroughs’. The purpose was to create spaces where Auckland young people could engage with a sport they love, in the ways they wanted to. Spark and Auckland Council have since worked together to deliver five courts in South Auckland (Otamariki Park, Otara), West Auckland (Avondale Central Reserve), Central Auckland (Victoria Park), North Auckland (Hooton Reserve, Albany), and East Auckland (Elstree North Reserve, Glen Innes).