I’m not what you’d call a sports person. Even from an early age, Sport and I have just never seemed to get along. I spent two years of my childhood at a Japanese primary school.
Our school had a big sports field devoid of any grass and covered in white gravel. We had a dedicated sports uniform—ultra short shorts and a gender specific T-shirt with our name on it. We had the usual school sports days (except these had quasi-choreographed dance sequences with towels). I even played flippa ball (remember that?) and attempted badminton. High school sports days were spent avoiding frivolous feats of brawn with my friends. I mostly sat outside Newtown Park talking trash with them while they smoked cigarettes. Although I do know a disturbingly high level of sporting trivia that often confounds my friends.
But as you get older, your brain matures and you start to appreciate things more. That’s why VUWSA and students’ associations around the country have always recognised the benefit of having sporting opportunities available to students while they’re at university.
University Sport New Zealand (USNZ) was founded by, and continues to be governed by, students’ associations and it has facilitated cross-campus sporting activities for athletes undertaking tertiary study for over fifty years.
Many of New Zealand’s sporting greats started in teams and clubs at university, supported by their students’ association like VUWSA. Conrad Smith and Jerry Collins, Simon Elliott and double Olympic Gold Medallist Richard Joyce are all products of opportunities supported and facilitated by VUWSA throughout the years. But sporting opportunities are not just for the elite of the sporting world. There’s also the University Games and the swag of sporting clubs affiliated with VUWSA to get involved with.
VUWSA helped build and now part funds our Recreation Centre. The VUWSA Trust funded the bulk of the Boyd Wilson Field upgrade last year. It now boasts a running track, lighting, seating and an artificial surface for year-round play—which is a vast improvement on the muddy mire that existed for years before. This enables all students regardless of their sporting abilities (whether or not they are a member of a club and neighbouring groups like Te Puni) to have access to a world class facility.
Education Action Group Re-Launch this Tuesday—Guest Speaker: Winston Peters
This Tuesday will see the re-launch of the Education Action Group for 2011. The EAG runs VUWSA’s education campaigns and over the years the EAG has assisted VUWSA with a range of education campaigns—including battles around fees, student support, course quality and anti-student changes in tertiary education. This Tuesday’s meeting will see Winston Peters speaking on what’s wrong with the current system and why the Government shouldn’t be cutting funding. If you’re interested in hearing what new tricks this old dog might have up his sleeve, come to the VUWSA Meeting Rooms on Level 2 of the Student Union Building. If the EAG sounds like the thing that you want to be more involved in then just give me an email and I’ll pass on some further details.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who came to our Initial General Meeting last Thursday. It was the most efficient and well attended in more than a decade. You made my day.
Have a great week and I hope you’re all looking forward to Friday. It’s the day after Thursday, and Saturday comes after it. Make sure it’s full of partying, partying partying (yeah!) and fun fun fun fun.
Below: Child Brady does athletics; is adorable, dorky.