Issue 145 : 28 January 2024
Talofa Lava, Kia Orana, Malo E Leilei, Tena Koutou, Hello ...
... and welcome to the first 2024 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.
Joint Appeal Made To Members Of New Zealand's 54th Parliament ...
In a joint appeal to all Members of New Zealand’s 54th Parliament, Community Networks Aotearoa Inc. (the umbrella organisation for local, regional and national Community Networks in New Zealand) has joined with the Association in advocating for reform of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 and the Charities Act 2005, in order to ensure the survival of not-for-profit and volunteer-led community organisations.
The appeal was delivered to the parliamentary offices of all 123 Members of Parliament on Friday last week. Already there has been a positive response from some Members, with a real prospect of being able to have important legislative amendments put to Parliament in 2024.
(An appeal has been made for "cross-party support" for legislative amendments)
As Parliament resumes on 30 January, it is timely for all Members, particularly those representing each of New Zealand’s 72 electorates, to reflect on the role of community focused volunteers and other workers who add a significant amount to the physical, mental and social well-being of their local communities. Without their contribution, many services and community opportunities that New Zealanders take for granted will cease to exist. It is up to Parliament, under the leadership of the Government, to ensure this contribution continues.
You can download a copy of the appeal, here.
Ten Recognised In 2024 New Year Honours List ...
Ten New Zealanders were recognised with “The Queen's Service Medal” for their contribution to amateur sport in the 2024 New Year Honours List, for services to athletics, bowls, cricket, cycling, hockey, multisport, netball, rowing, rugby, shooting and swimming.
(The Queen's Service Medal was first awarded in 1975)
For those interested in the factors that contributed to each recipient's award, we've reviewed (with a little help from "AI") the citations written for each recipient, noting the frequency of words used to describe their contribution to their respective sporting communities. This is illustrated in the “word cloud” below, with the size of the word in the image indicating its frequency of use.
Membership of a club, or a governing role serving their sporting community, was typically relevant to a recipient’s recognition. Of particular note, “club” is the most commonly used word in the award citations. The Association warmly congratulates the award recipients: David Burnett (Invercargill); Neville Carter (Southbridge); Lawrence Counsell (Wellington); Russell Geange (Carterton); Geoffrey Lienert (Waimate); Desmond Meads (Hamilton); Ngahiwi Meroiti (Porirua); Bruce Nairn (Tokoroa); William Walker (Milton) and Athula Wanasinghe (Wellington), for their well-deserved community recognition.
"Farewell" And "Thank You" To Dr. Michael Naylor ...
The Association is sad to lose a long-standing Board member and project-partner to a new career opportunity in London, England. Dr. Michael Naylor is leaving his post with AUT in Auckland, to take on a new role with Loughborough University London, in doing so ending his six-year relationship with the Association.
(Dr. Michael Naylor, AUT's leader of the NSCS project)
Over that period, Michael has been the driving force behind the growth of the "National Sport Club Survey" (NSCS) and has met hundreds of amateur sportspeople from throughout the country in the more than 20 NSCS workshops presented nationally over that period.
In Michael’s departure for England we lose both a passionate advocate for amateur sport and a close friend who has contributed greatly to the Association in many ways. We wish him and his partner Taylor every success as they embark on the next stage of the respective careers overseas and we hope to see them back in New Zealand in the not too distant future.
In acknowledging Michael's invaluable contribution, we are also pleased to announce that Dr. Mel Johnston, (a co-Project Lead for the NSCS for many years) has been co-opted as an Association Board Member acknowledging the importance of the project partnership.
Government Agencies Advise On "Winding-Up" Options ...
Perhaps, in anticipation of an impending wave of voluntary incorporated society dissolutions arising from the enactment of the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, Charities Services (which is administered by the Department of Internal Affairs), just before Christmas published new advice on “ending an incorporated society”.
(New and updated advice on "winding-up" has been offered by Government agencies)
In co-ordination with information provided by the Companies Office (which is administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment), the advice focuses on “deregistering a charity”, “dissolving an incorporated society”, or on “how an incorporated society can be placed into liquidation” by its members, or by the High Court.
