Issue 6 : 27 May 2018

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.


Viewpoint : Sport In A Civil Society ...

The Editor of this e-zine recently returned to New Zealand from Japan, a country where sport plays a key role in providing "education of the spirit", (or "seishin kyoiku") for teenagers, through "bukatsudo" (or "school sports clubs").

In the current professional era, where college sport in New Zealand in increasingly seen (for many codes) as the proving ground for employment as a professional sportsperson, there is a lot to learn from the principles of bukatsudo in understanding the true role of sport in schools. 


(Bukatsudo have been a mandatory part of the Japanese syllabus since the 1960's)


In Japanese schools, student participation in sports clubs for various sporting codes is seen as the means by which teenagers "learn comradeship, commitment to others, discipline, good manners and the meaning of perseverance and guts". Students do undertake a "demanding regimen", but emerge from it with "strengthened personal qualities, a deeper sense of responsibility and a greater consideration for and sensitivity to others". The qualities promoted by "bukatsudo" form an important part of the back-bone of adult civil society in Japan.


(The Japanese martial art of "kendo" is widely practiced in bukatsdo sport clubs)


This Association's Charter also acknowledges the role of sport and sporting clubs in developing civil society. In thinking about the historic role of amateur sports organisations in New Zealand, the civic values created over past decades cannot be measured in financial terms. But, in an era where nurturing such values is coming at a greater financial cost for amateur sportspeople and clubs, there is an accelerating risk that civil society may suffer as a result.

The Japanese Ministry of Education promotes sport for the purposes of social cohesion, self-cultivation, national identity and internationalism. As our future leaders in society, New Zealand's teenagers should experience sport at school, with a similar purpose.


The Purpose Of Sports Coaching ...

Australian sports consultant, Wayne Goldsmith, recently penned an article which focused on the purpose of coaching in growing participation in amateur sport. You can read his article here.

Of note, Goldsmith observes, "we've become so intent and so focused on teaching coaches the science of sport and about the "pathway" theory of competitive sport, that we've forgotten to teach coaches how to coach".



He goes on to point out, that "kids and parents don't choose to join a sports club because the coach knows a lot about physiology, or because the coach has outstanding video analysis skill and a Masters in bio-mechanics. They're seeking quality experiences and looking for coaches who'll create positive, enjoyable, interesting and engaging sports experiences for them".

The insight from this article is that "the sporting-experience", rather than "the performance-outcome", is the key to growing and maintaining successful sporting organisations. 


Spacewise Amateur Sports Hour - Radio Show ... 

Join Dave Piper, Adam Julian and Sandy Antipas every Friday at 12.00pm, as they provide insightful updates on amateur sporting clubs and individuals across a broad range of sporting codes on the "Amateur Sports Hour".

Click here to listen to the latest show, in which the team catches-up on amateur sport in the Taranaki, takes a look at the growing sport of badminton, and learns more about the influential role of the Northern United Rugby Football Club as a community force-for-good in the Porirua region, with Mana College Old-Boy and local sporting hero, T J Perenara.



The "Amateur Sports Hour" is brought to you through the generous support of Dion Ross and the team at Spacewise New Zealand, specialists in the hire of new and used shipping containers. We thank them for their ongoing support.


The Pulse Of Amateur Sport - A New National Survey ...

There is increasing anecdotal evidence that many of New Zealand’s community amateur sports organisations are facing multiple challenges, arising from (but not limited to) falling membership, increasing costs, fewer volunteers, aging assets and infrastructure and reduced funding.

One viable option to address these challenges in urban areas has been the creation of community sporting hubs, where sporting communities of different codes can pool resources while maintaining the objective of preserving their unique identities. In provincial and rural New Zealand, similar solutions are less obvious, but the underlying issues are no less acute.



The Association’s Board has authorised the undertaking of a new survey of community amateur sports clubs to identify in more detail the nature of challenges being faced (and the opportunities being identified as possible solutions), with the goal of re-focusing our national sporting agenda on nurturing amateur sports organisations in our communities.

The survey is planned to be undertaken in conjunction with a respected research faculty, with more details on the timing and survey content to be provided in the near future. If you have particular areas of interest which you would like the survey to consider, please contact the Association, by clicking here.


From The Archives ...

PRESS, VOLUME LXXV, ISSUE 22691, 21 APRIL 1939

PIONEER SPORTS CLUB - JUBILEE SMOKE CONCERT

"The importance of the Pioneer Amateur Sports Club in its capacity as representing sportsmen and their opinions was spoken of last evening by Mr F. G. Dunn, who represented the National Council of Sport at the jubilee smoke concert of the club. Mr C. S. Thomas replied to Mr Dunn’s toast of the club, giving its history and explaining its present function".

"Representatives were present of the following sports: rowing, bowls, surfing and life-saving, cricket, sailing, rugby and association football, motor-cycling, cycling, hockey, lawn tennis, athletics, and billiards."


The Pioneer Sports Club was initially formed in Christchurch in 1879, merging with the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club a decade later. In 1904, the club's headquarters building was opened and it became the centre for a wide variety of amateur sports, ranging from cycling to billiards, tennis and mountaineering.

In 1919, the Pioneer Sports Club Company Limited was formed as a holding company to own and manage the club's premises. In 1933 a fire badly damaged the building, which was however able to be re-opened in time for the club's 60th jubilee celebration, six years later. Over time, membership dwindled as other sports established their own headquarters, and in 1968 the club was dis-banded. In 1976 the club company was wound up and its assets handed to the Christchurch City Council.


(The Pioneer Amateur Sports Club celebrated it's 60th Jubilee in April 1939)


A Christ’s College Old-Boy, Charles Stewart Thomas was a well-known Christchurch criminal lawyer and President of the Canterbury District Law Society.

A Canterbury middle-distance and New Zealand half-mile champion, he toured Great Britain and Europe in 1914 on the out-break of World War One, where he competed in the English amateur athletic championships. While in Europe, he was famously arrested as a spy in September 1914, as the result of innocently taking a photograph of the General Post Office Building on King Edward Street in London, which (at that time) was used by the British intelligence service.

On his return to New Zealand, he became a member of the New Zealand Sports Protection League in 1916, while also becoming Patron of the Pioneer Amateur Sports Club. Thomas became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1973, for “valuable services to the community” and died in April 1988, at the age of 99.


The Final Word ...

“The true value of sport, is more than the skills that young people learn”.

(Thomas Menino, Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, 1993 - 2014)

 

© 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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