BASKETBALL, WOMEN'S OUTDOOR
BASKETBALL, WOMEN'S OUTDOOR
Women's basketball was introduced into New Zealand in 1907 by the Rev. J. C. Jamieson, Travelling Secretary of the Presbyterian Bible Class Union, who had seen the game played in Australia. In that year a demonstration match was played in a paddock between Eden and Epsom, Auckland, and as a result several teams were formed from the Y.W.C.A. and Bible classes. Gradually the game spread to other centres and associations were constituted in Auckland, Canterbury, Otago, and Wellington. As there were wide divergencies between the rules adopted by these bodies, inter-association competitions could not be organised. In 1922 the four associations commenced negotiations to form a national association and to adopt uniform rules. The first interprovincial match was played in Wellington in 1923. In May 1924 the New Zealand Basketball Association was inaugurated; the association's colours–black with a silver fern emblem–were adopted; and it was decided to hold a Dominion Tournament annually from 1926. At the first annual meeting held in August 1925 at Wellington, the constitution was drafted and the playing rules of the Otago Basketball Association were adopted.
New Zealand Basketball Association
Women's Basketball is controlled by the Council of the New Zealand Basketball Association, which meets once a year, and a New Zealand Executive, of six members, which meets more frequently. Local basketball fixtures are organised by the district associations, or sub-associations, to which local teams are affiliated. In the 1963 season there were 35 district associations (including 73 affiliated sub-associations), and 3,570 teams–or 24,990 girls playing basketball regularly.
In 1935 a new body, the New Zealand Basketball Referees' Association, took over the functions of the Rules Committee of the New Zealand Basketball Association. The N.Z.B.R.A. also has a special Board of Examiners for referees.
Dominion Tournaments
In 1925 the New Zealand Cup was donated anonymously and this became the premier New Zealand basketball trophy. Four years later the president of the Canterbury Association donated the Annie Brown Cup for the runners-up in the Dominion Tournament. In 1932, when there were 15 associations affiliated, the Dominion Tournament was split into two grades. On this occasion, Mrs R. S. McInnes, the former President, donated the President's Cup for the winners of the second grade Tournament while the Hayhurst Cup was presented for the runners-up. In 1936, because of the increasing numbers of teams competing, a third grade competition was instituted, with the Kiwi Trophy for winners, and the Armstrong Shield for the runners-up. During the war many sub-associations went into recess and no Dominion Tournaments were held until 1945. By 1958 the third grade competition had grown unwieldy and it was decided to institute a fourth grade. The winners' trophy, the Allen Challenge Shield, was presented by the Rotorua Association, and the runners-up trophy, the Hastings Cup, was presented by the President of the Hawke's Bay Association. The following are the winners of the Dominion Tournament trophies since their inception:
DOMINION BASKETBALL TROPHY WINNERS First Grade |
||
New Zealand Cup (Winner) | Annie Brown Cup (Runner-up) | |
1926–29 | Auckland | .. |
1930 | Auckland | Wellington |
1931 | Auckland (by challenge) | Wellington |
1932 | Otago | Wellington |
1933 | Auckland | Wellington |
1934 | Wellington | Canterbury |
1935 | Wellington | Otago |
1936 | Southland | Auckland |
1937 | Wellington | Auckland |
1938 | Wellington and Canterbury | Southland |
1939 | Wellington and Auckland | Southland |
1940 | Auckland | Wellington |
1941 | Hawke's Bay | Auckland |
1942–44 | No tournament | |
1945 | Canterbury | Otago |
1946 | Auckland and Manawatu | Canterbury |
1947 | Canterbury | Auckland |
1948 | Canterbury | Auckland |
1949 | Auckland | Canterbury |
1950 | Canterbury | Auckland and Tauranga |
1951 | Canterbury | Auckland |
1952 | Canterbury | Auckland |
1953 | Auckland | Canterbury |
1954 | Canterbury | Hawke's Bay and Auckland |
1955 | Canterbury | Auckland |
1956 | Canterbury | Hawke's Bay |
1957 | Auckland | Southland |
1958 | Southland | Canterbury |
1959 | Southland | Canterbury |
1960 | Canterbury | Auckland |
1961 | Canterbury and Otago | Auckland and Wellington |
1962 | Canterbury and Rotorua | Matamata |
1963 | Canterbury | Southland |
1964 | Rotorua | Southland |
Second Grade | ||
Precident's Shield (Winner) | Hayhurst Cup (Runner-up) | |
1932 | Ashburton | .. |
1933 | Waikato, Poverty Bay, and South Canterbury | Wairarapa |
1934 | Poverty Bay | Marlborough |
1935 | South Canterbury and Southland Minor | Ashburton |
1936 | South Canterbury | Taranaki |
1937 | Southland Minor | Ashburton and Hutt Valley |
1938 | South Canterbury | Southland Minor |
1939 | South Canterbury | Waikato |
1940 | Wanganui | Southland Minor |
1941 | Manawatu and Taranaki | Waikato and Poverty Bay |
1942–44 | No tournament | |
1945 | Manawatu | Rotorua |
1946 | Matamata | Hutt Valley and Horowhenua |
