Anaru Kitchen is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for the Otago cricket team on-season and works in the Aotea Electric Southern team off-season. The arrangement means he can focus entirely on his cricket knowing that at the end of every season there is always a place he can come back to.
How long have you been playing for Otago Cricket team?
"This will be my 5th season playing for the Otago Cricket team."
How long have you worked for Aotea? And what do you do within the Aotea Electric Southern team?
"I started at Aotea about two years ago. I’m currently in the servicing department doing onsite call outs and any maintenance requirements and upgrades for our customers new and long-serving."
What is your seasonal working arrangement with Aotea and how has the arrangement benefited you, your family and your career?
"Firstly with Aotea being a sponsor of Otago Cricket it has helped that the team are all very accepting and supportive of what I do. Aotea has arranged a sabbatical like arrangement for me to play cricket during the season which I’m very grateful for. Having this kind of job security is so important come the end of the season, to know that I don’t have to play a season overseas away from my little family. For me personally, it means I can focus entirely on my cricket knowing that I have a solid team at Aotea backing me up."
What do you enjoy most about working for Aotea?
"I enjoy the relationships at Aotea. Everyone from Murray Hughes, Paul Parsons and David Ford to the apprentices are just great. They don’t live in the professional sports world, but they bring an honest reality and balance of life that's really refreshing. Also being from Auckland originally and moving here to Dunedin, it's been great to be able to get around so easily with very little traffic. I enjoy the fact that when I finish for the day I’m not more than 20 minutes away from home. So I get more family time in which is awesome."
