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As admirable as the purpose of the "Integrity Sport and Recreation Act 2023" is, (i.e., to “enhance integrity within sport and physical recreation to protect and promote the safety and well-being of participants and the fairness of competition”), little consideration appears to have been given (to date) of the downstream compliance implications and obligations for incorporated community sport organisations (ICSOs), operated by volunteers. 

There is an undisclosed risk that the imposition of further compliance obligations will add to the deterrence effect of increased regulation, further reducing the number of ICSO volunteers nationally. Our national sport community (and our politicians) need to openly engage in more discussion, to avoid further unintended consequences for ICSOs.

Sport professionals are physically conditioned and mentally toughened to play contact sport at higher levels of intensity than those who take part “for the love of the game.” As part of contracting (for financial reward),  professionals agree to perform at heightened and sustained levels of physical stress, in order to deliver an entertaining spectacle for the crowd.

Where sports actively promote community participation with demonstrations of elite performance, there is an increased likelihood that some “weekend warriors” will seek to emulate that performance on community sportsgrounds, potentially placing themselves (and others) at increased risk of accidental physical harm.

The 130-year-old taboo on money prizes for Olympic athletes was broken by World Athletics this past week, definitively ending Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s vision of an enduring “quadrennial meeting of amateur champions of all nations”. To be "financially viable" is the new vision.

Money and the Olympics joined hands a long time ago, with broadcasting rights for the event and sponsorships for amateur and professional sportspeople part and parcel of the quadrennial competition. What’s different with this week’s announcement is that rather than that money being used to facilitate the event and support downstream development of the sports represented, its being used to reward those who earn a podium finish. 

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 the New Zealand Amateur Sport Association raised with legislators when New Zealand's incorporated society law reform was proposed, progressed and subsequently passed in 2022.

Our proposed amendments to the existing 2022 Act and 2023 regulations 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 in 2024.

At a time when the value of New Zealand’s colonial past is being questioned by some, it’s timely to reflect on how those values have shaped the country's amateur sport community.

Patrick Alphonsus Buckley was born in the village of Gortbrack (“An Gort Breac”) near Castletownshend, in County Cork, Ireland on St. Patrick''s Day, 1840. Having emigrated to New Zealand (via Queensland, Australia) in the 1860’s, he died at 3.40pm on 18 May 1896, in Lower Hutt at the age of 56, having had a foundational impact on community sport.

The general disquiet and disbelief expressed by New Zealanders following damage to the iconic “Ranfurly Shield” last weekend reflects a great respect for this country’s colonial history. The Shield recalls the colonial governorship of New Zealand’s thirteenth Governor, Lord Ranfurly, who held his post from 1897 to 1904.

The Shield which bears his name represents the ideals and values that he brought to New Zealand in the late nineteenth century, which are still celebrated on the rugby field today, and by communities throughout New Zealand in our national game.

Renowned journalist and broadcaster Alistair Cooke once said, “I prefer radio to TV, because the pictures are better.” In sport broadcasting, a great exemplar of Cooke’s sentiments was Scottish rugby union commentator Bill McLaren, renowned for his colourful turn of phrase, who once said of the famous English Captain of the 1970’s, “there’s Beaumont in that English scrum, looking like a man who enjoys his food …”.

In a recently published paper, promoted by Sport New Zealand and the New Zealand Government (in which the opinions expressed are said to be “not necessarily those of Sport New Zealand”), various factors are suggested as reasons why local community ownership of sport through incorporated societies may no longer be a valid governance framework.

Quoting words ascribed to Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin in 1918, the paper suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic is the contemporary tipping-point from which revolutionary change is now inevitable.

While the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, David Clark, has said that the Government will not countenance any change to the recently passed Incorporated Societies Act 2022, there is no reason not to lobby for change given the impending electoral cycle and the unintended consequences of the new law on community sport.

Here are three proposals, well worth considering.

A recent media report suggesting that New Zealand pre-teens now prefer time on their electronic devices to time playing sport with their mates, is symptomatic of a much deeper issue than the proliferation of big-tech and on-line gaming products in pre-adolescent hands. Escalating costs are increasingly a barrier to families joining a community sport club, traditionally important centres of life-learning for Kiwi kids.

