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| Baseball in New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand |
| Governing body | Baseball New Zealand |
| National team(s) | Men's national team |
| Clubs | 21 |
In New Zealand, baseball is considered a minority sport, trailing in popularity far behind sports such as rugby union and cricket. [1]
Albert Spalding's team of All-Stars and the Chicago Club in 1888 is the first known baseball game played in New Zealand and perhaps in the Southern Hemisphere. During that tour, many New Zealand cricket players had small matches between the two touring sides. Since that time, various local competitions have existed, but it was not until 1989 that the New Zealand Baseball Association was formed, consisting of teams in the Auckland area. Ed Mason and Mike Reilly invited perspective players to register their interest. They then formed the New Zealand Baseball Association, with Ed Mason being President and Mike Rielly taking on the Vice President position. City Blues was the first Club under this umbrella and every year in commemoration of this, there is a "Ed Mason Classic" played. It would be 14 more years before baseball would venture out of Auckland with the creation of the Canterbury Baseball Club in 2003. 2006 saw the Northland Baseball Club and the Manawatu Baseball Club form. By 2018, New Zealand received an expansion team from the Australian Baseball League (ABL) in the Auckland Tuatara based in the city of Auckland.
New Zealand sends Little League teams to compete in the Asia Pacific region and also fields AA, AAA and senior national teams. The senior national team plays at the Australian Provincial Championships every year.
Albert Goodwill Spalding was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised in Byron, Illinois, yet graduated from Rockford Central High School in Rockford, Illinois. He played major league baseball between 1871 and 1878. Spalding set a trend when he started wearing a baseball glove.
Today, baseball is a popular sport around the world with numerous countries practicing it at amateur and professional levels.
New Zealand Cricket, formerly the New Zealand Cricket Council, is the governing body for professional cricket in New Zealand. Cricket is the most popular and highest profile summer sport in New Zealand.
Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is sometimes referred to as New Zealand's national stadium. The stadium is used primarily for rugby union in winter and cricket in summer, and has also hosted rugby league and association football matches, as well as concerts and cultural events. It is owned and operated by the Eden Park Trust Board, whose headquarters are located in the stadium.
Sport in New Zealand largely reflects the nation's colonial heritage, with some of the most popular sports being rugby union, rugby league, cricket, association football, basketball, horse racing and netball, which are primarily played in Commonwealth countries. New Zealand has enjoyed success in many sports, notably rugby union, rugby league, cricket, America's Cup sailing, world championship and Olympics events, and motorsport.
The New Zealand national Australian rules football team (Māori: tīmi whutupaoro Ahitereiria o Aotearoa; nicknamed the Hawks ; previously the Falcons, is the national men's team for the sport of Australian rules football in New Zealand. The International Cup team is selected from strict criteria from the best New Zealand born and developed players, primarily from the clubs of the AFL New Zealand. Test and touring squads are selected using similar criteria to other international football codes, additionally allowing players with a New Zealand born parent to play.
Australian rules football in New Zealand is notable as the first colony outside of Australia to take up the sport as early as the 1860s and was home to the first club formed outside Australia in 1876. The sport's official name was changed in 1890 to Australasian Football acknowledge New Zealand's participation and remained for some time even after the country was expelled from the Australasian Football Council. After a half century hiatus of organised competition, it has grown rapidly as an amateur sport. Today five of New Zealand's sixteen regions have organised competitions: Auckland ; Canterbury ; Wellington ; Waikato and Otago. A four-team national competition with a national draft has been contested at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland since 2016 for men and 2019 for women. The national team were crowned International champions at the 2005 Australian Football International Cup and competed annually against the AFL Academy between 2012 and 2019. Since the 2010s the game has also grown at junior level among New Zealand schools as the "Hawks Cup".
The Fiji national cricket team is the men's team that represents Fiji in international cricket. Fiji has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1965, although the team's history goes back to the late 19th century.
New Zealand American Football Federation, abbreviated NZAFF, is the recognised national body for American Football in New Zealand.
Blacktown International Sportspark (BISP) (formally known as Blacktown Olympic Park) is a multi-sports venue located in Rooty Hill, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The venue includes two cricket grounds, which have also been used for Australian rules football, an athletics track and field, three baseball diamonds, two soccer fields, four softball diamonds, administration centers and park land.
Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in the state of South Australia.
Baseball New Zealand, formerly known as the New Zealand Baseball Federation, is the governing body of the sport of baseball in New Zealand. Baseball New Zealand is composed of a number of regional associations and local clubs.
This article describes the history of New Zealand cricket from the 1890–91 season until 1918.
The Australian Baseball League (ABL) is a professional baseball league in Australia. The league is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation (ABF). It uses the same name as a now-defunct competition held during the 1990s, and though it shares some history of the original league with the Claxton Shield awarded to winners of both competitions, it is considered to be a separate competition.
The 1909 New Zealand rugby league season was the second season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand.
The 1912 New Zealand rugby league season was the fifth season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand.
The 1919 season of the Auckland Rugby League was its 11th. It was the first season post World War I and unsurprisingly it saw a resurgence in playing numbers with 56 teams across the six grades. North Shore Albions who had previously dropped out of the senior competition again fielded a senior side. As did Otahuhu, who had dropped out during the 1917 season. Ponsonby United won their third consecutive first grade title, while Newton Rangers won the Roope Rooster trophy.
The 1932 season was the 24th season of the Auckland Rugby League.
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