Every weekend, sport is played out in the fields of Otago. Reporting from South Otago for more than a decade for the Otago Daily Times has been Norman Woods. Steve Hepburn catches up with Woods on a beautiful clear South Otago day.
Norman Woods' wife probably sums him up best.
"He is a walking, talking sporting encyclopedia. He can remember games from the 1950s and 1960s.
"How he hit Fred Trueman to the boundary twice at Carisbrook. Games played on the back fields of South Otago. How many challenges South Otago defended the Topp Cup for in the early 1980s."
In something of an understatement, Woods (78) loves his sport. It has been a big part of his life and continues to be so.
Every Saturday, both in winter and summer, Woods will leave his Kaka Point home and head to a game somewhere in South Otago. It may be to Balclutha for a rugby game or a bit further north for some cricket.
South Otago is heartland sport - where rugby, in particular, and cricket still rule. Things like dodgeball and adventure races do not get much of a look in down this way.
Woods said sport kept the community close and people were still interested in how their side was going.
‘‘I make sure I go to one game every Saturday. Sometimes they play them during the week and I'll go to a game on Thursday, one on Friday, another on Saturday,'' he said.
‘‘People love their sport down here in South Otago. They're always watching. Heriot has a good team at the moment but it changes.
‘‘A few years ago, the team down the road, Owaka, looked as though it might fall over. But they had 30-odd guys at their training last season.
‘‘I love doing the writing. You always think of something to write about. And people do care. They are interested in what you write about.
‘‘It is a shame now that to make it into the Otago team you have to go to town. It used to be you could make it from here. But not any more.''
Woods and wife Glennis, who will celebrate their 60th anniversary next year, helped care for poet Hone Tuwhare for many years.
They hail from Dunedin originally, where Norman, who has an identical twin brother, Willis, was a bit of a star on the cricket field.
Actually make that a more than decent cricketer. Woods actually wore a New Zealand jersey before he had even played senior club cricket.
He went to Kaikorai Primary School and remembers playing on the Nairn St Reserve with the likes of future New Zealand wicketkeeper Artie Dick.
‘‘He used to make 100 every time he played.''
Woods left King Edward Technical College and got a job in a drapery. He then did his military training and returned home in late 1955.
‘‘I got back on a Wednesday and thought I would pop down to Bishopscourt for a bit of training. They asked me if I could play for the second XI for the club.
‘‘I said yes and ended up getting five for 11. Then I got a telephone call, wanting me to go to Christchurch and play for the South Island for a trial for a [New Zealand] colts tour.
‘‘I got six for 26 in the first innings and North Island only made 113. The game ended in a draw and I got named in the team to go to Australia. There was Artie Dick, Lance Pearson and me. Three from the same club.''
The tour went well and Woods came back and eventually made his senior debut.
He captured 15 wickets for 39 with his left arm in-swingers in his first senior game.
He made his debut for Otago in 1959 and took six wickets in the first innings.
Otago was a good side in those days. Bert Sutcliffe was captain and the team had the likes of Frank Cameron and Jack Alabaster.
Woods ended up playing 18 first-class games for Otago, and took 44 wickets, with an average of just over 22.
His biggest game was against MCC at Carisbrook in 1959. Otago made a disastrous start, losing four wickets for 11 runs, facing Trueman and Frank Tyson.
Woods, batting 11, came to the wicket to face Trueman with Otago having scored only 58.
‘‘That first ball, I did not see it. I backed away so much it went between me and the leg stump and the wicketkeeper missed it and it went to the boundary.
‘‘The next ball, I nicked it right through the slips for four.
‘‘There was about 8000 people watching and they were really excited. Freddie came steaming in on the last ball but he ended up bowling a slow full toss. I whacked it through the covers for four.''
The Otago batsman at the other end was out the following over and Otago ended up losing by an innings.
Woods continued playing for Kaikorai but in 1966 he moved to Alexandra, and with children coming along, his cricket career started winding down.
Working initially for Arthur Barnett Ltd, he switched jobs to become a travel agent in the mid 1970s.
It was in Alexandra that he first dabbled in reporting.
‘‘I started doing some reporting for 4ZB. Neil Collins had rung the manager of Arthur Barnett to see if anyone could do a bit of reporting.
‘‘He asked me if I knew anyone and I thought I would have a go.
‘‘It was a lot of fun. You'd go down to the exchange and be put through to 4ZB and do your report. Then they'd go to North Otago with Terry O'Neill.''
He worked with the likes of Tony Johnson, Bill Francis and Ron Snowden.
He started dabbling with print but soon learned one could not quite go off scoreboards for a rugby match.
‘‘I went out and played a game of golf at Clyde. Then I came home and got the scores. I sat down to write it and I just couldn't write anything. No-one had told me anything about the game. I learned from that.''
He now had a set routine at every game, getting the team sheets, talking to the referee and checking with him at the end of the game over the score.
Woods moved to Kaka Point in 1992, and he and Glennis bought the Kaka Point store.
They added a bar and cafe and then the camping ground, and Glennis was the postmistress.
It was a busy time and one they thoroughly enjoyed as Norman continued his reporting in his spare time.
By 2005, though, they decided it was time to wind down and they retired to their house in Kaka Point with its stunning view over the sea.
Perched on the kitchen bench is the trusty computer, where every Saturday night or Sunday morning, it gets a good workout.
It may not be the World Cup or the Olympics but for the folk of South Otago and beyond, that computer is a part of their community.
