Issue 85 : 11 July 2021

 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.

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Select Committee Oral Submission Postponed ...

As a result of Parliament being placed in “urgency” on Wednesday last week for all stages of the passing of the “Annual Reporting and Audit Time Frames Extensions Legislation Bill”, planned oral submissions on the “Incorporated Societies Bill” were not made.



Under Parliament’s Standing Orders (the “rules of Parliament”) Select Committees cannot meet while the House is sitting, without getting agreement from all members, (which was clearly not achieved in this case). The Clerk of Parliament’s Governance and Administration Committee (Elizabeth Murray) has advised the Association that its oral submission will be re-scheduled.



Call For Bill To Be Sent For Further Community Consultation ...

In the meantime, the Association has amplified its call for the Bill to be sent back to the community for further consultation, given the likely adverse consequences it will create for incorporated sport enitities if passed into law in its current form.



With reference to the seven recommendations contained in its written submission, the Association: does not believe the drafting of the Bill has adequately canvassed incorporated sport clubs or considered their specific community role in creating social well-being; observes that given the community, volunteer, non-profit focus of most incorporated societies, the Bill is being considered by the wrong Select Committee; and that if passed into law as currently drafted, the Bill will become known and remembered as, "the law of unintended consequences".



Viewpoint : Is Cash For Volunteers A Good Idea? ...

June 20 to 26 was “National Volunteer Week”, with Volunteering New Zealand promoting the theme of “recognise, connect, reimagine” in 2021. In New Zealand, its reported that around one third of all volunteers are involved in community sport, a similar proportion as the volunteering populations in England and Australia. “It is clear that the sport industry relies on volunteers, and sport volunteers make up a substantial proportion of the voluntary sector”, however it’s reported that globally, while the organisational need for volunteer labour in sport organisations has increased, the number of volunteers has dropped significantly.



It has been suggested by some that paying sport volunteers, particularly Match Officials could be an effective solution to this growing challenge. But could this also deter those who contribute their time solely “for the love of the game” and change the expectations of teams and players as to the role of the referee? Some codes are opposed to the idea of paying Match Officials.



The American Youth Soccer Association (AYSO) states that “paying people to become referees and doing games doesn’t work”, noting that the cost would be met through higher registration fees (as much as US$60 per registered player), potentially increasing the barriers to community participation, while also exposing volunteer organisations to issues associated with contract and employment law. Unexpectedly then, “more money” may actually reduce the number of sport volunteers and participants, rather than attract new people to support and play the game.


The Struggle For Universal Access To Sport ...

“Access to sport is a fundamental right, but many groups and individuals face great obstacles in realising and exercising this right”, according to Dr. Ben Sanders who presented at the recent the recent “Sports Philanthropy” world virtual conference, held from 28 to 30 June.



Sanders says that sport can be thought of as the “forgotten right” (among fundamental rights) – and it seems to have been neglected even more during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also says, “we have often celebrated sport only when it is serious (i.e. elite, competitive, organised). Children are pushed into performing, resulting in many stopping sport altogether, with a long-term impact on their health and well-being. Instead, can we take grassroots sport more seriously? Can we focus more on participation rather than performance, inclusion more than exclusion, and so on?” "Broadening the base" rather than "narrowing the focus", is becoming increasingly important for the future of organised amateur sport.



“Playback” Provides Opportunity For Tasman Communities ...

“Playback Trust” has recently been registered as a charitable trust in Richmond, “to make it easier for Tasman and Nelson people, particularly youth, to engage in sport”. The Trust aims to source second-hand sports equipment, recycle it then provide it to schools and community groups who have difficulty sourcing and providing this equipment to their community.



The Trustees are Simon Bixley (of Signature Homes), Simon Mardon (from the staff at Nelson College) and Susan Morris, with the concept initiated by Jack Morris, a Year 13 student at Nelson College, as part of a Young Enterprise Scheme competition. The charity mirrors similar schemes established in other parts of the country, including the Community Sport Banks in the Wellington region. We wish the Trust success in growing sport participation in the region.


