Craigs Investment Partners put on an outstanding evening at Prodrive Golf in Hamilton on Tuesday night in the 2017 Craigs Investment Partners Annual Mini Putt Business House Challenge, with proceeds going to Sport Waikato’s Pathway to Podium programme.

With over 34 teams registering, and more than 150 people attending, it was a successful night of mini golfing, laughter, fun and even a couple of hole in ones!

Craigs Investment Partners have been running the Annual Mini Putt Business House Challenge for six years now, supporting a range of junior sport programmes. Over $7000 was raised on the night, with Orbit House of Travel adding to the total to round the figure up to $10,000.

Geoff Buchan from Craigs Investment Partners said their “Annual Mini Putt Challenge” has a particular emphasis on junior sport, with funds raised supporting a variety of athletes during the six years it’s been running.

“The Hamilton Office of Craigs Investment Partners supports many organisations within both the Waikato Sports and Arts communities. After hearing about the level of funding P2P are required to operate within, it seemed a super fit for what we try to achieve. The level of professionalism that both Daniella and the athletes bring to the table gave us the confidence to know the money was going to be well spent. The team at Craigs look forward to following the progress of the young athletes with the knowledge we were able to help out in some small way, and that brings us a huge amount of satisfaction,” said Geoff.

“The Pathway to Podium Programme is a fantastic opportunity for our aspiring athletes to get the support they need to help fulfil their dreams of representing New Zealand at the Olympic level; so who wouldn’t want to help them accomplish that?”

Paul Forward from Orbit World Travel (the corporate division of Calder & Lawson) said they have been supporting local and national charities and programmes for over 30 years, and this seemed to be a great chance for them to continue to support excellence in their community.

“We were delighted to be part of the Craig’s Investment Partners event and knowing how little national funding the Pathway to Podium programme receives, we wanted to contribute the extra funds to achieve the $10,000 to make a real difference to the athletes,” said Paul.

Waikato Pathway to Podium is led by Sport Waikato’s Daniella Cameron, and is part of the national Pathway to Podium programme that has been established by High Performance Sport New Zealand and Sport New Zealand. 

It is a nationwide talent development programme helping emerging athletes, deemed 1-3 years from their Olympic campaign, and coaches be better prepared for the demands of life in a high performance sport.

“Athletes at this stage of their career, on the brink of their official Olympic campaign, have an incredible amount to balance with full time commitments in 2-3 areas, all of which need to be self-funded. Pathway to Podium allows these athletes to have a net of support underneath them and progressing them in areas so critical to their overall performance. This involves Performance Psychology, Performance Nutrition, Athlete Life Advisory, Strength and Conditioning and Medical.” Daniella said.
 
“I have seen a huge amount of growth in these athletes over their two years in the programme. They become self-reliant, accountable and responsible athletes in charge of their own direction. This ensures we are achieving our overall aim which is to have a higher calibre and more prepared athlete entering the high performance system going forward into future Olympic cycles.”