I recently mentioned the relevance of sport history to my students and quickly saw their eyes glaze over as they thought "Here we go again, talking about the past when really all we're interested in is passing this paper so we can get on with our lives".
By the end of the presentation, however, they had come around a little and conceded that history does have a part to play in understanding modern sport and preparing for possible scenarios in the future.
The example of rugby union and how that has developed in New Zealand society also seemed to grab their attention, a very difficult thing to do these days.
Rugby Union for instance has had a love-hate relationship with professionalism for some time but between 1870 and 1995 the NZRU managed to resist the temptation of professionalism, insisting that amateur values and ideals were more admirable and character-building than those values and ideals associated with professionalism.
Amateurism in New Zealand also reflected the egalitarian ethos so strongly associated with New Zealand society, so professionalism was held at bay, despite many players deserting rugby union for rugby league throughout the years.
Rugby union, however, did not hesitate to reap the rewards of high profile rugby tours such as the 1905 tour, where a profit of 9962 feathered the nest of the newly formed NZRU.
Tour allowances for players remained tokenistic, 3 shillings a day in 1905; $1.50 a day in 1972, and; $18 a day in 1983.
I remember the first time I received an envelope full of cash as a member of the Black Ferns in 1995 and we received $15 a day back then.
I thought it was Christmas! Little did I know we were being compensated at a much lower rate than the other national teams.
But I digress.
In many ways the attraction of professionalism has always been a part of rugby's history in New Zealand and the combination of shamateurism in the 1980s and early 1990s, the internal unrest among players that the time and commitment they were expected to make towards rugby was not being financially recognised, the ongoing enticement of professional contracts with rugby league, and the media moguls eyeing up rugby as a potential market they could tap into, meant that in 1995 rugby union succumbed to the dollar.
Some may suggest that rugby union prospered in this professional environment between 1995 and 2005.
Now, less than 15 years later, we see a partial return to amateurism, especially at the domestic and grassroots level.
This is reflected in the NZRU's move to reduce the premier division from 14 teams to 10 in 2010, the ongoing financial woes in which many of the provincial unions find themselves, and the reliance of gaming funds at the club level.
Perhaps our forefathers had reason to be cautious of professionalism, not only because of the challenge it created towards egalitarian values, but also because it was unsustainable.
To some extent, rugby union has sold its soul to the profit-eating monster known as professionalism and paid the price.
England and Japan have won the opportunity to host the next two Rugby World Cups after 2011 and much of their successful campaign was based on the promise of creating more money and globalisation opportunities for the IRB.
The NZRU tries to control this beast of burden by implementing rules and regulations like salary caps and eligibility rules but, unfortunately, these rules seem to be easily broken or adjusted by the NZRU itself.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with returning to amateurism to some extent, especially at the provincial and grassroots level.
It may create more parochial support for local teams and more passion for events like the Ranfurly Shield matches (go Otago, by the way).
Yes, we may lose players to the northern hemisphere and to rugby league but that has always been the case.
Yes, we may not enjoy seeing our local heroes on the box every weekend. Is that such a big deal?
Professionalism will always be a part of modern sport but so will amateurism.
I reckon my students have realised how history puts everything into perspective and perhaps they learnt enough to pass at least this part of the paper so that they can join the professional/amateur sport industry.