(The rules regarding "winding-up" are not straight-forward for clubs)
With two Government agencies now focusing on providing incorporated societies with advice about how to “wind-up their affairs”, it is fair to suggest that this reflects an increased understanding of Ministry officials that the legislation in its current form will (more likely than not) increase the rate of incorporated society dissolutions in coming months. You can read through the various "winding-up" options, by clicking here.
Viewpoint : “It’s Vital Changes Don’t Create Barriers To Volunteers” ...
“Volunteer Ireland” has made an objective and insightful submission to Ireland’s Law Reform Commission on the "Liability of Clubs, Societies and Other Unincorporated Associations", echoing concerns that this Association raised with legislators when New Zealand's incorporated society law reform was proposed, progressed and subsequently passed in 2022.
(“It's critical that any reform doesn’t make it more difficult to volunteer")
The Association's proposed amendments to the existing 2022 Act and 2023 regulations (now in the hands of the new Government) will go some way to alleviating the types of burdens clearly identified by Volunteer Ireland in its submission on reform currently proposed for Ireland. We hope that the relevant Ministers and their officials give full consideration to our proposed amendments, early this year. You can read more here.
("Time spent on administration takes away from time spent on service delivery")
Martial Arts Participation, Aggression, And Self-Control ...
A recent study published by the "Journal of Amateur Sport" (which shares scholarship relevant to amateur sport), suggests that men who participate in martial arts training are less physically aggressive, less hostile, less angry, and exhibit more self-control. The study was based on a sample of 190 martial artists from 31 different states in the United States.
(Men who participate in martial arts training exhibit more self-control)
The study’s author (Matthew Wilkinson) notes, “while it seems paradoxical that men participating in a “violent sport” demonstrate lower levels of physical aggression, hostility, and anger, as well as higher levels of self-control, my findings suggest there may be something inherent in martial arts training that has this effect”, going on to suggest that that martial artists may have, “a valued social identity that provides meaning and purpose, and a sense of pride and self-respect”.
You can read the full research paper, here.
(It's estimated that 100 million people globally practice "karate")
From The Archives ...
FOOTBALL
TARANAKI HERALD, VOLUME XLVIII, ISSUE 11530, 6 AUGUST 1900, PAGE 2
“Leydon has played for every club in the Taranaki [Rugby] Union this season and has scored for five of them. The Clubs he has played for are: Star, Tukapa, Inglewood, Clifton, Stratford, Eltham, Okaiawa, Kaponga, Opunake, and Hawera. This is rather a unique record.”
John (“Jack”) Edward James Leydon was born on 1 January 1878 in Thames, the only son of John and Bridget Leydon. His father was a well-known auctioneer from Auckland, who moved his business to Stratford in Taranaki, in 1900.
Jack met and married Mary Annie (“Molly”) McKenzie in 1904 and together they moved to Waiharera in Northland where they established a general store, operated a taxi service, established a poultry farm and later in life offered a cinema experience to locals.
(John Leydon’s auction house in Stratford, Taranaki)
Following his unique (and likely unsurpassed) achievement of playing for the all of the rugby clubs in a Provincial Union in a single season, as a first-five-eight Jack continued to play rugby football for the Waipapakauri, Waiharara and Awanui clubs, still taking to the rugby field in 1935 as a 58-year-old on the Kataia Showgrounds. He represented the Awanui Rugby Football Club on the Mangonui Rugby Football Union and he was also President of the Awanui Cricket Club.
A member of the Waiharara Athletic Club, in June 1927 Jack was appointed by the Government to the Waiharara Domain Board to have control of the Domain, organising annual sport events for the Waipapakauri Sports Club and the annual Awanui, Waiharara and Victoria Valley Sports. He was also a long-time member of the Waipapakauri Racing Club.
(The opening of the Waiharara Bowling Green in 1936)
John and Molly moved to Auckland in 1939. Following Molly’s death in 1942, John moved to Otorohanga, where his niece (Jessie Vezich) lived. He later died at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton on 18 June 1957 and is buried in Otorohanga Cemetery.
The Final Word ...
"Do not forget [that] amateurism is the life-blood of sporting activity."
(Pope Francis addresses the "Athletica Vaticana" Sports Association on 13 January)