Our Story
Sports Safari is owned and operated by Mathew Roiall and me, Kerryn Goodyer. The store opened on 9th October 2004 on State Highway 1 in Ngaruawahia. We began as a footwear clearance store, offering big named brands at affordable prices with an emphasis on rugby league product.
Over the years, the store changed dramatically, moving away from clearance footwear and apparel, progressing more into licensed Rugby League and Rugby official merchandise.
In October 2012, we decided to make the move into Te Rapa, Hamilton (opposite McDonalds & New World). Then in September 2013, we joined the Sportsworld Group, enabling us to grow our business even further with the opportunity to offer Nike and Adidas footwear, apparel and licensed merchandise, ie: All Blacks, Maori All Blacks & Super Rugby official product. We traded in Te Rapa, Hamilton for almost 7 years and on 20 July 2019, we moved into the biggest malls in the Waikato, The Base, Te Awa.
After 14 months of trading at The Base, our time was up and now we have moved into our biggest store ever - the old Bike Barn store - corner of Ulster and Liverpool Streets, in the Hamilton CBD (5 min walk to the FMG Waikato Stadium).
With 19 years of being in business, we are an established specialist NRL Rugby League store with a huge range of official rugby league & super rugby merch, offering a great selection of footy boots and a wider range of brands in casual clothing, performance footwear and sporting equipment.
Another speciality area we offer is an extensive range of Darts and accessories. You name it, we have it! We deal with leading major brands ie: Cuesoul, L-Style, Mission, Unicorn, Harrows, Winmau and our local New Zealand manufacturer, Puma Shot.
Our online website, Facebook and Instagram pages continues to grow and be an integral part of our business today.
Passionate Supporters
We are a small local family run business, with three children.
Matt has over 30 years experience in sports retail, represented Tonga in Rugby League, played in 6 Pacific Cups during 1988 - 2002 (more than any other player in cup history), spent over 5 years as a personal trainer, involved in Rugby League Masters & Darts and 19 years experience running our business.
I previously have had 8 years experience in the sports wholesale industry, competed in Body Shaping 1999/2000, taught Aerobics, Step, Slide and Pump over a five year period, had four years in Sales & Marketing with TVNZ and currently 19 years running our business in sports retail.
With both our knowledge and experience combined, we have established a well-known sports store. We offer a friendly, expert service, to satisfy our customers’ demands.
Located in Hamilton'S CBD (next to KFC and Plus 91 Cafe), call in and see us next time you are passing through.