An appointment which held its appeal

Press, 26 December 1986, Page 14

An appointment which held its appeal

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

With a minimum of fuss but a maximum of industry, Joyce Allchurch, for a little more than 39 years, has been the highly efficient secretary of the New Zealand Federation of Roller Skating. Her unstinting service to the sport in that capacity ended recently. It was not that she had tired of her duties; in fact the interest and enthusiasm of yore remained undiminiished. But it was a shift of the federation’s headquarters to the Dominion Sports House in Wellington which brought the correspondence to a close for the Christchurchbased secretary. The post was relinquished with regret. "It had been part of my life for so long, and I had never tired of it. Every day there was something to do — collecting the mail, answering it. It has often meant four to five hours a day doing the job, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it and would do it all over again, given the chance. It has left a gap,” Mrs Allchurch said.

Roller skating has dictated many of the steps and turns in the life of Joyce Allchurch. In younger days she was a

polished performer on wheels in the artistic side of the sport, competing in the free and figure sections and the dancing events.

It was through roller skating that she met the man who was to have the biggest influence in her life — Sandy Allchurch, her future husband and a fervent skater himself. They paired in marriage and for six successive wins in the national pairs championship.' In 1947 they represented New Zealand in pairs skating in Oakland, California, and they believe they were among the first New Zealanders to fly overseas for sporting competition, although they returned by boat. On her return she was elected the federation’s secretary. Mr Allchurch, too, has never severed his ties with the sport. He has occupied virtually every administrative post since retiring from national competition in 1949, and he remains the federation’s treasurer.

His proudest moment

came in 1980 when he was appoinited to the international artistic committee’s. five-man panel, the first New Zealander to receive such an honour. Mr Allchurch is still on that select committee and only recently returned from the thirty-first world artistic championships in Bogota, Colombia.

Mrs Allchurch did not have to be press-ganged into the secretaryship. “I had been a secretary since leaving school, when the opportunity came up in roller skating I was happy to step in.” That she has been opposed for the position only once in her long association with the job has been an expression of confidence in her by the sport’s hierarchy, and there have been times when the federation has had to ride, and survive, the rough water.

Although roller skating has three branches to the sport — speed, artistic and roller hockey — they all fall under the one administrative umbrella. “When I first became secretary there were five

clubs, but when the sport underwent a boom some years ago the number increased to 51, although it has since dropped back to 44.”

Mrs Allchurch estimated that in one year she posted 3200 letters, which amounted to a fair bit of stamp licking and envelope sealing, and she has been on call virtually 24 hours a day. throughout her time as secretary.

She has not missed a national championship since 1940 and, as a qualified international judge, she has assisted in artistic judging whenever time allowed her some freedom from her secretarial obligations.

By working from home and by being an honorary secretary, Mrs Allchurch has ensured that the daily running costs of administration have been minimal. The shift of office to Wellington will mean that the federation will have to find ways of meeting the extra costs incurred by having to pay rental and a secretary. Patrons and presidents have come and gone while Mrs Allchurch has held her office, but she has no better recollection than when one patron popped in, by courtesy of

an air force helicopter, to the King Edward Barracks for the national championships almost 30 years ago. The patron was the Rt Hon. Walter Nash, then Prime Minister and, in the words of Mrs Allchurch, “a great fan of roller skating.” In recognition of her long, loyal service, Mrs Allchurch was awarded life membership of the federation last year. She remains a vice-president of the body and is busily involved in helping with the organisation of the ■fiftieth reunion of roller skating, which will be held in Christchurch next year. Attending the world artistic championships in Palmerston North next October is also high on the priority list.

Life without the secretaryship will not be quite the same for Joyce Allchurch — “it doesn’t seem like 39 years,” she said wistfully — but she will still provide input into the sport in her capacity as vice-president. “As secretary I was unable to vote; now as vicepresident I can say my piece at meetings. And, after 39 years, I should know what is going on in roller skating.”