Meet Leah Sole, the Regional Active Recreation Lead at Sport Bay of Plenty

Over the last six months Leah Sole has been establishing herself around the sport and recreation community as Sport Bay of Plenty’s new Regional Active Recreation Lead.

We are thrilled to have her expertise on board and thought it was time for a proper introduction on behalf of Sport BOP. This is a brand-new role where Leah works with various partner organisations and active recreation providers to advocate for and enable physical activity to happen around the Bay of Plenty.

Sport NZ defines Active Recreation as non-competitive physical activity for the purpose of wellbeing and enjoyment. This includes activities like walking, swimming, cycling, fishing, running, and yoga. These activities can occur independently or with the involvement of a ‘provider’ group or organisation.

Leah explains, “The purpose of my role is to get more people active, improve and grow the spaces and places where active recreation can occur, and improve the capability of active recreation providers.

"Statistics show that more and more people are choosing active recreation as their preferred means of physical activity. Accordingly, we need to ensure that the sector is capable of supporting this growth, advocate for continuous improvement of active recreation provisions and address any barriers to participation.

Leah brings with her six years of experience in the sport and recreation industry. She started as an “Energiser” with Sport Waikato, working with local schools and communities to increase children’s physical activity, improve nutrition, and enhance their overall health.

“After Project Energise came to an end in 2020, I took up an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone (and my home town of Whangamatā) and accepted the role of Tararua Recreation Advisor with Sport Manawatu. This was a fantastic opportunity to grow my skills and branch out from the delivery space,” says Leah.

Leah’s role at Sport Bay of Plenty can support councils in a number of different ways:

• Ensure that councils have the knowledge and understand the value of active recreation by providing active recreation insights to guide decision-making
• Support our local councils with community engagement to foster a working relationship and shared vision amongst key stakeholders such as clubs and providers
• Assist with Tu Manawa Active Aotearoa funding for community assets such as play trailers and activation programmes.

“The benefit of this working relationship is that I can be the conduit between council and communities. Being connected with a wide range of providers allows me to gain insights into how things can be improved or changed and be fed back to council,” says Leah.

“The communities can gain more of an understanding of what part the council plays in their recreation spaces, parks, and other community facilities.”

“This working relationship has the opportunity to reduce barriers to participation and encourage more people to be active,” Leah adds.

“I’m always open to discussions and ideas on how we can make our community more active and healthy,” Leah concludes.