Legends of sports honoured in Northland

Outdoor bowler Ann Muir with Sport Northland chief executive Brent Eastwood at the 2022 Bowls Northland Prizegiving. Photo / Supplied

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Bevan Holmes, right, is the latest Northland Legends of Sport recipient for his contribution to rugby.
Photo / Supplied

It was a privilege recently to have the opportunity to induct the latest Northland Legends of Sport recipients into Northland's version of a Sports Hall of Fame.

The Northland Legends of Sport concept was established by Sport Northland in 2004 to honour and remember Northland's most outstanding sportspeople, coaches, referees and administrators. Every year since then we have announced the new inductees at the Northland Sports Awards function, but given the change in format of these awards recently, Sport Northland wanted to recognise each new inductee within their own sport in the most appropriate way.

Outdoor bowler Ann Muir and rugby player Bevan Holmes were announced as Legends earlier this year as part of the Northland Sports Awards, and some recent opportunities arose to formally induct each of them in front of their respective sporting peers.

Bevan Holmes, right, is the latest Northland Legends of Sport recipient for his contribution to rugby. Photo / Supplied

The recent Bowls Northland annual prizegiving was the perfect way to induct Ann as Ann was given a standing ovation in accepting the award for her outstanding career in bowls, not only as a player but as a coach and administrator. She played 26 games for New Zealand winning a bronze medal in the Women's Fours at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, holds several national titles along with masters' achievements and received the prestigious honour of a Queen's Service Medal for services to bowls and the community.

The recent Northland vs Auckland NPC game at Semenoff Stadium presented the opportunity to induct Bevan Holmes as Northland Legends of Sport #32. Coincidentally, the 1971 North Auckland team was holding their 50 year anniversary (which was delayed a year due to Covid) since winning the Ranfurly Shield off Auckland, and it was at this function that I had the honour of inducting Bevan in the company of at least nine of his teammates from the '71 team. It was then hugely appropriate that the current Northland team went on to beat Auckland at home that same day, for the first time since those halcyon days in the '70s.

Bevan was a big part of the hugely successful North Auckland teams of that era, playing 90 games for the Cambridge blue and helping them lift the Ranfurly Shield twice in the 1970s. His 31 matches for the All Blacks is a record number for not having played a test match, a feat unlikely to now ever be bettered. He also played two games for the ABs on one day when the 1970 team stopped off in Perth on the way to South Africa.

Both Ann and Bevan will now live on in history as significant contributors to the legacy of Northland sport. Both add to the tradition and history within their respective sports in Northland, with rugby now boasting 11 Legends of Sport (incredibly 8 of those are from the same era as Bevan), while bowls now has two Legends, after Audrey Russell was previously inducted.

The deeds of our famous Northland sports people can be very motivational for our tamariki and rangatahi's involvement in sport, and as such it is important that Sport Northland continues this Northland Legends of Sport induction into the future.