Nicknamed ‘The Enforcer’, Steve Hinds has been the World Rugby Citing Commissioner Manager since 2017. This after a full-on career with the New Zealand Police, rising to the rank of Superintendent and upon retirement as a long- time central figure in SANZAAR and Citing Commissioner at three Rugby World Cups. Prior to all this Steve had a distinguished rugby playing career in Wellington representing the Lions in 59 matches. Maybe it is from those playing days that the nickname originated? Whatever, he has very clear views about sport and the need for structure and support for youth in today’s society.
A few weeks ago, my partner Cheryl and I travelled to Levin and attended the Horowhenua A&P Show. For me this was a pilgrimage of sorts as this event was a huge part of my life growing up on a dairy farm on the outskirts of town, in 1960s New Zealand.
Then, the Show was the highlight of the year for farming folk. Sixty years on, it was evident that not a lot has changed in the A&P world, although numbers of exhibitors and participants seemed a lot less than I remembered, and the rides in the side show area not as daunting. Mind you, I am a bit bigger now. Pleasingly, the enthusiasm and the same palpable sense of community and engagement by all those involved in a vast array of activities was still alive and well.
First stop of course had to be the dairy section. My sister and I were just kids but we took it so seriously, preparing our prized Jersey heifer calves for their debut in the ring to be scrutinized by the expert judges. I well-remembered the help, support, advice and encouragement from other farming types. It was competitive but collegial at the same time and fun to be part of.
Wandering around the other various activities, I was struck by the caring and supportive environment I remember from my time in the circle. We saw axemen and women competing in novice events struggling to gnaw through the logs, being encouraged by senior members of the clubs, and greeted by enthusiastic applause when they finished, or not. It was the taking part that mattered.
Across the way from the wood chopping, the shearing stands were set up and the buzz of Lister hand pieces and the smell of sheep lanolin rekindled memories of helping out at our neighbors during shearing time, and school holidays on my brothers farm. The commentator then took the opportunity to thank the sponsors and the many volunteers for making the event happen. Classic Kiwiana with thanks given to the ladies in the kitchen getting the kai ready for lunch, the rousies clearing the fleeces, and the Zambucks for being on standby to patch anyone up who needed their attention.
After the obligatory visit to the home industries hall to review the champion fruit cake, we marveled at the intricacy and patience of the contributors in the knitting, sewing and needlework section. Works of art and many hours of patience and dedication. After inspecting the large range of old tractors and vintage machinery, we headed to the grassy car park, set up the picnic gear, and enjoyed lunch. Oh, the memories of great family times past.
Reflecting on the day, I had a strong sense that the original philosophy of those that started the first A&P shows was still alive and well in 2023 Levin. The first show was held in the Bay of Islands in 1842. It was a country exhibition and fair, dedicated to celebrating and developing New Zealand’s farming and agricultural excellence. The movement is still going strong.
How fortunate I was to grow up in those times and benefit from the loving home environment and the support and kindness that the community showed to each other. Where we sat in the grassy parking area was the footy fields of the frosty winter mornings when I played my first games of rugby. Cricket was at the nearby Weraroa Reserve of a summer weekend morning. What I remember of those days was the encouragement to take part and the support and coaching availability from any number of parents, grandparents, and senior club members reliving their own halcyon days.
The man I became I am sure was in no small part due to those formative years. You can argue the case about nature versus nurture, but if you don’t get the benefit of positive reinforcement and encouragement from the earliest age, you are starting with a real handicap in life’s race to find happiness and fulfilment.
I was certainly aware of kids less fortunate than myself but there was a place by the fire for everyone irrespective of background, which included those under state care living down the road at Kohitere Boys’ Home. They certainly brought a very physical game of footy which I may well have channelled in later seasons and incorporated in to mine.
After university I chose to enter the service of our sovereign lady The Queen and swore the Constables oath to serve ‘without fear or favour, malice or ill will’. This was my vocation and for the next 36 years I worked in a variety of roles as I rose through the ranks of the police. My years on the front line were primarily as an investigator in the Porirua area. At that time it had the country’s second largest concentration of social housing, mostly low decile schools, high unemployment, many single parent families, and was very diverse culturally. One of the country’s largest psychiatric facilities, and a women’s prison were in our patch as well. It was also a one gang town. It had it all!
So you would think it was a very tough area to police. While it certainly had its moments, and we were kept very busy, the outside perception of Porirua did not match the reality. As their local police, we had great relationships with our community and fully embraced working with them to solve issues before they got out of hand. We had ‘Safer Communities Together’ in action well before it became the NZ Police motto.