We should be less concerned about the ability of a child to catch a ball, compared to the risk of our youth not learning how to become positive contributors to their future society as adults.

George Frederick Woodham was born in 1927 in Hokitika, the son of Frederick Reeve and Elizabeth Mary Woodham (nee Durnford), dairy farmers of Evans' Creek, near Lake Ianthe in Hari Hari. George died tragically on 3 September 1949.

He played rugby union for the Hari Hari Football Club in the years following World War 2 . Following his death in 1949, his father presented a shield “to the football clubs in South Westland, from Ross southwards, in memory of our late son George”.

A survey by the U.K.’s Mental Health Foundation reported that “pressure to succeed” was for 60% of 18 to 24 year olds, a major cause of stress, (compared to only 6% of those aged 55 plus).

Youth who’ve embarked on professional careers will often hear the well-worn trope that “pressure makes diamonds” and subsequently feel obliged to demonstrate their commitment to their selected profession by working long hours with short deadlines, combined with high performance expectations.

While sports (and clubs which provide them) are generally believed to promote positive social values, such as sportsmanship and fair play, incidents of anti-social behaviour both on and off the playing field are not that uncommon and in recent months have attracted headlines in New Zealand’s media.

As distinct social and organisational entities, the responsibility of clubs in demonstrating values representative of their community cannot be underestimated. In the same way as (is sometimes said) “the eyes are the window to the soul”, sport clubs are perhaps “a window to the values of the communities they represent.” The behaviour associated with a club will eventually come to define it.

The passage of the Incorporated Societies Bill into law is likely to result in unintended consequences for community sport organisations (CSOs) in New Zealand, which have not been fully considered in the drafting of the legislation currently before Parliament.

As a result, the Association is recommending seven substantive changes to the Bill which was introduced to Parliament on 17 March 2021, for the consideration of Parliament’s Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee.

In 1961, TIME magazine wrote “ideally, [an] umpire should combine the integrity of a Supreme Court judge, the physical agility of an acrobat, the endurance of Job and the imperturbability of Buddha.” While all of these idiomatic expressions will not necessarily be seen on a community sport arena in New Zealand, there is no doubt that the underlying qualities of integrity, composure, endurance and fitness are desirable hallmarks of all volunteer Match Officials, without whom amateur sport cannot survive.

Focusing on the historic link between community clubs and the Match Officials who adjudicate their matches is one way to ensure sporting codes continue to recruit new volunteers as umpires or referees.

When first introduced to Parliament in July 1908 by then Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, the Incorporated Societies Bill was intended to provide “a simple method by which societies established for any purpose, other than pecuniary gain”, could become incorporated.

113 years later, this Association and Government agree that proposed reform of the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 should improve, not impair, the governance capability of New Zealand's sport clubs, with Cabinet now considering suggestions to moderate the impact of the proposed regulations on smaller societies.

Around 16% of New Zealand’s sports clubs (based on the Association's national database) directly applied for and received welcome financial relief in the Government’s second COVID-19 package for community sport.

It's been reported that the Community Resilience Fund has paid out just under $15 million to 2,070 entities nationally, (not all of which were incorporated sports organisations). Neil Millar and Lalia Harre debated the pros and cons of the grant allocations with RNZ’s Wallace Chapman on “The Panel”, on Friday evening.

As children, many of us who grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s will recall playing sport on the street. Deserted suburban roads were often turned into make-shift tennis courts, cricket wickets, or football pitches.

The increasing commercialisation of community sport, as an integral part of the elite-sport development eco-system, has meant that for some children there is an increasing social-stigma attached to participation without the "right gear", let alone their parents being able to pay for the costs of accessing the coaching and facilities provided by their local community clubs.

"Cup-Noodle-Contracts" appear to be becoming a part of professional sport in New Zealand as COVID-19 financial strains start to impact the balance-sheets of sporting codes struggling to manage costs of recruiting, retaining and paying players.