57% Of Match Officials Say Sportsmanship Is Getting Worse ...

A survey of Match Officials has revealed that rugby union and swimming are the sports in which the highest and lowest percentages of respondents (respectively) feel sportsmanship is getting worse. In rugby, more than 7 out of 10 feel sportsmanship is getting worse, while in swimming nearly 1 out of 2 respondents feel it is getting worse.



Parents and coaches are the prime protagonists in causing issues relating to sportsmanship, with competitive youth grades and adult recreational grades seen to be the major problem areas. Interestingly, the above statistics are not from New Zealand, but from a 2017 survey undertaken by the “National Association of Sports Officials in the United States”, (NASO).



Among other findings, the survey revealed the average age of active match officials in the U.S. is 53, with 42% deciding to first become involved, “for the love of the game”. A similar survey of New Zealand Match Officials (across all sporting codes), would be beneficial.


From The Archives ...

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

OTAGO DAILY TIMES, ISSUE 18666, 22 SEPTEMBER 1922, PAGE 6

“It was announced at a meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union to-night that Mrs M. A. Perry (Hawke’s Bay) had presented to the Maori Football Advisory Committee a rose bowl, to be known as “Te Mori Bowl,” for a contest between Maori teams.

The Advisory Board suggests these as follows: Southern (including Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatu, Wanganui, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Bush, and Hawke’s Bay Unions, as well as the South Island); and the Northern (including players from Wairoa, Poverty Bay, East Coast, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, King Country, Thames, Auckland, and Northland Unions). It was suggested that the first annual match be played next season. The donor was influenced in making the gift by the large number of Maoris playing in the last Ranfurly Shield match. The conditions are to be left to the New Zealand Union and the Maori Advisory Board.”


Maud Airini Tiakitai Perry (nee Donnelly) was born in 1878 at the "Crissoge Estate" (destroyed in the 1931 Hawkes Bay earthquake), near Fernhill in Hastings, the only child of Princess Airini Karauria, daughter of the Ngati Kahungunu rangatira Karauria (sometimes known as “Karauria Pupu”, who perished in fighting Te Kooti at Poverty Bay in 1868), and George Prior Donnelly, the owner of a racing stud at Otatara, (in present day Taradale).

As young woman, Maud established a reputation as a fine equestrian, competing in dressage and gallops, riding horses owned by her father as a member of the Hawkes Bay Jockey Club in the 1890’s. On her father’s death in 1917, she inherited the stud which she maintained until 1933. Maud married Frank Churchill Perry (from Timaru) in 1899, with whom she had three children. Following Frank’s sudden death in 1906, she married the entertainer Peter La Morte, from Canada in 1914. She seldom used the name “La Morte”, but remained married to Peter until her death at the age of 65 in 1944.


(The 1899 wedding of Maud and Frank was a significant event for Ngati Kahungunu)


A keen golfer, Maud competed in many New Zealand Championships and was President of the Napier Ladies Golf Club in 1911. She donated a trophy for the Maori Golf Tournament, for the Ladies’ Competiiton in the 1930’s. However, she is particularly remembered for donating the Te Mori Rose Bowl (perhaps a transliteration of "Maudi"?) for competition between Maori rugby union teams in 1922, as noted above. A philanthropist in many respects, in the same year Maud donated “a bullock a week for the month of August” to the Mayor of Wellington for the relief of those suffering from want in the city.

The first match for the Te Mori Rose Bowl was played on 2 June 1923 in Napier, “as a compliment to the donor”. Controversially, it was suggested that the contest be discontinued in 1927, as the result of the Prince of Wales donating a Cup for competition between Maori teams, “to become for the Maoris what the Ranfurly Shield is for Europeans”. The Maori Advisory Board for rugby subsequently decided to keep both trophies.


(A scene from the 1931 Te Mori Rose Bowl match, showing Peter Kaua with ball in hand)


The Final Word ...

"Never in its history, have we seen a time when sport is more needed."

(Lou Bergholz, Founder Edgework Consulting and "Sport for Healing")


© 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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