Read Getting Set for an Active Nation - Sport New Zealand

certain sports is reflected in other newspaper records of the day, such as in the New Zealand
Herald of 27 May, 1878, which noted the Tradesmen’s Athletic Club at Ellerslie and the
Pakuranga Hunt Club. The same issue, along with the selling of crimean shirts and boys’
knickerbocker suits, made reference to Man-of-War boating races and local football.
Expenditure on sport was reflected in the 33,500 pounds spent at Otago race tracks in 1873,
in an era when footracers earned cash from professional racing (Crawford, 1984). As in the
United States of America, Australia and the United Kingdom, sports in New Zealand society
were seen as positive forces which enhanced “healthy living” and countered the excessive
lures of alcohol and tobacco.
The concept of mateship in the twenty-first century, in sports such as rugby and rugby
league, is seen as having its roots in the frontier society of nineteenth century New Zealand.
Frontier life was also characterised by unattached males, the telling of yarns and informal
physical recreation such as picnic events, hunting, local competition, drinking, and local rules
in games. Church, annual community events and the occasional touring company
performance provided focal points for families.
Water based and team sports were popular and newspapers recorded large attendances at
rugby matches, athletic meets and horse racing. As was to be noted in the twentieth century,
participation of all sectors of the New Zealand population in particular nineteenth century
sports was influenced by work hours, race, disposable income and education background.
Historians have noted the marginalisation of women in recreation and sport, with little
recognition in historical literature given to their pursuits.
Industralised societal values such as the division of labour, recognition for hard work, set
times governing daily routines, and increasing regulation are seen by recreation and sport
sociologists as influencing the shape of non-work activity and the setting up of associations
with rules and sanctions. By the end of the nineteenth century national associations were
being formed. Improved communications, increasing transport linkages, technology advances
and the installation of central government enhanced the development of sport uniformity and
competition structures. In 1892 a government bill was passed to allow shops to close at 1:00
pm on Saturdays. The growth of secondary schooling, with its attendant conformity, provided
pools of potential players and strengthened the standardisation of rules. The increasing
regulation of society was reflected in the formation of national and regional bodies, such as:
Auckland Athletics Association (1887); Amateur Rowing Association (1887); Swimming
Association (1889); Football (Soccer) Association (1891); Rugby Football Union (1892); Alpine
Club (1892); and the Cricket Council (1894). A wide range of institutions also accepted the
positive values of play and recreation, illustrated by the Dunedin Curative Asylum in 1875
having activities such as bowls, croquet and rambling. Cycling had become popular with the
advent of the penny-farthing cycle and grew in popularity with subsequent improved models.
This invention also impacted upon the mobility of women and their ability to gather for
recreation and sport. The increase in organised recreation and sport reflected a belief that
activity had social benefits, including community cohesion.
There are clear parallels in New Zealand’s sport development with those of organised sport in
nineteenth century Europe. The mass movement of sport grew apace in both settings.
Communication and transport advances facilitated international sport competition and the
standardisation of rules and records. The increases in Australasian sports organisation in this
Ministerial Taskforce on Sport, Fitness & Leisure January 2001 page 18 of 153