August 2020,

Annette Purvis joins High Performance Sport NZ board

Annette Purvis has been appointed to the High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) Board of Directors as the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) nominee. She will take up her role this week.

HPSNZ Board chair Bill Moran says Annette is a vastly experienced director within the New Zealand sports sector and her experience and intricate understanding of the high performance sport system will be extremely valuable.

“Annette has a record of making significant gains for high performance during her time on the Athletics New Zealand Board and I look forward to her input to the wider high performance system.”

The appointment increases the size of the board from nine to 10.

Bill Moran says in a COVID-19 environment, which has resulted in uncertainty around pinnacle events, the role of the NZOC nominee on the HPSNZ Board will be particularly important.

“HPSNZ and the NZOC have a very close working relationship around pinnacle events and that becomes more critical with the rescheduling of the Tokyo Games, followed closely by the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and 2024 Olympics in Paris.”

“Annette will be ideally placed to provide a strong link with the NZOC at governance level.”

Annette is a current member of the NZOC Board of Directors and was a member of the Athletics New Zealand Board for 14 years, 11 of those as Chair. She has held governance roles the IPC World Athletic Championships and the IAAF Women’s Committee and Gender Leadership taskforce. She was also General Manager for IAG, leading their residential earthquake customer settlements programme for Canterbury and Kaikoura.

As someone who was inspired to take up athletics after watching the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games, Annette is looking forward to contributing towards HPSNZ’s goal of inspiring the nation and its communities.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to bring my National Sporting Organisation and Olympic Committee experience and perspective to support the important work of HPSNZ, particularly as we look to understand the impact of COVID on our athletes and the international sports arena.”

Ends.