Issue 128 : 7 May 2023
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.
University Of Canterbury Hosts Association Seminar ...
Incorporated university clubs make a massive contribution to community sport throughout New Zealand. On Tuesday last week, the Association was pleased to present to the University of Canterbury’s clubs at “Haere Roa”, at the invitation of the University of Canterbury Student Association. From the tramping club (which boasts over 500 members) to the hockey club (which fields 18 senior teams in the Canterbury competition), the key role of the university in promoting and offering organised amateur sport in the region is clear to see.
(NZ’s universities play a key role in providing sport opportunities to young people)
The seminar focused on the importance of incorporation for university clubs in creating a distinct legal identity, ensuring clear sovereignty of operations, maintaining longevity and continuity across generations of student volunteers, and clearly defining where liability lies for those responsible for club governance. The Association's seminar series on the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 continues in Southland, later this month.
Cockle Bay Club Voluntarily Dissolves After 28 Years ...
A dwindling, aging membership and a lack of volunteers to undertake the increasing governance obligations required under the new Incorporated Societies Act, has led to the Cockle Bay Pétanque Club voluntarily dissolving after 28 years of organising and administering pétanque for its local community in east Auckland. In 1994, Howick residents Peter and Rita de Beer, after being introduced to pétanque in Holland, placed an advertisement in the local newspaper for those interested in playing locally, to contact them.
(The Cockle Bay Petanque Club’s "terrain" at Cockle Bay Reserve, in Auckland)
They started to play under the large pohutukawa tree at the eastern end of Cockle Bay. Later the same year, Peter and Rita approached the Howick Community Board to see if the local council would be prepared to construct a pétanque terrain in the Cockle Bay Reserve adjacent to the scout hall. This fitted in well with Manukau City’s plans for a festival of sport in early 1995 and a new terrain was constructed in November 1994.
(The Cockle Bay Petanque Club has been forced to dissolve after 28 years)
On 11 October 1994, 20 players met and officially formed the club. In its first year, the club had about 60 members, some of whom are still playing regularly. On 21 April 2023 (nearly 29 years later), the club was dissolved by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies. The remaining players intend to continue to play informally and socially at Cockle Bay.
Quasquicentennial For Geraldine Rugby Football Club ...
The first football club to play under Rugby Union rules in the Geraldine district, (the Geraldine Football Club) was formed at Muff’s Hotel on the 6th of May 1881, with Angus Macdonald of Waitui the first club President. The club existed in various iterations between then and 31 March 1898, when it re-formed at the Crown Hotel, with the colours of the club to be “cardinal [red] and black”. This later incarnation became the basis for the present club’s historical timeline.
(The “Reds” have provided rugby football in the Geraldine region for over 150 years)
Last month, the club organised a weekend of celebration having achieved 125 years of continuous sport service to the local rugby football community. The anniversary included a formal dinner and a golden-oldies match. While the club has merged with the Old Boys club to field a competitive senior side in 2023 in the South Canterbury competition, it continues to offer rugby at levels, from under 6-year-olds to golden oldie players. You can read more, here. (If you're curious as to the origins of the term “quasquicentenntial”, we can thank Dr. Wilfred Funk for inventing it, in the 1960’s!)
Éire Considers Establishment Of “Non-Profit Registered Associations” ...
It may of interest to readers that in the Republic of Ireland, many voluntary non-profit associations, clubs, societies and other groups that gather in pursuit of shared religious, sporting or other recreational interests, are currently "unincorporated associations".
(Ireland is now considering reform of the laws governing community sport entities)
Many see no benefit in incorporating as a company. They rely on voluntarism and wish to avoid the costs and bureaucracy of more formal legal structures to organise their affairs. In considering reform, the Irish Law Commission is now proposing legislation to create “non-profit registered associations”, which offer the key benefits of a body corporate, without the administrative and financial burdens of complying with Irish company law.
(Is the concept of a “non-profit registered association” a better fit for NZ sport clubs?)
The Association suggests it may well be that this proposed type of structure is potentially a "better fit" for many community sport organisations in New Zealand, rather than full incorporation, (with all of the attendant obligations created by aligning the new Incorporated Societies Act 2022 to the framework of the Companies Act 1993).
School Sports Withholding Payment Of Council’s Ground Fees ...
College Sport Wellington (CSW) has announced that it is taking the unprecedented step of withholding payment to the Wellington City Council for ground charges. CSW notes that a school basketball team playing in school gymnasiums pays $45 for the season, but school teams playing at council venues pay roughly $450 for the season. Many sporting bodies been asking councils in the Wellington region to clarify the fees for many years.
