New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) has announced a major technology upgrade for the administration of the sport of rugby league throughout the country.

NZRL has partnered with Sportsground Ltd, a New Zealand based digital technology company, to utilise the ‘Sporty’ platform to help organise its sport.

The decision to use Sporty to upgrade its systems, including all player, coach, referee and volunteer registrations, member management, and game competition management was not made lightly according to NZRL CEO, Greg Peters.

“We used 2020 to review and evaluate a number of options both domestically and abroad. We’re pleased to have identified a local sports technology company with proven capability to meet the demanding requirements of organising our sport nationally,” Peters said.

Mike Purchas, CEO of Sportsground Ltd says they are pleased to have been selected to deliver the solution.

“We’re thrilled. We already provide web services for a number of rugby league organisations and we are excited to be increasing their functionality and rolling it out nationally for 2021,” Purchas said.

Boasting a clientele that includes NZ Rugby, Netball NZ, Football NZ, Touch NZ and many other national bodies, Sportsground Ltd has been servicing the New Zealand sports sector for over a decade. The Sporty platform is modular and provides an integrated, hierarchal system designed to meet the differing needs at each level of a sport, from the participant to the team, club/school, regional organisation and national body.

“It requires boldness to undertake a digital upgrade. The easy option is to retain status quo, but that’s not necessarily the best outcome for a sport. We applaud the decision from NZRL to implement transformational change that will future-proof it for years to come,” stated Purchas.

Peters added, “The global pandemic has emphasised the importance of timely communication and robust digital solutions that help administer our sport. Our technology upgrade with Sporty puts rugby league in good stead.”