Masters Games Preparations Power Ahead

Masters Games Preparations Power Ahead

Preparations for the ACC ThinkSafe New Zealand Masters Games are powering ahead with 5146 people already registered for the nine-day event in Wanganui next February.

Games manager David Penn says 8500 competitors are expected to descend on Wanganui when New Zealand’s largest sporting event is staged between 1-9 February.

Already, 110 Australians, 97 competitors from Canada and even 12 from Lithuania are planning to join the 4893 New Zealanders who have registered.

In all, 13 countries are represented, with two competitors from India likely to be joined by another 20 after the its Cricket Federation requested 20 application forms.

“This is an important national and international event with more than 60 sports represented,” Mr Penn says.

The event, which is held on alternate years in Wanganui and Dunedin, is lead-sponsored this year by ACC which will use it to drive home its ACC SportSmart action plan for injury prevention.

The 10-point action plan can be used by coaches and sports participants to reduce and manage injuries before, during and after play.

ACC chief executive Garry Wilson says controlling sports injuries is a matter of good management, not luck.

“We want people to compete, not be sidelined by injury, and this is a wonderful opportunity to spread our message,” he said.

Statistics from the last two Games show that injuries have dropped significantly in many events, particularly in organised team events such as touch, soccer and netball, which were targeted in Dunedin this year.

The reported injury rate in Dunedin of 3.1 percent was down from 5.1 percent in Wanganui in 2001.

“What’s more, it seems likely that 75 percent of competitors reported their injuries this year, and that was up from around half last year,” Mr Wilson said.

Other countries or regions that have committed to attend the games are Hong Kong (1), Jordan (2), Malaysia (1), Netherlands (2), Norfolk Island (5), Sri Lanka (3), United Kingdom (4), and USA (4).

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