BASKETBALL, WOMEN'S OUTDOOR

BASKETBALL, WOMEN'S OUTDOOR

by Leona Mary Coatsworth, Secretary, New Zealand Basketball Association (Inc.), Christchurch.

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

BASKETBALL, WOMEN'S OUTDOOR 22-Apr-09 Leona Mary Coatsworth, Secretary, New Zealand Basketball Association (Inc.), Christchurch.