Issue 120 : 18 December 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.
This is the final edition of the e-zine for 2022, with the first edition of the New Year scheduled to be published on Sunday, 29 January 2023.
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.
A Christmas Message From The President ...
2022 has been a challenging year, as sportspeople throughout the country have sought to fully resume their seasonal sporting activity across our many and diverse communities.
2023 is likely to be equally challenging, but for different, economic reasons.
(Association President, Marian George)
Despite these challenges, I believe that community sport continues to be the force that binds us together in ways which celebrate our past, support our present and inspire our future.
On behalf of the Association’s Board, I would like to offer my best wishes to all participants and volunteers involved in New Zealand amateur sport, for the festive season.
You can be sure that in the New Year, the Association will continue to be your voice in all areas which are important to you, in your role in creating better communities.
Marian George, QSM
A Quick Look In The Rear-View Mirror ...
The Association has had a full calendar year of activity in each of its strategic areas of focus: "amateur advocacy"; "thought leadership" and "community engagement", on behalf of members, (and also for the benefit of the wider community of sport in New Zealand). As suggested in the image below, in looking back over the year, the Association is very much aware that the many challenges facing community sport in 2022 are unlikely to recede into the distance in 2023.
In particular, our focus on legislative change will continue. Following the passage of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 into law earlier this year, a series of national seminars on the new legislation commenced, covering the Auckland, Canterbury, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, South Canterbury, Wairarapa, and Wellington regions. In total, 11 regional seminars were held to inform incorporated community sport organisations (ICSOs) of their new obligations.
Meanwhile, the Association has continued to lobby Government (which is in the process of creating regulations to support the new law), to ensure that some of the more challenging aspects of compliance for ICSOs are moderated.
Meanwhile, the fifth annual National Sport Club Survey (NSCS), the Association’s principal thought leadership project, culminated in a series of national workshops encompassing sport communities in the Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Wellington and Manawatu regions. (In early 2023, there is also the prospect of further workshops in Canterbury and Otago).
The survey is a long-standing partnership between the Association and the AUT Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, with the project led by Dr Michael Naylor and Dr Mel Johnston. The survey continues to inform the Association's strategy in many ways. The ongoing support of the survey's sponsors and participants is greatly appreciated.
Minister Announces His Retirement ...
The Minister responsible for the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (and the yet to be confirmed regulations) has announced his retirement. Earlier this week, the Hon. Dr. David Clark announced his decision to not stand for Parliament in the 2023 General Election.
(The Minister of Commerce & Consumer Affairs has announced his retirement)
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has announced a Cabinet re-shuffle in the New Year. This means there is the potential for the Minister to be removed from his portfolio, before the regulations have been drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, for the approval of Cabinet.
The Association has been in communication with Officials at the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment subsequent to the Minister’s announcement and has received confirmation that the Association’s concerns will be conveyed to any new Minister should he/she be appointed.
The timing of a potential change in Ministerial responsibilities is not ideal, given the regulations are a key factor in the obligations ICSOs will face under the new law. Rest assured; the Association will not cease its energetic advocacy on behalf of community sport in 2023.
Local Authority Engagement Planned For 2023 ...
As reported in an earlier edition of this newsletter, the 2022 National Sport Club Survey (NSCS) identified that many ICSOs feel their engagement with local councils to be sub-optimal. An Association Board sub-committee is now looking at strategies on how to increase awareness of the disconnect between many ICSOs and the local authorities which provide them with the essential resources and facilities they need to operate.
(Nationally, bowls clubs report very positive engagement, rugby/cricket less)
The objectives of the new project will be to: a. improve communication and understanding between ICSOs and the local authorities that provide ratepayer funded facilities for their use; b. ensure that local authority sport facilities remain accessible to all ICSOs, on terms which align with the role of ICSOs as volunteer-led, not-for-profit entities; and c. encourage local authorities to lobby for central-government-funding enabling children (and their families) to be financial members of ICSOs which deliver sport on a not-for-profit basis.
(Public sport facilities should be accessible and affordable, for all)
Internal Affairs Promotes Community Access To Pokie Grant Funding ...
Recently, the Department of Internal Affairs launched the "granted.govt.nz" website, a digital tool that provides easy access to information about "pokie" grants distribution in New Zealand.
More than $250 million was returned to communities across the country in 2021 from the proceeds of gambling on electronic gaming machines, (commonly known as “pokies”). In the first six months of 2022, 5,779 organisations have received grants, totalling $151 million. Sport is the largest category recipient, receiving around half of the total grants made over this period.
(Sport is the single largest category recipient of pokie-funded grants)
People visiting the website are able to find tips about applying for pokie grants and contact information for pokie trusts in their community, (of which there are 32 nationally).
To find out more, visit: https://granted.govt.nz/.
Sport During School Linked To Academic Performance ...
As the school year comes to a conclusion, recent research from the University of Sydney shows a positive link between participation in sport and academic performance, with the strongest association identified when sport is held during school hours.
The researchers (from the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, a multi-disciplinary research centre committed to improving global health) noted that, “we were also interested to see the main improvements were in maths and science subjects. This is consistent with previous physical activity research suggesting skills learnt in sport, such as problem solving, are more commonly applied in maths and science subjects.”
(Sport at school is said to improve performance in maths and science subjects)
You can read more here.
From The Archives ...
CHRISTMAS SPORT
STAR (CHRISTCHURCH), ISSUE 16654, 9 FEBRUARY 1922, PAGE 3
SOME STRANGE ENGLISH CUSTOMS
LONDON, December 29
“The athlete clings to his habits, and each year as Christmas comes round you find men following a programme that was first arranged maybe twenty years ago. There are the swimmers who gather at the Serpentine [a recreational lake in Hyde Park, London] almost before the dawn on Christmas morning, and though the ice round the bank may first have to be broken, nothing deters them from taking part in the two races."
(Swimmers prepare for a chilly dip in the Serpentine, in the winter of 1926)
"These swimmers are men of all ages up to seventy, and it is a notable fact that enthusiasm seems to go with age. I do not know how these Christmas swims came to be introduced, but there are about half a dozen of them in the South of England. One which is held in the sea at Brighton is very popular. One grey-haired competitor boasts that he has not missed a race for over thirty years."
(Shinty, one hundred years ago, in 1922, before a match at Wimbledon Common)
"Another custom faithfully observed is the Shinty match which takes place on Wimbledon Common. Shinty is an old Scottish game resembling hockey, and there is always a notable gathering of the clans. Spectators gather out of curiosity but they know nothing of the game. Christmas would not be Christmas without the Shinty game.”
The Final Word ...
“Christmas Gift Suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to all, charity; to every child, a good example; to yourself, respect.”
(Oren Arnold)