sport and cultural diversity - Sport New Zealand

year [but they] also take part in other activities. There is less cross-over with the
Korean association but they have high level players who take part in tournaments.
The table tennis association readily admits that the development of these ethnic associations
has helped table tennis generally and they have been able to do things that might not have
been done by the umbrella organisation. The benefits – increased players, new coaches,
business sponsorship – are clearly identified by the association administrators. There are few
negatives. One of the issues that did need to be addressed were the eligibility criteria for
representative squads. This, the respondent noted, required some careful explaining, along
with the requirements such as attendance at squad trainings and tournaments.
They [New Zealand Chinese Table Tennis Association] adds value to our
membership and means that there are a number of organised activities that people
can take part in...this has definitely assisted us.
But not all were so enthusiastic. There was concern expressed by one participant at what was
happening in Australia where Chinese clubs were doing things that he thought ought to be
done by an RSO, in this case, the New South Wales organisation. This person stressed the good
that a sport brought to the community as a whole and that sport ought to work to make sure
that people were part of a wider community. The development of separate clubs and
competitions was seen as a barrier to this occurring. Moreover, the need for change, cultural
change, needed to come from the immigrants. It is not incumbent on the sport and its
administrators to change he argued. Some other RSOs which had significant Asian participation,
even though they welcomed that participation, tended to see participation as a step towards
integration, both in the sport and within the wider community. A badminton administrator
commented:
I must stress that no club can have an exclusive membership [which is confined] to
one ethnic group...It [cannot be] exclusive in that sense. And we would not allow it
because it would be divisive...But if someone wants to start a club, that Indonesian
club for example, [and] it provides them with an outlet to play badminton and sense
of belonging, [then] we are all for that, it is fantastic.
He went on to say that the RSO had not, and would not, implement ‘different programmes for
different ethnic groups, or treat any ethnic groups differently’.
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