Bowls: Stan was the man of the sport

Stan Seear used to be known as the father of an All Black. He turned that around in the last 30 years of his life to become a New Zealand sports celebrity in his own right.

Seear died this year at the age of 89 and his contribution to Dunedin and New Zealand bowls has been recognised by giving pride of place to his memorabilia at the Bowls Dunedin headquarters and the Andersons Bay Bowling Club.

Seear used to play second fiddle to his son Gary, who played 34 games for the All Blacks between 1976 and 1979.

But as a bowls selector and administrator Seear achieved national prominence in his own right, and left a long-term legacy for the sport.

His most notable achievement was as a national bowls selector from 1983 to 1992.

It was a golden era of New Zealand men's bowls.

During this time New Zealand won six gold medals, seven silver and nine bronze medals in major international competitions.

The first highlight of that period came at World Bowls in 1984 when Peter Belliss won the World Bowls singles title.

Two years later it was the turn of Dunedin's Ian Dickison when he won the Commonwealth Games singles title at Edinburgh.

In 1988 at World Bowls in Auckland, New Zealand won gold medals in the pairs and the triples and a silver medal in the fours.

Seear's achievements have been recognised by the Andersons Bay Bowling Club where he played for 60 years and was patron and a life member at the time of his death.

Leon Olivier, a member of the region six advisory committee, donated cabinets to house the memorabilia at the Bowls Dunedin headquarters and the Andersons Bay Club.

"Stan was a brilliant manager and always looked at ways of improving the game and helping the people in the game to reach their peak," he said.

"He had huge respect among his peers in New Zealand and the Commonwealth."

Harold Morgan, who replaced him as patron of the Andersons Bay Bowling Club, had a close association with Seear.

"Stan was addicted to making telephone calls and used to call me up and discuss bowls most days," he said.

"My phone has grown quiet since he died.

"It was important to put the memorabilia in place so that a record of his achievements could be passed on to future generations of bowlers.

"Stan knew everyone in the bowls world and his like will not be seen again."

Long-term legacy
The Seear file
Born: 1919, died 2009.
Bowls Dunedin: Patron and life member; president 1982-83.
Bowls NZ: Selector 1983-1992; manager of the Commonwealth Games bowls team, 1990.