Sport and the New Zealanders: A History
auckland-university-press
Thu May 31 2018 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Sport and the New Zealanders: A History
Thursday, 31 May 2018, 1:24 pm
Press Release: Auckland University Press
Media Release
Sport and the New Zealanders: A History
Greg Ryan & Geoff Wilson
Auckland University Press
Hardback, 240 x 170 mm, 464 pages
9 August 2018, $65.00
Subject: Sports, sports history, New Zealand society
Sport and the people of New Zealand are inseparable. This is a history of New Zealanders and the sports that we have made our own, from the Māori world to today’s professional athletes.
‘Those two mighty products of the land, the Canterbury lamb and the All Blacks, have made New Zealand what she is in spite of politician’s claims to the contrary’, wrote famed cricket writer Dick Brittenden in 1954. ‘For many in New Zealand, prowess at sport replaces the social graces; in the pubs, during the furious session between 5pm and closing time an hour later, the friend of a relative of a horse trainer is a veritable patriarch. No matador in Madrid, no tenor in Turin could be sure of such flattering attention.’
Sports have played a central part in the social and cultural history of Aotearoa New Zealand but it’s a story that has not truly been told until now. Why did rugby become much more important than soccer in New Zealand? What role have Māori played in our sporting life? Do we really ‘punch above our weight’ in international sport? Does sport still define our national identity?
Viewing New Zealand sport as activity and as imagination, Sport and the New Zealanders is a major history of a central strand of New Zealand life.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
Greg Ryan is a professor and the dean of the Faculty of Environment, Society and Design at Lincoln University. He is the author of The Contest for Rugby Supremacy: Accounting for the 1905 All Blacks (Canterbury University Press, 2005), The Making of New Zealand Cricket: 1832–1914 (Frank Cass, 2003) which won the 2005 Ian Wards Prize, and Forerunners of the All Blacks: The 1888–89 New Zealand Native Football Team in Britain, Australia and New Zealand (Canterbury University Press, 1993).
Geoff Watson is a senior lecturer in history at Massey University. He is the principal author of Seasons of Honour: A Centenary History of New Zealand Hockey 1902–2002 (Dunmore Press, 2002) and one of the editors of Legends in Black: New Zealand Rugby Greats on Why We Win (Penguin, 2014).
Deeply informed by psychological research and a life of social activism, Niki Harré’s provocative book teaches us all how we might live life as an infinite game.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from Auckland University Press on InfoPages.