Three of the founding members - Dr Norrie Jefferson, general surgeon John Heslop and heart specialist Dr Ted Nye - were honoured during the annual conference at the Dunedin Town Hall yesterday.
Before 1961, athletics injuries were treated by general practitioners, who had little knowledge of treating sports injuries.
"We had nothing before that and injuries were seldom treated properly," Heslop said.
Heslop said Sports Medicine NZ had given uniformity to the treatment of sports injuries throughout the country.
"When we first formed the organisation a sportsman would get different treatment in different parts of the country," he said.
"That's why we wanted to get more specialised training for doctors in sports medicine."
Sports Medicine NZ was founded at Dunedin in July 1963, was affiliated to the International Federation of Sports Medicine in 1965, and is now one of more than 50 organisations worldwide.
It has 12 regional branches in New Zealand. Norrie Jefferson was the first president.
"I am very thrilled with the advances it has made in New Zealand since we started in 1963. It gives me a lot of satisfaction,"he said.
"In the early days I was concerned about the lack of interest in treating sports injuries. It has developed considerably and athletes are now supported as soon as their injuries occur."
Nye said the founding of Sports Medicine NZ was part of an international movement to look at the application of medicine to sport.
"It was realised there was a meeting ground between the two," Nye said.
"This was recognised by setting up a professional organisation to look at the science of medicine and its application to sport. It needed to happen and was timely."
Jefferson evolved an interest in sports medicine when he was an Army Medical Officer in Japan after World War 2.
He discussed his interests with Dr Mayne Smeeton when they worked together in Japan and the interest continued when they both landed jobs at Dunedin Hospital in 1950.
The spark that ignited the formation of the association started in 1961 when future Governor General Sir Arthur Porritt spoke at a special meeting during the British Medical Association (New Zealand Branch) conference at Auckland.
He had just formed a similar organisation in England. The Paralympic movement developed from that later in the decade.
The same stimulus formed both organisations.
Sports Medicine NZ
Founding members
Dr Norrie Jefferson (inaugural president)
Dr Ted Nye
Mr John Heslop
Dr Jack Kilpatrick
Murray Brennan (secretary)