Given that the prospect of earning-a-living by "playing the game" for most participants is simply illusory, perhaps more needs to be done by sporting codes to ensure that sporting youth are making the right choices in terms of their future adult lives and financial livelihoods.

$30 million will go a long way to saving community sport. One-third of the Government’s short-term support package of $83 million should be applied to a new “Kids in Clubs” programme, providing vouchers enabling children of families experiencing COVID-19 related financial hardship to join their community sports club.

The Government's $265 million Sport-Recovery-Package is a significant financial promise to sport in New Zealand. While a welcome development, what it is actually used for, how it is accessed and distributed, and who benefits, are all still largely unknown.

The impact of two World Wars on New Zealand community sport was profound. The values of sport were seen as creating the foundations of military victory, with the inter-war years seeing a flourishing of sport participation and club membership.

Over 75 years later, many of the challenges facing community sport may well require a revival of post-War values, as New Zealand society grapples with the social and financial impacts of COVID-19 on membership of, and participation in, community sports clubs.

Community clubs will need to lead the recovery of sport post COVID-19, with amateur values based on volunteers essential for organised sport’s survival. Hurricanes Chairman, Iain Potter, is in no doubt that the current crisis has emphasised the value of community sport and its importance in bringing communities back together.

Noting that 2020 is likely to be “a bit of a disaster” in terms of community rugby being played, Potter is clear that the current crisis will be a timely reminder that “rugby starts at the community level”. “The reality is that the nature of every rugby club in Wellington and the spirit of every rugby club across the country is volunteerism”. 

Is it wise to co-mingle the finances and operations of not-for-profit sport organisations with for-profit affiliates? Formal separation of entities may ensure the commercial failure of one, will not result in the community failure of the other.

Given the current financial challenges for community sport in New Zealand, the risks of “co-mingling finance and operations” are worth considering.

On both sides of the Atlantic, major sporting codes are suffering from COVID-19, with traditional commercial models exposed (perhaps fatally) by social isolation policies implemented in most countries, (apart from the Belarusian Premier League, or “Vysheyshaya Liga” which is continuing to play to packed stadiums, regardless).

In the United States, Major League Rugby has been cancelled for 2020, with franchise-owners honouring salary payments to players, while in the UK, Premier League Club owners are looking to the Government for a financial hand-out. Without money, it seems, the sporting world’s engine has seized. The Association spoke with Scott Lawrence (USA Rugby) and Andrew McKenna (TalkSport) about the new world of sport in America and the UK.

The Association says there is an urgent for a COVID-19 relief package to be provided to incorporated community sports clubs from local and central government.

The relief package proposed by the Association comprises: an immediate cash-injection; regulatory relief from section 23 of the Incorporated Societies Act; and a waiver of local authority fees on use of sports grounds.

Conventional sporting wisdom suggests that community clubs experiencing financial difficulty arising from increasing costs, reducing income, (or a combination of the two factors), amalgamate with a neighbouring club to remain viable.

In many cases, the stronger of the merged entities declares the amalgamation to be a success, while the entity acquiescing to amalgamation experiences disappointment (and disappears). While amalgamation generally infers an "equal merger", it can quickly become an "unequal takeover" by the stronger of the amalgamating parties.

When it comes to longevity, Japan holds a number of unique records when it comes to the game of Rugby Union. The game has been played in Japan for over 150 years, with the Yokohama Football Club formed in 1866, four years before New Zealand’s first recognised game featuring the Nelson Football Club, and more than 20 years before the New Zealand Rugby Union was even conceived.

At the Golden-Oldies Rugby Tournament held in Christchurch this week, “For The Love Of The Game’ had the opportunity to talk to 80 year old Koichi Seino. Seino-san is certainly one of the oldest active rugby players in the world in the current era and he was the oldest player at the Christchurch Tournament.

Te Upoko o Te Ika radio has teamed up with the New Zealand Amateur Sports Association to produce and broadcast a new programme called ‘The Amateur Sports Hour’, on 1161AM and via the internet on tunein.com.

Click on this story to read more and listen to the latest programme.

If you'd like to have your amateur sport club, personality or story broadcast on the show, contact the Association for more details.