The Star: November 19, 2020

The Star Thursday November 19 2020
14
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
School sports diva run comes to end
Dedicated Primary
Sports Canterbury
sports director Lyn
Miles is poised to blow
the final whistle on her
association with the
role she has occupied
since 1997
• By Chris Barclay
THE FINISH line is in sight for
Lyn Miles, her race is run once
she watches hundreds of kids
circle the athletics track at Nga
Puna Wai one last time.
Miles, the sports director for
Primary Sports Canterbury,
signs off at the organisation’s
athletics championships on December
2, the event marking the
end of a serious leisure pursuit
that started in 1997.
Back then Miles, a former
teacher at Selwyn House School
and development officer for Netball
New Zealand, had six sports
to organise events for – now the
calendar covers 32 disciplines
from your stock-standard rugby
and football to boccia and hiphop
dancing.
Though netball and athletics
are the 72-year-old’s forte, Miles
has had to absorb the rules of
every sport she co-ordinates
competitions for with korfball
and ultimate frisbee the latest.
FINAL WHISTLE: Primary Sports Canterbury sports director Lyn Miles will be retiring from
the role she took on since 1997.
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN
“I check every year to see if
there’s any (rule) changes or they
may come about because we’ve
been to an event and we see
something’s not working quite as
it should be or could be,” she said.
Take slow pitch softball and
touch rugby.
LEGACY: The annual primary schools cross-country event,
one of many organised by Miles over the years.
Miles noticed some sly softball
teams were deliberately pitching
out of an opponent’s reach to
limit the amount of runs they’d
concede in a 15min inning,
knowing the scores were tallied
at the end of the game.
“We changed the rule so the
batting team also supplied the
pitcher so the kids can actually
get through as fast as they can to
get some runs.”
In touch rugby, girls were awarded
two points for a try, double the
lads, so they weren’t left out.
“We give the girls two points
otherwise the boys just hog the
ball. Now they’re more keen on
giving the girls the chance to
score a try.
“Little things like that might
make a difference when it comes
to primary school kids wanting
to play sport.”
While taking part is obviously
key, Miles is old-school in a
way when asked if winning is
important.
“My views on that are probably
not what they should be. I
believe children do need competition.
They actually like to
win,” she said, adding: “I think it
should be a mixture of winning
and trying.
“We do cross-country and it’s
just amazing how many parents
take children all around the
country to compete at primary
school level. A few may keep
doing it at high school but a lot
of them won’t because they’re
pushed so much by their parents.
I don’t believe in that.”
Miles has naturally witnessed
the excesses of overzealous parents
and realises abuse is part of
the game, though behaviour has
improved.
“We haven’t had a lot of
problems (recently) because the
schools are quite good at dealing
with it now. If it really gets bad
I go to the sports co-ordinator
and then maybe the principal.
A few years ago we had a school
that banned parents from going
to any of the events. The school
stepped up for us.”
Occasionally the participants
also need a word in their ear,
with Miles happy to lay down
the law.
“If the children are at fault,
we’ll stop a game and tell them
we won’t continue unless they
change. We haven’t had a lot of
that lately, hopefully that’s because
the schools are educating
the children before they get to
events.”
Miles, who became a member
of the New Zealand Order of
Merit in 2010 for services to
netball, nominated the increased
interest in duathlon as a highlight
of her tenure.
“I also enjoy orienteering
because kids that are not excellent
at sport but just want to do
something . . . it gives them the
chance. So does bowls.”
Given she has seen thousands
of kids go through their paces,
there were bound to be a couple
who matured into household
names, Miles remembered a
couple of recognisable internationals.
“I went to Chisnallwood Intermediate
and Ryan Crotty accepted
one of the rugby plaques.
I remember (former Silver Fern)
Anna Stanley (nee Rowberry)
playing netball.”
Templeton-based Miles is
succeeded by Michael Wilson
from the Selwyn Sports Trust,
though she will stay on to ease
his transition.
She will continue to umpire
in the Selwyn Netball Centre
competition and groom her successors
in that role as well. Over
summer she plans to officiate
athletics.
Those gigs maintain a life-long
love of sport, but she will still
miss her full-time job.
“I’ll miss the smiles on the
kids’ faces, the interaction with
everybody. It’s so good to go to
a venue like Hagley Park and
think ‘well I made this possible’,”
she said.
“What I won’t miss is looking
at the weather every day, and
having to decide whether we
have things on or not.”
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