Issue 109 : 17 July 2022
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., founded in Wellington, New Zealand in 2017.
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. An archive of earlier editions of the e-zine can be found here. For those who follow Twitter, you can also follow the Association, @AmateurSportNZ.
If you are interested in applying for membership of the Association, please click here.
Sports Clubs Fear “Extinction Event” Over Law Changes ...
Community sports clubs say they'll be wiped out if changes to the Incorporated Societies Act aren’t wound back before they take effect next year. The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association says changes to the law go too far and will result in the widespread dissolution of community groups, including sports clubs because they won't meet the new legal requirements.
(Are many community sport clubs likely to experience an "extinction event"?)
Glenfield Tennis Club president Sandie Newton said the changes would “absolutely” put people off helping run their local sports club. “We've always struggled to get volunteers and you've always needed someone who's a leader, like a president or a chair who has some business acumen. Now you're going to need more people with more business acumen and it's got to be legal stuff, financial stuff, definitely people who are totally switched on within the business community to be able to keep your club going ... they are really asking a hell of a lot of volunteers." You can read more here.
Sport Club Dissolutions Continue Apace ...
192 incorporated sport entities were dissolved by the Registrar of Incorporated Societies on Thursday, 7 July 2022. Basketball, Bowls, Cricket, Equestrian, Football, Hockey, Martial Arts, Motor Sport, Netball, and Rugby (union and league) were among the top codes affected. Among the notable dissolutions from a national perspective, was the South Canterbury Rugby Football Union Inc. (A total of 493 societies were dissolved by the registrar “being "satisfied that [they] are no longer carrying on their operations").
(192 sport entity dissolutions may just be "the tip of the iceberg")
The Association is in the process of contacting all sport clubs which have been dissolved this month to determine if they are aware they have been dissolved, if they are still operating (irrespective of their dissolved status) and whether or not they are aware of what they need to do, should they wish to have their incorporated status reinstated.
(493 incorporated societies were recently dissolved by the Registrar)
Viewpoint : "Three Changes To Improve The Act" ...
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, worth considering.
(More can be done to blunt the impact of recent legislative change)
The Association suggests that if the definition of “small society” in the Act is extended so that if a “small society” is also an “amateur sport promoter” (as defined by Income Tax Act 2007), then certain provisions of the new Act should not apply.
1. That dispute-resolution and conflict-of-interest management can be delegated/referred to a centralised service provided by a national sport organisation (NSO), or if the club has no NSO, then through a regional sport trust (RST).
2. That any incidences of non-compliance (if identified by the Registrar) are referred to the clubs’s NSO, (or if there is no NSO, then through the RST in the club's region) for resolution within a specified period, (rather than infringement notices and fines being issued).
3. That composition of club committees is not subject to section 47 of the new Act if the club is affiliated to a NSO and that actions of committee members are not subject to liability clauses where the NSO provides "combined association liability insurance" cover.
These are sensible, workable, pragmatic solutions to help preserve our club community, nationally. If you have any comments or feedback, please contact the Association, here.
Wairarapa Sports People Share Concerns ...
We were pleased to be invited by "Nuku Ora" (Wellington), to present to community sport stakeholders in the Wairarapa, at the YMCA Masterton Community Centre on Wednesday, 6 July. In particular, attendees acknowledged the challenges that the Incorporated Societies Act 2202 creates for recruiting and retaining club volunteers.
The seminar was the latest in the national series which will continue in Manawatu next month, with recent interest also received from the Canterbury region. Contact the Association here if you’d like to know more about how the new law will affect your local sports club.
National Sport Club Survey 2022 ...
The National Sport Club Survey (NSCS) runs in partnership between the Association and AUT SPRINZ. The fifth annual survey will be open from August 18th to 30th. The project team has been hard at work framing up this year’s survey with the intent of monitoring key metrics year-on-year, while also capturing new insights that can help shape the future of community sport.
(The 2022 National Sport Club Survey commences on 18 August)
The 2022 NSCS will have new foci on club perceptions related to the Incorporated Societies Act reform, leveraging of major women’s sport events as well as the intersection between community sport clubs and councils/local authorities. As always, 2022 NSCS insights will be widely disseminated for the purpose of benefitting sport clubs around the country.
(We warmly thank the Association's sponsors who help to make the NSCS possible)
AUT’s project co-lead Dr Mel Johnston is excited about this year’s focus on major event leveraging, “there’s a real opportunity for NZ’s cricket, rugby and football clubs to grow interest among women and girls with all the attention on the World Cups were in the midst of. These sports can learn from each other too”. Every sport club in New Zealand will receive an email invitation to participate in the 2022 NSCS on Thursday, August 18th.
Wellington Hockey Joins Association ...
The Wellington Hockey Association has a long and prestigious history and has been in existence for over 100 years. The Association runs the winter “small sticks”, secondary school and open grade competitions in the Wellington region. Over the summer months a range of competitions are run for both recreational and performance-minded players. Lisa Jones, Chair of the Association is also Chair of the "Affordable Sports Campaign", which the Amateur Sport Association actively supports.
From The Archives ...
SWIMMING
EVENING STAR, ISSUE 21985, 22 MARCH 1935, PAGE 5
“Otago swimmers will all join in expressing regret at the untimely death of Colin Kirkley as the result of an aeroplane crash in England during the week. Before he left for Home to join the Royal Air Force, Colin Kirkley was a leading Hawke’s Bay diver, and at Lower Hutt a few years ago he was runner-up to Peter Mathieson in the New Zealand intermediate boys diving championship. Subsequently he spent some time in Dunedin as the guest of Roy Calder (then champion of New Zealand), from whom he received valuable coaching, showing great promise and exceptional keenness.”
Colin Kirkley was born 11 July 1916, the son of Cedric and Elsie Myrtle (nee Symons) Kirkley. He had one older sister (Helen) and a younger brother (Hilton). The family lived in Duke Street, Hastings and Colin attended Mahora Primary School, then Hastings High School. As a student he demonstrated athletic prowess as a rugby footballer and swimmer, joining the Mahora Swimming & Life Saving Club in 1927. The following year he was a member of the McKee Shield winning rugby football team from Mahora School, pictured below.
(The 1928 McKee Shield champion Mahora team, with Colin Kirley circled)
In 1932 he earned the Royal Life Saving Society’s elementary certificate and also joined the Hastings High School Old Boys Rugby Football Club. Kirkley twice represented Hawkes Bay at intermediate championship swimming meetings and he was runner-up in the New Zealand championships in 1932, following which his father took him to Dunedin for further training. In appreciation for the training Colin received from Roy Calder, Cedric presented the “Kirkley Cup” to the Otago Swimming Centre for the men’s diving championship.
(Colin Kirkley, 1916 - 1935)
Colin had to return home from Otago while training for the 1933 New Zealand diving championships, having injured an eardrum. He gained his private pilot’s license and then applied to join the Royal Air Force in October 1934. Accepted in the RAF’s pilot school at Digby, Lincolnshire, on 18 March 1935, while performing aerobatics as part of his training, Kirkley’s plane (an Avro 621 Tutor, pictured below) crashed on Merheringham Farm, owned by George Flintham. Acting Pilot-Officer, Colin Kirkley died of a fractured skull aged 18 years 8 months. He is buried in the Scopwich Churchyard. In 1936, Cedric presented a cup in memory of his son to the Hawkes Bay Swimming Centre “for the encouragement of swimming among the juniors”.
(The plane flown by Kirkley which crashed while performing aerobatics in 1935)
The Final Word ...
"It is likely our society, one of the oldest in the country, will simply fold."
(John Jones reacts to the Incorporated Societies Act 2022)