Motorcycling New Zealand, the body which governs motorcycle sport here in Aotearoa, has announced the latest lineup of its board moving into the 2020/2021 season as well as changes to its structure in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the results of the annual voting process to elect the MNZ Governance Board are normally announced at the Motorcycling New Zealand AGM, Covid-19 meant that this year the AGM couldn’t go ahead and as such MNZ released the new lineup via Facebook and a post on the official MNZ website at the end of May.
As with the last board, the position of the South Island’s Off-Road representative remains vacant.
The 2020/2021 board boasts two new members, with SJ Cavell and Dennis Charlett joining as road reps for the North and South Islands. Both are keen competitors and actively involved in their local clubs which puts them in a good position to represent the views of racers within the command structure of Motorcycling New Zealand.
"COVID-19 has forced the MNZ Board to make some difficult decisions recently to ensure the future of our sport, wrote MNZ President Noel May on an unpromoted letter on the MNZ website on May 20th.
"As you’ll be aware, the operations team has been restructured and a minimum operating model implemented to protect the ongoing financial viability of the organisation. We have had to shift from a dynamic, high-profile event-led model to a focus on grassroots participation. In the short term, we as a Board are 100% focused on supporting MNZ clubs and members as the social and financial impacts of COVID-19 become apparent."
This all but confirms rumours that MNZ’s General Manager,Virginia Henderson, who brought a wealth of event experience from her previous posting at Hockey NZ to the role, is among the staff affected by the restructuring of MNZ.
" Our number one priority is the same as yours – to get back to riding, May continued.
"Club days and meetings are the heartland of our sport and participation at this level is the very foundation of MNZ. We are in contact with Sport NZ and other relevant bodies and will provide an update as soon as we know when we can resume racing.
From there, we expect the next move will be to bring back regional competition, once government limits on gatherings allow. And finally, we’ll look to reinstate our national championships for the various disciplines, although they are likely to operate under a different model.
Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be looking to understand what you, our members, want from MNZ and how we can best support you and your clubs going forward. This is an opportunity to modernise and evolve MNZ to better meet the needs of all our key stakeholders."
The 2020/2021 Motorcycling New Zealand Board of Governance consists of the following members:
President: Noel May
North Island Representative: Scott Wilkins
South Island Representative: Rod Price
Road North Island Representative: SJ Cavell
Road South Island Representative: Dennis Charlett
Off-Road North Island Representative: Mac McLeod