On par
It has been a massive few weeks for The Revolution, starting with the New Zealand Open at Millbrook two weeks ago.
But there was one thing that kept crossing my mind — where are all the women?
Sure, there are female spectators, caddies, volunteers, scorers and everything in between, but there is no New Zealand Women’s Open for our players.
Ko has been the pinnacle of New Zealand women’s golf for years, including becoming the Olympic champion in Paris — the first golfer in the modern era to win all three medals after silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo — and the youngest inductee to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame at 27.
Golf New Zealand chief executive Jeff Latch had some welcome news when asked if discussions were under way to resurrect the New Zealand Women’s Open.
"Absolutely — we’re working really hard on that at the moment," Latch said.
"If we can, we’d love to have the New Zealand Women’s Open back into the New Zealand tournament lineup, probably from 2027. Certainly that’s absolutely a key focus of ours.
"I think it does an enormous amount for golf. We see firsthand the difference it makes when you see people like Lydia performing well on the world stage with young girls picking up a golf club and wanting to have a hit."
Track and field
What a brilliant four days at the national athletics championships at the Caledonian last week.
About 2700 fans lined the Caledonian on Saturday alone to watch the elite stars. Olympians Eliza McCartney and Olivia McTaggart attracted a large audience up on the bank, Lauren Bruce was unstoppable in the hammer throw and it was incredible to see how many people swarmed Zoe Hobbs for chat and autograph after she blitzed her ninth women’s 100m title.
A huge hat tip to Raylene Bates, head of the local organising committee, and her crew for getting everything running like a well-oiled machine.
Women supporting women
Talk about a game changer.
Health practitioners and sports scientists from New Zealand, Australia, the United States of America and the United Kingdom have joined forces in an initiative called the Global Alliance for Female Athletes, to help female athletes overcome and better understand health issues.
Athletes, coaches and their support staff can access the world-leading evidence, performance insights and best practice information for free.
It is a long overdue advancement for our elite female athletes, who have to deal with far more than people might think, including complications from childbirth and endometriosis. A monumental step in the right direction.
Change is coming
Could netball be included in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics?
World Netball, Netball Australia and Brisbane Olympic executives met this week as the pursuit continues to include the sport in the Games.
World Netball chief executive Fiona Harold remained firm the inclusion of netball would "greatly enhance the Olympic movement".
Netball is also in line for changes back home with the ANZ Premiership adopting the two-point shot this season.
The two-point shot, which has been introduced in Australia’s Super Netball for the past few years and joined England’s Super League this season, is one of a handful of new rules in New Zealand.
Coaches will also have a coaches’ box in front of their team bench to speak to their players, teams will have the chance to call one timeout per half and umpires will now wear microphones with live audio broadcast at the stadiums.
What are your thoughts?
