Two years ago, we outlined the decline in local club sport since the mid-1980s. One of the major findings of the series was that there were 1800 fewer people involved in playing club rugby, cricket, netball and softball in Dunedin than there were in 1985. There were 80 senior rugby teams in 1985. That number grew to 82 in 1995 but fell away alarmingly during the following decade to just 57 teams in 2005. Rugby remained static during the next 10 years but Pirates’ decision not to enter a premier team this season may well signal the start of another dip. Time will tell.
Not around
The biggest issue for Pirates and so many clubs these days is getting players.
It just comes down to numbers.
From 2005 to 2015, there was a drop in the number of secondary school pupils in the Dunedin area of 743.
That is a large school — just disappeared off the face of the earth in 10 years, thanks to falling birth rates and the changing face of the population.
How many of those 743 would have played sport?
They say the participation rate among school pupils is at a national high in Otago at 69%.
So using that number of the 743 disappeared pupils, 513 of them would have played sport.
That is 34 rugby teams or 73 netball teams which is a sobering thought.
That works through to club sport when the pupils leave school.
Not around and not interested
Then throw in the individualism streak which has found its way into every sector of society in modern times.These days, players do not want to commit to playing every Saturday. It is too much of a tie for too many.
A third grade cricket side in Dunedin used more than 40 players in its just completed season. That’s right — more than 40 players! That is nearly four teams.
Some colts rugby teams have squads of upwards of 40 because players simply do not want to be tied into playing every Saturday. So, in reality, a club might have one or two colts sides but could have three or four in playing numbers — if they were all available.
Many young players these days simply want to pick and choose. That is great for them but what about the poor coach and those who do want to actually show a bit of commitment and play every week?
Hyde St hoedown
Commitment means turning up every week and to every training.
It was a bit of a head-scratcher but one wonders why the opening round of Dunedin colts rugby was shifted to a Thursday?
We all know why. Because the Hyde St keg party was on the Saturday and if colts rugby was scheduled on the Saturday, there would be a raft of defaults.
Isn’t that just a little bit sad?
Is the Hyde St keg party that important and that big a social event that nothing else could be done on the Saturday?
What about earning your beer on Saturday? Playing the game at 1pm and then going to the party afterwards.
Undercover
We’re with Sonny Bill Williams. Banks should definitely do away with interest, although we wonder how much the All Black midfielder has had tucked away in term deposits over the years.
He is, of course, a principled man and we are sure he has given any proceeds away. And since he won’t be donning any bank advertisements on his collar any time soon, perhaps he has taken a pay cut.
The Blues second five-eighth will get through the potential lean times, though. It won’t cost him the shirt off his back, for example. Williams signed a lucrative multiyear deal with sportswear giant adidas to act as a brand ambassador in 2014, and was quoted as saying "it’s great to know I have adidas in my corner".
Adidas’ commitment to worker welfare has not always been as solid. The company has been criticised for operating sweatshops and choosing to work with suppliers with less reputable labour rights records.
But Williams seems like a very decent human being and obviously meant well. The irony is he has done more to promote the BNZ by covering up its logo than if he had just left it uncovered. None of us would have spotted the minute advert.
Highly illogical?
The format of the new ANZ Premiership netball league has its attractions, but it definitely leaves some odd situations. Most notable is the irregularity in gaps between games.
The Southern Steel, for instance, played its most recent game on Monday. It does not play again until Wednesday. Then it also has games on Sunday and Monday. So after a nine-day gap between games, it then has to play three in six days.
The situation comes as a result of the Super Sunday rounds and the host backing up with another game the next day. While the Steel is not the only team to face such a situation, it does seems odd when you look at it like that.
Molyneux Park
If first-class cricket makes a return to Molyneux Park this summer then the district will have the vision of Otago coach Rob Walter and the hard work of Otago Country Cricket chairman Malcolm Jones to thank for it. The venue fell out of favour as a first-class venue when the development of the University Oval in 2004 necessitated playing more cricket in Dunedin. The dated facilities at Molyneux Park did not help and it dropped off the domestic schedule from January 2011 to December 2013, when the pitch was not up to the required standard.
But Walter was impressed with the playing surfaces when he took the Volts to Alexandra for a pre-season camp last year and quickly realised its potential. With very little rainfall there during the summer months, it makes sense for Otago to play more first-class in Central Otago.
Jones, a passionate Molyneux Park advocate, sprang into action and put together an economic impact report to outline the importance of cricket to Alexandra in the hope of garnering support from the Central Otago District Council.
It looks like the campaign is destined to be successful and Otago hopes to host a first-class game there in November.The Volts have not played a first-class fixture at Molyneux Park since March 2004.
Award for what?
It has been said before and one has to say it again but what is going on with these award nights?
Like come on, the Otago Volts finished dead last in all three competitions they entered this season.
To be blunt, they could not have done worse.
But they still had an awards night when prizes were handed out for best batsman, bowler, fielder, dresser, sock changing.
Right, we know other parts of Otago cricket did well. The Sparks won a trophy and the under-19 men’s team managed to win the tournament — both great efforts which deserved to be acknowledged.
But the Volts? Perhaps not.
How did Jacob Duffy win anything?
He was hauled out of the twenty20 competition and spent a long time remodelling his action. He then came back, did all right, without setting the house on fire, and was not in the side when it ended the season.
The Southlander then won some award. No-one actually seemed to know what it was called, but he got it for a fine attitude in training.
Fair enough, but this is professional sport. It is about results, not how one trains.
Are the Otago Volts becoming like the mighty Warriors league side? Every year failing to perform where it counts — the scoreboard — but still having an awards night.
We get it — an awards night is just as much about thanking all staff and all players, not just centred around the performance of the top team.
But it just looks silly.
Too much of an average thing
New Zealand Football has announced its plans to expand its national competitions over the next decade, with one of them moving towards a 30-match league. You cannot fault it wanting to grow and it provides reasons behind its decisions.
However, is 30 matches just too long? People start losing interest when things drag on. Even Super Rugby, which is an 18-game season including playoffs, has headed that way. That is for a sport which still ranks miles ahead of any other in terms of spectator interest in this country.
And if the football league carried on through winter, it would be competing with rugby for viewers. No doubt it is the sort of idea that has worked around the world. But is it realistic to expect it to work in a New Zealand context?
Gender rules
Wise words were put by Otago Rugby Football Union chairman Keith Cooper in his report for last month’s annual meeting of the union.
Cooper wrote about "much being made at a national level as to diversity of rugby governance which your board supports, however I would like to make the point that diversity is not as narrow as gender diversity. Your board annually assesses where we believe we have gaps in skill sets ... including skill, ethnicity, gender and geographical."
Cooper is dead right. It is talent and ability for the role which should come first. And daylight should be second.
Wet winter ahead
There were a few shaking their heads when premier club rugby was canned on Thursday because of the heavy rain.
To many it seemed like the matches were called off because of rain which was supposed to come.
It seemed like there was a mad rush for it to be canned rather than finding a way for it to be played.
The grounds at Kettle Park and Hancock Park should have stood up to a game or two, one would have thought.
They may well have but at this stage of the season it is best to err on the side of caution.
The biggest issue is the grounds never really dried out in the so-called warmer months. Most grounds were lush and green all summer, thanks to the rain which hung around post-Christmas.
So, going into the colder months, the grounds are not as good as hoped.
Now, a big wet has occurred. That could lead to a long and wet season on the grounds for winter sports.At least Cold Power and Unilever will be happy.
