West Coast Rangers Football Club was formed by the amalgamation of Waitākere City and Norwest United with the tagline #StrongerTogether. Sport Waitākere supported initial conversations along with Northern Region Football around the amalgamation of these clubs.  

When a club on its own struggles with finding volunteers, funding and meeting community needs, looking for opportunities to amalgamate with another club is a positive step and for West Coast Rangers FC, has led to a very successful merger.  

The club is now boasting more than 1,300 members which is made up of 109 teams, 91 of those being junior and youth teams.  

Club Secretary Lloyd Jones attributes the success to a number of factors: 

• The amalgamation has allowed both clubs to remove ‘past history’ from the table, shifting the combined focus to the future and building a stronger entity together.   
• Two committees that believed in the same thing can now make decisions grounded in good common sense and an aligned vision. 
• Sharing this vision with the community in a professional manner and with the right leaders in place has helped attract sponsorship and future growth opportunities.  
• Catering for the performance pathway of around 3% of members remains an important focus, but this is now balanced with ensuring quality experiences are provided for all community members. While providing the right environment for the 3% of members on the performance pathway, the more important focus shifts to the other 97% of members through providing quality experiences.
• The club is now investing in its people with the united vision that good people and leaders attract other good people and leaders.   
• Individuals’ expertise is being aligned with roles and positions at the club, ensuring that people’s strengths and efforts are translating into the best outcomes. People are focused on their specific strength areas, including board members now having their own portfolio and focus areas to look after.   

The West Coast Rangers FC today provides a great example of how clubs can work together to build a new future and ultimately, a new club that is both capable and well equipped to deliver the best experiences for local community. 

Article added: Friday 28 October 2022