Leaders rally at centre opening

In a clash of the sexes this morning, Prime Minister John Key took on legendary squash player Dame Susan Devoy – with the winner the new Devoy Squash and Fitness Centre.

The on-court play was for the official opening of Tauranga's new state of the art squash and fitness centre.

It is named after Susan for her contribution to the sport on and off the court.

John, a former squash player himself, says he had been worried about playing the former world champion before the display match, but his hopes of a closer rally were boosted when he saw her wearing high heels.

Any advantage was lost when both changed into sneakers.

John welcomes the new centre as helping to foster community, saying that the importance of sports facilities had been highlighted after many were destroyed in the Christchurch earthquake.

'In the end what makes a community is that you've got lots of great things to do,” he says. 'These (facilities) are the things that make communities stronger.”

Susan says it is 'surreal” to have the new centre completed – more than eight years on since it was planned, thanking everyone involved who had helped make it happen.

She convinced John to officially open the centre after badgering him at the past two Halberg sports awards.

She says it is a 'real privilege” to have the centre named after her; something she joked was normally reserved for the dead.

Susan believes the modern centre, which is open for all to use, will encourage more local people to get fit and active.

Tauranga Boys' College principal Robert Mangan says the new four-court centre and gymnasium, which has been built on the a former hockey field, was a good collaborative community-school partnership which was encouraging students to take up the sport.

After taking second place at the national secondary school tournament last year he hoped the school's access to the centre for training will help the school win the title when the nationals are held there in August.

The centre cost $1.8m to build on the college grounds at the corner of Devonport Road and 13th Ave.

The cost has been covered by $1m from trust grants and an interest-free loan from BayTrust for the remainder to be repaid upon the sale of the Tauranga Squash Club's old building in 7th Avenue.

Centre manager Karl Brown says the new centre is a great asset for the whole community and could be used by anyone interested, including schools.

The centre is staffed six days a week to offer non-members a chance to book casual court use.

'Our target is to make it a high performance centre.

'We want to leverage off having the country's best squash facilities by holding training camps and high profile competitions and tournaments,” says Karl.

'With modern design and state of the art facilities our new location will soon become the hub of squash in the region and well beyond.”

The next phases of the centre's development include another two more courts within the centre and building a new stand-alone cardiovascular suite and gym adjoining the complex – with an additional $200,000 in funds needed for each.

A gym has temporarily been setup in the area set aside for the new courts.


Prime Minister John Key was welcomed with a haka performed by Tauranga Boys' College students.


Prime Minister John Key had time to sign some autographs.


St Mary's School Room 10 students enjoyed meeting Key.


You may also like....

1 comment

clever kids

Posted on 08-03-2012 13:54 | By dave4u

wonder what devious plan they have to use his autograph signature copied onto...... hehe


Leave a Comment


You must be logged in to make a comment.