A true sideline champion

Kape Murray, Northland's sports sideline champion. Picture / Northern Advocate

No one was surprised when Kaitaia man Kape Murray was named a finalist for this year's Northern Advocate People's Choice Sideline Champion title in this year's Northland Sports Awards.

And it was equally unsurprising that he won it.

The 40-year-old father of four, who has lived in Kaitaia all his life, no longer pursues his passion for basketball as a player, but has become one of the key figures in the town's basketball and rugby communities. Having initially established the All Stars Basketball Club, he now runs five age-group teams, as well as serving as a member of the Kaitaia Basketball Association and the Waipapakauri Rugby Club.

And while he accepts good sideline behaviour is on the rise, he makes no secret of his expectations in that regard of the parents of his players.

A normal week tends to be quite busy for the Murray whānau. From Monday to Thursday, afternoons and evenings are taken up by multiple basketball or rugby training sessions once the winter codes were are full swing (as they hopefully will be once the Covid-19 lockdown ends). Pre-lockdown, the family's only free day was Friday, but even that was too much to ask sometimes.

Given how quickly his four children are rising through the Northland sporting ranks, Murray's Fridays were often spent driving two hours to Whangārei for a weekend basketball tournament or training, but the reward, giving Far North children the chance to show their skills, was a rich one.

"It's quite rewarding to see the positive stuff come," he said.

"Basketball in Northland, it's starting to take off, and it's really neat to be a part of. Our kids get to play in tournaments all over the place."

A national development squad player in his youth, he saw the relationships he formed with his players as unique to basketball.

"My college boys especially, you're almost like an extra uncle or a dad who the kids can talk to and be themselves with," he said.

As a coach and referee, however, he had seen all sorts of behaviour. And while he acknowledged that abuse from the sideline had reduced over recent years, he was open with the parents of his players regarding what he expected come game day.

"It still happens a little bit, but I think that's just people's emotions getting the best of them," he said.

"I know for my rugby club and basketball families, it's almost an unwritten rule that you go through me and we don't need to be like that."

The formula of players receiving game-relevant feedback through him as a coach made it easier for the players. and meant parents simply had to be positive from the sidelines.

"I'm lucky the parents that I have are supportive, and they know on game day, I'm in charge. They just need to be the parent," he added.

"Otherwise, ultimately the kids don't want to play, or they try so hard that no matter what you do, nothing seems to go right."