Rugby unrivalled

Press, 14 June 1978, Page 20

Rugby unrivalled

Rugby is still unchallenged as the largest participant sport in New Zealand and there is, in fact, strong evidence that the game is going through a period of rapid growth.

A by-product of the report made public this week on the attitudes of sports bodies and the public to sports sponsorship by tobacco companies is up-to-date figures on individual sports totals. According to the report there are 17 sports in New Zealand with registered memberships exceeding 20,000. The 17, with their totals are:—

Rugby (181,000), netball (86,890), men’s golf (74,511), indoor bowls (58,143), cricket (55,658), tennis (52,603), bowls (51,684), yachting (46,000), squash (41,914), soccer (41,197), basketball (40,600), women’s golf (38,700), swimming (28,408), athletics (26,000), rugby league (22,000), softball (21,034), badminton (20,055). The total registrations for the 17 sports is 886,377, with the proportion of seniors to juniors approximately 25 per cent junior and 75 per cent senior. In addition to its 181,000 active players, rugby can also claim a further 350,000 non-play-ing club members. Only racing, trotting and the motor-sports, for which there are no accurate figures available, have comparable foliowings. Rugby, along with cricket and tennis, appears to be enjoying boom periods. A public interest survey puts rugby at the top of the list with a 34 per cent rating, an increase of 10 per cent on last year, and cricket and tennis are both up eight per cent, from 17 to 25. Soccer is next with 17 per cent, a rise of 6 per cent Interest in most of the other sports has shown little change.