He Anga Whakamua: A Strategic Pathway for Comet Swimming Club
Comet Swimming Clubs moves to celebrate a community-led vision for tamariki, wai, and whānau wellbeing through their new strategic framework.
In the spirit of kotahitanga and community-led transformation, Healthy Families East Cape is proud to celebrate its collaboration with Comet Swimming Club in the development of a new strategic framework, one that honours the club’s legacy while laying down bold aspirations for its future.
This framework is more than a plan. It is a shared vision grounded in the voices of tamariki, whānau, kaimahi, and guided by the collective power of community.
The connection between Healthy Families East Cape and Comet Swimming Club began through Taurikura, a kaupapa that reflects the warmth and guidance of ancestral knowledge, creating powerful connections between whānau, pēpi, and te taiao through culturally grounded water-based activities. In a region like Tairāwhiti, where there has been a gap in learning environments for tamariki under five in wai that reflects te ao Māori, Taurikura has created a whānau-led space that builds both water confidence and wellbeing.
Taurikura weaves together tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori through maramataka-aligned learning, engaging whānau through the lens of kori (movement), physical activity, and holistic hauora. Through interactive, whānau-centred sessions in the wai, the kaupapa nurtures both emotional and physical strength, strengthens intergenerational ties, and helps tamariki build a deeper relationship with te taiao.
This kaupapa, and the relationships it fostered, laid the foundations for the deeper collaboration that followed. The Healthy Families East Cape team, already supporting systems change across the region, brought their expertise in co-design and whānau-centred planning to help shape a strategy that reflects Comet’s kaupapa from the inside out.
The connection has been further deepened through Healthy Families East Cape Manager stepping into the role of Chair of Comet Swimming Club. Her dual insight has helped ensure Healthy Families East Cape's own strategic direction remains grounded in values, systems thinking, and community leadership. She continues to champion not only the club’s aspirations, but the values of Taurikura and the vision of Healthy Families East Cape.
“Comet Swimming Club has always been more than a swimming club, we are a whānau. This new roadmap is a celebration of our past, a reflection of our present, and a bold commitment to our future. It’s been a privilege to walk alongside our whānau, kaimahi, and tamariki to reimagine what swimming can look like for our Tairawhiti community.
“I am incredibly proud of what we’ve created together and excited for the journey ahead as we continue to honour our whakapapa, nurture our relationships with te taiao, and grow confident, connected tamariki in the wai,” says Tumu Whakarae, Healthy Families East Cape and Comet Swimming Club Chair, Tomairangi Higgins.
Comet Swimming Club has long been a cornerstone of the Tairāwhiti community. As the region’s longest-standing swimming club, Comet has helped generations of tamariki become safe, confident swimmers, while also fostering a sense of whanaungatanga and place-based identity through the water.
The new strategic framework builds on this proud legacy. It centres the values, mission, and aspirations of the club’s people — from the babies splashing in their first lessons to the dedicated kaimahi who show up each day with passion and care. Most importantly, it recognises swimming not just as a sport, but as a critical life skill, one that promotes safety, confidence, and joy, especially in a region so deeply connected to the moana.
By looking at the club’s impact through a systems lens, the strategy highlights the many ways Comet contributes to broader wellbeing: from increasing access to physical activity and teaching life-saving skills, to supporting whānau-led development and intergenerational knowledge-sharing.
“This brand new framework for us to work from is not only extremely valuable but also exciting as we work towards the future for Comet in Tairawhiti. The strategy driven by this document which has had input from all stakeholders and it feels pretty powerful to be able plan and proceed with a direction that has backing from those involve,” says Glenn Hamblyn, General Manager, Comet Swimming Club.
At Healthy Families East Cape, our kaupapa is to work alongside our communities to shift systems and create conditions that enable whānau to thrive. Whether that’s through physical activity, access to clean and safe wai, or supporting the sustainability of trusted community organisations — our work is about reimagining what wellbeing looks like from the ground up.
This collaboration with Comet Swimming Club speaks directly to that mission. It’s about strengthening the infrastructure that supports our people, and doing it in ways that are grounded in mātauranga Māori, lived experience, and collective impact. Strategic frameworks like this are not just documents, they are maps that help us navigate toward better futures, together.
The new strategic framework is just one milestone in a much longer journey. It is a living document that will continue to grow and adapt as Comet grows. But what makes this moment special is the way it was built: through whanaungatanga, shared vision, and a commitment to uplift the voice of community.
"It was awesome to see so many whānau take time to complete the survey we sent on the Comet facebook page, there were over 100 responses! This shows how much the hāpori cares and wants to be a part of making their club even better. To see this level of engagement and support for positive change is uplifting."
To the whānau, kaimahi, and tamariki of Comet Swimming Club, we honour your dedication and the legacy you carry. And to the many communities of Tairāwhiti, this is your story too. Together, we’re building systems that reflect who we are and the futures we want to leave for our mokopuna.
Mā tātou e manaaki te wai, mā te wai hoki tātou e manaaki.