(Pressure is being placed on local authorities to justify charges for use of their facilities)
A spokesperson says, “the groups and concerned parents say they know the costs of running our own school grounds, so we’ve spent years asking council to show us how they justify their costs, and where the money goes, probably "into pooling" potentially funding other facilities, which is grossly unfair." The Association is working with alongside College Sport Wellington and other local sport organisations seeking to alleviate the costs imposed by local authorities for use of community facilities, to ensure access to organised amateur sport remains affordable for all.
King Charles III – New Patron Of Commonwealth Games Federation ...
The coronation of King Charles the Third, provides an opportunity to briefly reflect on New Zealand’s head of state’s involvement in sport as a means of bringing diverse communities together. While probably best known for his exploits on the polo field, where he became an international player, King Charles has had broad community sport interests throughout his years of royal service, including being a former President of the “Lord’s Taverners”, a British youth cricket and disability sports charity.
(King Charles III is the new Head of the Commonwealth Games Federation)
Born in November 1948, (shortly after London had staged the Olympics), he is most closely associated with the Commonwealth Games, first visiting them in 1966 when they were held in Kingston, Jamaica, then joining the Royal Family for the Games in Christchurch, in 1974. As King (and now Head of the Commonwealth), he will no doubt continue to take an active interest in (and extend his royal patronage to) amateur sport of all kinds.
“CLUBMAP” Fills A Gap In Community Sport Support ...
A Melbourne-based business which won the “Building Communities Award” at the 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards, has a goal of supporting clubs within communities, by providing volunteers with the tools they need to manage their club and the support to use them.
(There is a “gap in the market” in New Zealand for a similar service to CLUBMAP)
“CLUBMAP” has become a growing on-line business supporting metro, regional and remote community sporting clubs across Australia. The business fills a gap in the community sport sector, (which also exists in New Zealand). You can read more about how CLUBMAP has assisted clubs in Australia, by clicking here.
From The Archives ...
NEWS OF THE DAY
PRESS, VOLUME LVIII, ISSUE 11068, 12 SEPTEMBER 1901, PAGE 4
“A very handsome silver cup, richly embossed, with two handles, and standing about 12 inches high on an ebony stand, has been presented by Mrs G. G. Stead for competition among the lady golf players in New Zealand. Its inscribed title is "New Zealand Ladies' Golf Championship Cup.”
The cup will be first competed for at Auckland on October 9th, but it is also to carry the names of the champions since the competition was instituted in 1893, and the list comprises Mrs Lomax Smith, Christchurch, 1893; Mrs E. Wilder, Christchurch, 1894; Mrs E. Melland, Christchurch, 1895; Mrs L. Wilford, Hutt, 1896 and 1897; Miss K. A. Rattray, Otago, 1898, 1899, and 1900.”
Katherine Agnes Rattray was born in 1866, the daughter of James and Catherine Charlotte (nee Aylmer) Rattray, one of seven children. An accomplished cello player, and a member of St. Matthew’s Church in Dunedin, as a young women Katherine became heavily involved in sport, including rowing and tennis (as a member of the Carisbrook Tennis Club), also becoming a member of the Otago Ladies’ Savage Club. In 1894 she first competed in the New Zealand Ladies’ Golf Championship and finished fourth out of 30 competitors.
The championship was instituted in 1893 on the Otago links at Roslyn. There were only a dozen competitors, and the event was decided in one round of 18 holes, (medal play). After that for three years the championship was determined by match play. In 1897, it again reverted to medal play, (three rounds) for three more years, but in 1900 it was agreed to play match play, (as long as the English championship was played that way).
(Katherine Rattray won the 1899 NZ Championship played at the Hutt Golf Club)
As noted above, Katherine won the title three years in succession. After winning her third successive championship in 1900, (by one point at the last hole) at the Hagley Park links in Christchurch, she was able to retain the “Countess of Glasgow’s Challenge Cup” in perpetuity, with the trophy donated by Mrs Lucy Stead in 1901 referred to in the article above, replacing that which Rattray retained. Katherine Rattray never married and she died a spinster on 20 August 1927, after a long illness, at the age of 62 years. She is buried in Dunedin’s Southern cemetery.
(The 1909 NZ Championship was held at Horowhitu Golf Club in the Manawatu)
The Final Word ...
"I shall go on as long as I still bounce when I fall off."
("Prince" Charles responds to a question on his polo playing career)