Issue 47 : 26 January 2020
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. We hope you enjoy reading the articles below. 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.
If you are interested in applying for membership of the Association, please click here.
Association Members Join New Zealand Rugby Review ...
Cushla-Tangaere Manuel and Matt Evans, the Chief Executives of the Ngati Porou East Coast and Wellington Rugby Football Unions respectively (both of which are Association members), have joined a 10 member governance group tasked by New Zealand Rugby’s new CEO, Mark Robinson, with an extensive review into the sport. In announcing the review last week, Robinson said that Rugby Union “is under pressure in many parts of the game, from participation, fan engagement, talent retention and increasingly tough financial environments.”
At the grassroots, New Zealand’s review of secondary school rugby in 2019 is now attracting international attention, with former Irish Test Referee, Owen Doyle noting in the media over the past week that “rugby teaches important life-long values and principles, amongst them fair play, how to win well, how to lose well, respect for opponents; and it creates a sense of team-camaraderie that is hard to replicate in other fields. It must endure, and to endure it must be protected.” Doyle goes on to observe that, “it is a strange paradox that the copying of the professional mode of play into schools rugby actually represents a threat to the game. It is an unwelcome and unintended consequence of professionalism.”
(Irish Rugby's Owen Doyle suggests New Zealand is a warning for other countries)
Community Sports Banks Continue To Flourish ...
Ray Tuffin, the Community Development Manager at the Wellington City Mission, is continuing to champion the growth of Community Sports Banks throughout the Wellington region, with many heart-warming stories of children and adults obtaining the sporting gear required to play their chosen sports.
Recently Ray presented to the Wellington Mayoral Forum at which a number of the region's Mayors requested targeted sports banks in Linden, Stokes Valley, Naenae, Taita, and Otaki. Wellington’s Police have also provided Ray with the opportunity to use their unclaimed “lost and found” property. The Kapiti Community Sports Bank, in Paraparaumu will be opening on Saturday the 22nd of February.
“Oval Hoops” This Wednesday ...
Led by the team at Wellington Rugby and Association Board Member Will Caccia-Birch, the inaugural “Oval Hoops” event will take place this coming Wednesday (29 January) with the support of Capital Basketball, Stokes Valley Rugby and the Wellington City Mission. The Hutt City Council are also lending their support to the initiative which is intended to provide access to both sporting codes for young people, using the facilities of the Stokes Valley RFC.
National Sport Club Survey – 2020 Southern Forums Update ...
The Association is now finalising plans with Sport Canterbury and Sport Otago for forums in which results from the 2019 National Sport Club Survey will be presented and discussed. While full details will be communicated in the near future, Tuesday 3 March is the intended date, with a morning forum in Christchurch and an evening forum in Dunedin.
Homeless World Cup Demonstrates The Value Of Sport To Life ...
Many global organisations recognise that sport is often used as a first-step to engage vulnerable and marginalised groups, with participation in sport promoting human rights through generating shared interests and values and teaching essential social skills. As this Association endorses in its own Charter, sport enhances social and cultural life by bringing together individuals and communities. It helps overcome difference and encourages dialogue, and breaks down prejudice, stereotypes, cultural differences, ignorance, intolerance and discrimination.
The Homeless World Cup is an international football (soccer) tournament where teams are made up entirely of homeless people. The event has been held annually since 2003, with the event having a tangible impact on the lives of those who participate. For example, research into the impact of the Copenhagen 2007 Homeless World Cup demonstrated significant change in the lives of the players. 71% of players came off drugs and alcohol, moving into jobs, homes, training, education, repairing relationships, all while continuing to play football.
The 18th edition of the Homeless World Cup will take place in Finland’s iconic city of Tampere from June 28 to July 5, 2020. More than 500 participants representing 45 countries will travel to Tampere to attend the week-long festival of football. While there is an Australian team participating, there is no team from New Zealand.
You can read more about the 2020 Tournament by clicking here.
From The Archives ...
IN THE WATER
EVENING POST, VOLUME CV, ISSUE 11, 13 JANUARY 1923
“The Worser Bay Club is holding its annual carnival on Anniversary Day, and, given fine weather, the popularity of this gathering should be manifested in a record attendance. The programme drawn up is a lengthy one, and there will be items of interest to engage the attention of the public right through the day. All classes of swimmer are catered for, and the inter-club events are numerous and should draw big entries.
Novelty events and diving are also on the programme, which is a really first-class one. An event that will be controlled by the club on this day is the Wahlers Cup, a life-saving competition, and as all the clubs are entering teams a keen contest is expected. The conditions provide that this trophy shall be competed for as an alarm reel test, for teams of four men, and this should provide some spectacular work.”
(Maranui and Island Bay teams compete for the Wahlers Cup at Island Bay, around 1930)
“Aquatic carnivals” were a regular feature of “Anniversary Day” celebrations in New Zealand’s harbour-based cities in the early part of the 20th century, with events planned for all sexes, ages and skill levels. The "Wahlers Cup" referred to above was donated as a “perpetual trophy” by Louis Wahlers, to the Wellington Surf Association (of which he was Vice-President), in January 1920. A former purser of the RMS Tainui and mariner for 13 years, Wahlers became Chief Steward and Manager of the Wellington Club in 1915. (Wahlers moved to Melbourne in the 1930's, establishing a successful import business there).
In the early part of last century, “open sea bathing” increased in popularity, accompanied by an increase in accidents and fatalities in the surf. The Wellington Surf Association was first registered in 1919, with the Maranui Surf and Life-Saving Club, Worser Bay Amateur Swimming and Life-Saving Club, Evans Bay Amateur Swimming and Life-Saving Club, Island Bay Surf and Life-Saving Club and Paekakariki Surf and Life-Saving Club, the original members.
The Final Word ...
“If we look deeper into the value and purpose of sports and games, it becomes apparent that all sports have developed as a means of teaching necessary life skills.”
(Council of Europe – www.coe.int)