Congratulations are due to some of our young local sports people, with Mount Maunganui's Jonas Tawharu taking the Under-18 Boys' Division title and his sister took second in the Under-18 Girls' Division at the 2017 National Surfing Championships at Piha on the 14th, and another champion, Mia Pugh, from the Greerton Swimming Club taking out the 13-15 year old Girls' ocean swim title at the New Zealand Open Water Swimming Championships in Taupo. These are obviously young athletes to watch out for in the future.
We're all proud of where we come from, and always feel extra pride when we hear of local success in any field - or body of water - but sporting success is a special cultural achievement because we know that no one gets there without talent, hard work, discipline, and pushing your body to physical extremes. We love watching our top sportsmen and women competing against the best and it really brings people together to build community. We feel part of, watching it live.
But most of us can't watch it live to feel part of it, and those who can have to pay through the nose for it, usually through a $1,000 a year pay-tv subscription. Consider the Olympics. We invest $200 million of tax-payer funding towards getting our athletes there, but then have to pay again for Sky, or wait for the evening news to get a few seconds' glimpse of someone crossing a line, waving a fist in the air, and wiping an eye on the podium.
Sport is part of our culture and seeing Games of National Significance live and free-to-air should be a right.
We take pride in our sporting heroes and heroines, and watching them compete live inspires us, and promotes participation in healthy, fun and character-building competition all over the country. It's for all of us, not just the ones who can afford to pay a second time.