1947 | Tauranga | Waikato |
1948 | Tauranga | Taranaki |
1949 | Tauranga | Waikato |
1950 | S. Canterbury and Taranaki | Matamata |
1951 | Hutt Valley | S. Canterbury and Taranaki |
1952 | Rotorua | Hutt Valley |
1953 | Taranaki and Hutt Valley | Ashburton, South Canterbury and Matamata |
1954 | Rotorua | Hutt Valley and Taranaki |
1955 | Southland Minor | South Canterbury |
1956 | Hutt Valley | South Canterbury |
1957 | Wanganui and Taranaki | Manawatu and Tauranga |
1958 | Matamata | Tauranga |
1959 | Manawatu | Wellington |
1960 | Wellington | Hutt Valley |
1961 | Matamata | Tauranga |
1962 | Manawatu | Northland |
1963 | Northland | Auckland Minor and Waikato |
1964 | Wanganui | Hutt Valley |
Third Grade | ||
Kiwi Trophy (Winner) | Armstrong Shield (Runner-up) | |
1937 | Wairoa | West Coast |
1938 | Bush | West Coast and Wanganui |
1939 | Wanganui | West Coast |
1940 | Marlborough | Wairoa |
1941 | Matamata | Rotorua and Bay of Plenty |
1942–44 | No tournament | .. |
1945 | Wairoa and Horowhenua | Tauranga |
1946 | Tauranga | Nelson |
1947 | Nelson | Marlborough |
1948 | Marlborough and West Coast | Wairarapa |
1949 | Marlborough | Canterbury Minor |
1950 | Thames Valley | Temuka |
1951 | No tournament | .. |
1952 | Canterbury Minor | Northland |
1953 | Canterbury Minor | Northland and Hokitika |
1954 | Wellington Minor | Northland |
1955 | Northland and Canterbury Sub-associations | Temuka and South Auckland |
1956 | Eastern Bay of Plenty | Te Kawau |
1957 | Te Kawau | Ashburton |
1958 | Ashburton, Canterbury Sub-associations, South Auckland, Thames Valley | Poverty Bay |
1959 | Wairarapa | Thames Valley |
1960 | Ashburton | Canterbury Sub-associations |
1961 | Ashburton | Temuka |
1962 | Auckland Minor and Canterbury Sub-assoc. | Putaruru |
1963 | West Coast | Putaruru equal Thames Valley |
1964 | Thames Valley | Eastern Bay of Plenty |
Fourth Grade | ||
Allen Challenge Shield (Winner) | Hastings Cup (Runner-up) | |
1958 | Taranaki Minor | Auckland Minor and North Otago |
1959 | North Otago and Temuka | Poverty Bay East Coast and Otago Minor |
1960 | North Otago | Auckland Minor and Central King Country |
1961 | Auckland Minor | Hutt Valley Minor and Otago Minor |
1962 | Central King Country | Hutt Valley Minor |
1963 | North Otago | Otago Minor |
1964 | Hutt Valley Minor | Marlborough |
International Competitions
During the 1920s, although several attempts were made to arrange visits by overseas teams, lack of finance and differences in playing rules effectively prevented New Zealand participation in international competition. In 1938 a New Zealand representative team toured Australia playing seven-a-side matches under Australian rules. During this visit officers of the two national associations agreed to draw up basic playing rules with a view to forming an Inter-Empire Association which was to be inaugurated at the Centennial Tournament, Wellington, in 1940. Later, the English Association decided to participate; however, owing to the war both the conference and the visits of Australian and English teams were cancelled.
In 1948 an Australian team toured New Zealand. Playing under Australian rules, the visitors won the nine provincial games as well as all three tests. Although discussions with a view to drafting uniform rules were held and some progress made, the Australians could not be persuaded to abandon their seven-a-side rule in favour of New Zealand's nine.
In 1954 a team from the New Zealand Minor Associations toured Fiji at the invitation of the Fijian Basketball Association. A return visit took place in 1957, when the Fijians won 25 of their 28 matches.
Following upon the visit of the All-Australia team to England in 1956, the English Association called a meeting to discuss the formation of an international body. Two years later New Zealand adopted the proposed international rules, including the controversial seven-a-side rule, for domestic play. In 1960 New Zealand representatives attended the inaugural meeting of the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball Associations at Colombo. During the same year a New Zealand team successfully toured Australia, the games being played according to the new international rules. Early in the 1961 season New Zealand formally ratified these and, in August 1963, a New Zealand team took part in the first international tournament at Eastbourne, England. This was won by Australia with New Zealand in second place. International tournaments are to take place every four years, the venue being: Perth (1967), Jamaica (1971), and New Zealand (1975). The New Zealand team's record at the first international tournament was:
by Leona Mary Coatsworth, Secretary, New Zealand Basketball Association (Inc.), Christchurch.
New Zealand | 112 v. | Northern Ireland 4 |
New Zealand | 61 v. | Jamaica 31 |
New Zealand | 89 v. | Ceylon 9 |
New Zealand | 56 v. | England 29 |
New Zealand | 51 v. | Trinidad 23 |
New Zealand | 36 v. | Australia 37 |
New Zealand | 60 v. | South Africa 13 |
New Zealand | 85 v. | Scotland 7 |
New Zealand | 88 v. | Wales 15 |
New Zealand | 73 v. | West Indies 23 |