This was the 80s and I viewed what was going on with a different lens to the one I had as a youth growing up. I now saw first-hand all the highly motivated church, sports club and community organisations desperate to work with govern- ment agencies and NGOs to stage interventions and provide alternatives to these essentially good kids caught at a crossroads between gang life or something better. Skateboard and BMX parks sprung up everywhere to keep the kids active and interested.
Those days at Porirua led to numerous interventions targeted at children and young people that were wavering between which path to take. Here sport and recreation came into its own. We had a number of nationally ranked sports teams that adopted schools, with the stars, in their own time as it was still the amateur days, getting out and about across a range of sports and pastimes. Fantastic role models who had once been kids in our area themselves.
I have no doubt that these activities are still carrying on but the target audience numbers keeps creeping up. The influence of the raft of 501 deportees from Australia is having a tangible effect, particularly regarding hard drugs, and the impact of cult computer games young men get obsessed with proliferates. On top of this were the social disruption caused by the Christchurch earthquakes, the impact of the pandemic, and the carnage climate warming is producing.
The Children’s Commissioner, Her Honour Judge Frances Eivers (Ngāti Maniapoto), has no doubt that her tenure will arguably be more difficult with the pandemic, its response and the prospect of a looming recession disrupting school and home life on a scale never seen before. Domestic violence has increased and mental health issues amongst young people continue to rise. Daily we are reminded of the unacceptable number of children living in poverty, sleeping in cars, and not going to school.
Imagine how much worse the problem would be if the community groups were not still active in staging those interventions and providing life changing opportunities. The need is never greater than now and it is heartening that there are no shortage of organisations in the charitable trust area still engaged in augmenting what the state can provide.
One such organisation caught my eye in the press recently. Live for More is a charitable trust based in Tauranga that uses surf therapy to engage with vulnerable young men, predominantly of Māori heritage. Most have been in prison or on probation, many have contemplated suicide and most have abused drugs and alcohol and been involved with gangs and crime. The overall objective of Live for More is to support these young men to leave behind drugs, alcohol and crime, adopt healthy lifestyles, become meaningfully employed, feel self- esteem, allow them to see their potential and achieve the goals they have set for themselves. This all based around the pastime of surfing.
Most of us will know of the great work Spirit of Adventure trust does. The Trust strives to offer equal opportunity to all young New Zealanders by way of voyage subsidies and potential trainees are encouraged to apply. They believe there is no reason why any young New Zealanders who are eligible for a voyage should miss this opportunity for financial reasons.
Outward Bound is another iconic organisation specialising in personal and professional development – their aim is to help create better people, better communities, and a better world. People of all ages, cultures, abilities, and backgrounds are welcome at Outward Bound.
Canterbury’s own 180 Degrees Trust and the fantastic work they do is right up there. After thirteen years and hundreds of youth through its doors, 180 Degrees Trust has developed a reputation for delivering safe and effective outdoor programs to at-risk youth throughout Canterbury. They have designed programs for the Ministry of Education and Oranga Tamariki for some of the most challenging cohort in their community. 180’s training and experience in Adventure Therapy has lead them to use the Canterbury high country and the outdoors as its classroom to initiate a turnaround of 180 degrees in the lives of its young people.
I have been introduced to The Willows through a longstanding personal and professional relationship with the President, the Honourable Nick Davidson KC. The founding objectives to allow secondary school players to compete against experienced, often representative players in the glorious setting of The Willows ground at Loburn, reflects the sentiments I set out in this commentary.
The Willows wish to uphold the traditions and ethos of the game, and plays schools across the board. Its Outreach, touring the sub-continent, supporting Cricket Live, and engaging in scholarship exchanges with the UK, with the strong support of women’s cricket, reflect all the benefits of voluntary commitment to the lives of young people. I am particularly interested in its coaching work with tamariki who may suffer from disadvantage, and the support for those who suffer from various disabilities with what sounds like a simply wonderful Christmas party each year. The work of The Willows changes lives and I applaud it.
We have all benefitted in one way or another from the fortuitous interest and perhaps intervention of someone in our past that was critical. Their support, attention and aroha made a difference.
It is very evident that the need in Aotearoa New Zealand today to use our discretionary time or resources to pay it forward to the next generation is more important than ever. Let’s honour in this way all those men and women in our past who made us what we have become.