Absolutely nothing! 

NZIB are delighted to be enabling technology advancement within our sport at no cost to our members. As mentioned above, some upgrade and 'add-on' services come at a cost but this is entirely at the Districts discretion.

Sportsground Ltd is a New Zealand based digital technology company that is the largest single provider of websites for clubs and schools in the country. Over half of all sports clubs and associations use its digital platform called 'Sporty.co.nz'. Click here for more information.

Training is offered through self-paced learning with Sporty’s extensive training guides, videos and the Sporty AI support assistant. NZIB will provide online forums and in-person sessions.

It is important that District users establish access to their platform before commencing training.

Self-Training by Sporty

The first step in familiarising yourself with Sporty and developing your knowledge of the Sporty CRM, SuperForms and Sporty Website is the Support & Community page on your Dashboard;

Here you'll find 'How to' guides on all topics and most answers to questions.

Be sure to start your training journey on the GETTING STARTED page.

Sporty also offer pre-recorded Webinars that cover the basics of the Sporty Website and SportyCRM. Your can find these on the Support & Community page as well as the Sporty YouTube page where there are plenty of other informative videos.

Support from NZIB

To compliment the training from Sporty, NZIB will be hosting 2-3 Open Web Forums where topics and questions can be submitted in advance and discussed by participants via a Teams Meeting.

These forums are not intended to be step-by-step 'How to' sessions but rather an opportunity to talk through any hints, tips, challenges or frustrations. One area of overwhelm for NZIB was with the data flows between the different systems. We found that attending a similar forum for sporting bodies helped greatly in solidifying our overall comfort with Sporty. 

We will also be offering 1-on-1 sessions to District users during the 2026 National Championships Week. 

The expectation is that District users will have completed the Sporty self-training and attended at least 1 of the Web Forums beforehand. 

More information on the Open Web Forums and 1-on-1 sessions will be circulated by eNewsletter.

Before the end of February, districts will receive an email from Sporty to their main District email account, with a link inviting the District to login.

The email will guide you to the Knowledge Centre where the Getting Started guide will walk you through the next steps.

If you're already a Sporty user, simply navigate to your Dashboard where you'll find more modules available for your use.

NZIB complies with the Privacy Act 2020, which requires collecting only necessary personal information, keeping it secure, and using it solely for stated purposes.

The implementation of Sporty ensures NZIB mets the above requirements and further assures the privacy and security of the member data transfer process between Club and District by eliminating hardcopy/paper-based records.

Sporty

Privacy Policy

Data Security

If you have questions regarding the changes or process feel free to reach out to NZIB at office@nzindoorbowls.co.nz

For 'How to' type questions related to the use of the Sporty platform please visit the Sporty Help Centre in the first instance https://support.sportsground.com

You can also email Sporty at support@sportsground.com 

or raise a ticket https://support.sportsground.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

or watch a number of training webinars https://www.youtube.com/@sportsgroundnz

At this stage, the NZIB Sporty offer is only available to the Districts.

This means that the Districts will work alongside their clubs to administer the system on the clubs behalf. 

Feedback received during the exploration stage of this project was that the vast majority of clubs do not currently have the resource or infrastructure in place to meet the required expectations of the system or processes.

The short answer is now...

There are 3 Sporty modules that NZIB have implemented for the Districts to engage with at various times. These are:

1. Sporty CRM - for collection of Membership data​​​​​​​
2. SuperForms/Online Registrations - for Tournament Entries and Nominations​​​​​​​
3. Sporty Website​​​​​​​

NZIB are aiming to introduce online event entries commencing with the 2026 National Championships. Entries for this tournament open on the 1st April.

Districts will receive an email on 1st April inviting them to register players for the National Championships via the online entry process before entries close on 1st May.

In 2025 the Districts submitted a comprehensive Annual Membership Return providing data on every affiliated member that now resides in each Districts Sporty CRM (database), and filters up to NZIB.

Before 24th July 2026 it is the Districts responsibility to ensure that their Sporty CRM accurately reflects their membership. It is on this date that NZIB will take its annual snapshot of our national membership.

The process for how Districts go about ensuring their CRM is accurate and up-to-date is entirely up to them.  

In an ideal world, Clubs would have access to their own Sporty CRM and they would register new joining members and maintain existing member details as they change. However, the majority of Districts expressed a preference for managing the membership data process themselves

Those Districts with existing websites have the choice to continue with their existing website or to migrate to a free Sporty website.

The main point is that every District has a website that is regularly updated with good accurate information.

For Districts already using the free version of Sporty, there will be no change for you.

For Districts on a paid Sporty subscription, you can either continue paying for the services directly or opt for the services covered by the NZIB agreement.

NZIB are pleased to confirm that our National Member Register is now operational.

The 2025 Membership Return data was used to populate our National Member Register which now reports an affiliated membership base of 33 Districts, 281 clubs and 3971 individual members.

With the implementation of the Sporty platform, the way we capture our membership data has changed. There will no longer be an annual membership return as the Sporty CRM (membership database) provides records this information for us.