Sport and the New Zealanders

465 Pages·2018·23.529 MB·English

by  Greg Ryan, Geoff Watson

Sport and the New Zealanders
A History
Greg Ryan and Geoff Watson
To the memory of John Edward Ryan
5 September 1940–26 November 2017
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
Chapter One Sport in New Zealand before 1840 12
Chapter Two Laying the Base: 1840–1870 29
Chapter Three Building the Pyramid: 1870–1890 54
Chapter Four Broadening Horizons: 1890–1914 83
Chapter Five Towards National Games: 1890–1920s 117
Chapter Six A New Normal: 1920–1940 145
Chapter Seven Becoming Inclusive? 1920–1945 175
Chapter Eight Golden Weather and a Gathering Storm:
1945–1970 199
Chapter Nine Playing Under Protest: 1970–1985 227
Chapter Ten For Money not Love? 1985–2015 254
Chapter Eleven And Sport for All? 1990–2015 283
Conclusion 310
Notes 317
Select Bibliography 357
Index 375
Plates 391

Acknowledgments
During the rather long and seismically disrupted gestation of this book we have accu-
mulated many personal and professional debts. Firstly, we thank Lincoln University
and Massey University for providing financial assistance and other practical support.
Respective university libraries have also been unfailingly helpful, as have the staff of
the National Library and Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, the Macmillan
Brown Library at the University of Canterbury, the Palmerston North City Library,
especially those working on Manawatū Heritage, and the Hocken Library at the
University of Otago. We would also like to thank Penguin New Zealand for per-
mission to include the quote from Dick Brittenden’s Silver Fern on the Veld at the
beginning of the introduction and Garrick Tremain and Tom Scott for permission
to publish their cartoons. Among our colleagues, Stefanie Rixecker, Alyson Gardner,
Pat Quarles, Tracey Shields, Roslyn Kerr, Jim McAloon, Andy Martin, Dennis
Slade, Margaret Tennant, Peter Meihana, Rachael Bell, Helen Dollery, Sam Lowe,
Sarah Leberman, Alec Astle and David Littlewood deserve particular thanks for
providing supportive and convivial surroundings. We are also indebted to Len
Richardson, who taught and inspired both of us in the Sport and Society paper at
the University of Canterbury during the late 1980s and supervised Greg’s master’s
and doctoral theses. Our research assistants Bill Greenwood, Paul Husbands and Liz
Martyn filled significant gaps and provided substance for our ideas. Liz also read and
greatly improved the manuscript at a crucial moment.
Geoff also acknowledges James Watson and Kerry Taylor, both of whom provided
moral and practical support in their capacity as Head of School during the writing
of this book. Also at Massey University, the students of 148.334 Sports History have
greatly expanded his knowledge of sport. Geoff is also grateful to the Stout Centre
for hosting him for Semester 2, 2015, during which time a considerable part of the
text was written. Lydia Wevers, Debbie Levy, Brad Patterson and Greg O’Brien
were particularly helpful during his stay. He also acknowledges his Palmerstonian
mentors Alan Latham, Paul Husbands, Matthew Oliver, Andrew Chick, the late
Campbell Duncan and Gwyn Williams for their education in the ways of sport and
life. His parents, Ian and Patsy Watson, and sisters Catherine and Megan have also
been unfailingly supportive. During his time at the University of Canterbury he
was also fortunate to be mentored by Sam Adshead and Ian Catanach. Sam was an
inspirational thinker in his bold conceptualisation of history while Ian was masterly
in the way he encouraged his students to think through the subtleties of their
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
argument and present their findings in a manner consistent with the conventions of
written English. Colin Mackerras and John Butcher also provided valuable support
as supervisors of Geoff’s doctoral thesis.
As parts of this book emerged from various research excursions to Britain
and Australia, Greg is especially grateful to Phyllis and Andy Crump for familial
hospitality and to Tony Collins for intellectual stimulation. With hindsight, he is
also pleased that Stephen Dunn, Brent Giblin and Stephen Lukey seldom, if ever,
agreed with him in any discussion about sport – thus stimulating further analysis
and reflection.
We also acknowledge our fellow New Zealand sports historians, particularly
Charlotte Macdonald, Caroline Daley, Jock Phillips and Ron Palenski, and our
colleagues in the Australian Society for Sports History and the British Society of
Sports History. Sam Elworthy has indulged our dilemmas and delays with unstinting
enthusiasm for this project as have the wider team at Auckland University Press.
Caren Wilton has been an exemplary and good-humoured copy editor. We also thank
two anonymous readers who responded enthusiastically to the manuscript and made
numerous helpful suggestions. Above all we thank our families for accepting our
sometimes puzzling fascination with sport and maintaining absolute faith that we
would reach our finish line. This book is dedicated to Liz Martyn and Hugh Ryan;
and Haklyka and Nadia Watson.
Greg Ryan and Geoff Watson
2 October 2017
viii
Abbreviations
AA Automobile Association
AAUA Amateur Athletic Union of Australasia
CABTA Citizens’ All Black Tour Association
CARE Citizens Association for Racial Equality
CER Closer Economic Relations
D&SCA Dunedin and Suburban Cricket Association
FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association
HART Halt All Racist Tours
HPSNZ High Performance Sport New Zealand
IAAF International Association of Athletics Federations
IFWHA International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations
IRB International Rugby Board
LPGA Ladies Professional Golf Association
MCC Marylebone Cricket Club
NBA National Basketball Association
NZAAA New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association
NZBA New Zealand Basketball Association
NZBC New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation
NZCC New Zealand Cricket Council
NZEF New Zealand Expeditionary Force
NZFA New Zealand Football Association
NZOBEGA New Zealand Olympic and British Empire Games Association
NZOCGA New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association
NZNA New Zealand Netball Association
NZRFU New Zealand Rugby Football Union
NZRL New Zealand Rugby League
NZSSSC New Zealand Secondary Schools Sports Council
NZWFA New Zealand Women’s Football Association
OCA Otago Cricket Association
RFU Rugby Football Union
SACOS South African Council of Sport
SANOC South African National Olympic Committee
SANROC South African Non-Racial Olympic Committee
SANZAR South Africa New Zealand Australia Rugby
SASA South African Sports Association
SCSA Supreme Council for Sport in Africa
SPARC Sport and Recreation New Zealand
TAB Totalisator Agency Board
WCA Wellington Cricket Association
WCTU Women’s Christian Temperance Union
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