Issue 108 : 3 July 2022

Talofa Lava, Kia Orana, Malo E Leilei, Tena Koutou, Hello ...

... and welcome to the latest issue of “For The Love Of The Game”, the official e-zine of the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc., founded in Wellington, New Zealand in 2017.

If you have any feedback on this issue, ideas for future articles, or would like to contact the Editor, please click here. And, you are invited to forward the e-zine to others you know, who may be interested in reading it. An archive of earlier editions of the e-zine can be found here. For those who follow Twitter, you can also follow the Association, @AmateurSportNZ.

If you are interested in applying for membership of the Association, please click here.


Inaugural "Te Tohu Tiketike O Matariki" Award Announced ...

The Association is pleased to announce that the inaugural "Te Tohu Tiketike o Matariki" award has been won by Ōtaki Surf Life-Saving Club Inc. (OSLSC). The winner of the inaugural award was announced last week by Association Patron, Andy Leslie, who convened the judging panel.



The award, decided in collaboration with Te Upoko o te Ika, Aotearoa’s first te reo Māori radio station, acknowledges a community sport organisation who has embraced te reo Māori as part of its kaupapa. The award also acknowledged National Volunteer Week (Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu), with the inaugural award winner reliant on volunteers to deliver competitive sport and lifeguard services to its local community.



You can read the full Media Release, here.


National Sport Club Survey 2022 Gears Up ...

A reminder to all sport clubs nationally that the 2022 National Sport Club Survey (now in its fifth year) will commence next month. This year, in addition to the longitudinal survey questions which form part of every year’s survey, the 2022 survey will be focusing on the impacts of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, council and local authority resources, with further insights also being sought on the inclusion of women and girls in club communities.



The first reminder of the upcoming survey will be sent to all clubs on the survey database this month. If you’re not sure if your club is on the database, please contact support@asa.org.nz with your club details. The survey is a national project which is a partnership between the Association and AUT Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand.


Nuku Ora Seminar Raises Awareness In Wellington ...

On Tuesday evening last week, the Association was hosted by Nuku Ora (the Wellington Regional Sports Education Trust), in presenting the latest in the Association's introductory seminar series on the Incorporated Societies Act 2022.



Among questions raised by attendees were: what are the benefits of incorporation?; what are the audit requirements for incorporated sports bodies under the new Act?; and do the majority of Committee (Board) members of an incorporated community sports club need to be members of the club? There is a lot that the sports club community does not understand about the former 1908 Act, with the 2022 Act ramping-up the regulatory obligations for all involved in club sport. If you would like a seminar in your area, please contact the Association, by clicking here.


Wairarapa Seminar Scheduled For Wednesday, 6 July ...

The Association’s next seminar will be held next Wednesday in the Wairarapa, at the YMCA Masterton Inc. & Community Emergency Hub, 371 Queen Street. The seminar will commence at 12.00pm and conclude by 1.00pm.  As Nuku Ora notes, “good governance is critical to building strong organisations and delivering quality opportunities for participants. Success starts at the top, and we know that most people in governance roles are volunteers.”



If you haven’t already registered for this seminar, please contact matthewr@nukuora.org.nz.


Viewpoint : “The Golden Days Of Amateur Sport” ...

Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist Allan Johnstone Massie CBE writes, “it is difficult sometimes to remember that most sport is amateur, played for recreation and enjoyment. It is all the harder to remember this since national newspapers nowadays rarely pay any attention to amateur sport.”



He goes on to note that, “much has been gained by professional sport. It would be stupid to deny this. Top athletes’ commitment to success is remarkable. Standards of fitness are higher. More thought and science are devoted to the search for improvement. "

"Yet something has been lost.”

You can read more here.


Affordable Sports Campaign To Lobby Local Authorities ...

Six sporting organisations in the Wellington region, (Wellington Hockey, Capital Football, Wellington Rugby, College Sport Wellington, Cricket Wellington and Capital Basketball) are running a campaign aimed at Councillors who have put their name forward for the next local body elections, asking them to agree to an independent review of the fees and charges that community sport currently pays in the Wellington region.



The group is finding that local communities are struggling to pay the ever increasing costs of sport participation and that the fees charged by Councils make up a large proportion of these costs. Lisa Jones, CEO of Wellington Hockey is the Chair of the group and recently spoke to Radio New Zealand. You can read more here.


Association Welcomes New Members ...

The Association is delighted to welcome the Otago University Students' Association Inc. and the Chisholm Links Golf Club Inc. (Dunedin) as new "community club" members.



From The Archives ...

COLONIST, VOLUME LIV, ISSUE 13302, 30 DECEMBER 1911, PAGE 2

“Taraua Utiku Marumaru, the well-known Ngatiapa chief of Parawanui, died on Sunday last, aged 48 years. Deceased was a man of decided note among his people, and widely related among rangitira families. He was well known as a sportsman, and was successful, as was his father, as a breeder and racing man.”


Taraua Utiku Marumaru, rangatira of Ngatiapa (Rangitikei) and Ngatiruarui (Ngarua-Hine, Taranaki) was born in 1863, the son of Utiku and Rihi-Te-Tuaoterangi Marumaru. The Marumaru whanau lived at Ngaiwitarawa ("Upper House"), Parewanui, near Tangimoana in the Rangitikei district. Taraua married Rawea Tekohukiwi Metekingi, with whom he had two sons, Rangipouri Reihana Taraua (Rangi) Marumaru and Hoeroa Taraua Utiki (Joe) Marumaru and a daughter, Wiki. He also married Rawea’s half-sister, with whom he had a daughter, Rihi.

Taraua became Chairman of the Kurahaupo Maori Council and in 1901 was appointed a member of the Aotea District Maori Land Council under the Maori Lands Administration Act 1900. He was elected to the Whanganui Agricultural Association in 1903.

The New Zealand Maori Lawn Tennis Championships first began in 1909 in the Whanganui region, Taraua Marumaru donating the first trophy (a silver and gold cup) for competition between nine club teams. Marumaru’s goal was to bring young Maori together and encourage them to build communities using sport as a means of creating unity and affinity with the land.

The "Marumaru Cup" (for competition between teams) was first won by Whanganui’s Putiki Club. In 1910 the Cup was lost to Hawke’s Bay at Palmerston North. In 1911, again playing at Palmerston North, the Putiki Club won it back once more. The "Hinerapa Cup" (for competition between Maori women) was donated by James Rapaea, of Hastings, in memory of his late wife Hinerapa Rapaea. In 1911 the cup was won by Miss A. McDonald.


(The successful Marumaru Cup winners from Hawkes Bay in 1910)


As a result of World War One, the annual competitions lapsed, and there was no further contest until 1921. In 1921, the Putiki Club still had the cup and once more emerged with it from the tournament. while Miss B. Hakiwai, of Hastings, became the new holder of the Hinerapa Cup.

The Maori Lawn Tennis Association was subsequently formed in 1926, with the Marumaru Cup competed for until the 1950s, around which time its whereabouts became unknown.

Taraua Marumaru was also a well-known horse breeder and racer, with “Rangipuhi” his most successful steed, winning the Hawkes Bay Cup in 1894. Marumaru died on 24 December 1911 at the age of 48, having suffered from diabetes and the effects of a stroke, for some years.


(Taraua Marumaru, circled and inset above)


The Final Word ...

“Standards of performance in all major sports may have improved enormously in our time, but almost all major sports have also been corrupted by money.”

(Allan Johnstone Massie, CBE, FRSL, FRSE)


© New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc. (2669211), 2017

Registered Office, Level 1, 57 Willis Street, Wellington, 6011

P O Box 582, Wellington, 6140


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