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Sport in New Zealand largely reflects the nation'scolonial heritage, with some of the most popular sports beingrugby union,rugby league,cricket,association football,Australian rules football,basketball,horse racing andnetball, which are primarily played inCommonwealth countries. New Zealand has enjoyed success in many sports, notably rugby union (considered thenational sport), rugby league, cricket,America's Cup sailing, world championship andOlympics events, andmotorsport. Rugby union is the most popular sport in New Zealand.[1]
Other popular sports includesquash,golf,hockey,tennis,cycling, andtramping,baseball and a variety ofwater sports, particularlysailing,rowing, and surf sports.[2]Winter sports such asskiing andsnowboarding are also popular, as areindoor andoutdoor bowls.
Sport New Zealand is the main government agency responsible for governing sport and recreation in New Zealand. It was established in 2003 by the Sport and Recreation New Zealand Act 2002, consolidating three agencies into one, and was known as Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) until February 2012.[3]
School Sport NZ runs an annual census of sport participation amongst secondary school students (age 13 to 18). The data only includes students that had a "meaningful engagement" in the sport, e.g. representing their school in a team.[4]
| Sport | Total | By gender | Change (2020–24) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls | Boys | |||
| Netball | 29,459 | 28,058 | 1,401 |  +17.2% |
| Volleyball | 27,394 | 16,946 | 10,448 | +23.7% |
| Basketball | 27,287 | 6,887 | 20,410 | +12.7% |
| Rugby union | 27,074 | 4,834 | 22,240 | +12.5% |
| Football | 24,991 | 7,698 | 17,294 | +20% |
| Hockey | 13,828 | 7,509 | 6,319 | +2.2% |
| Badminton | 13,788 | 7,494 | 6,294 | +42.1% |
| Touch | 12,215 | 5,831 | 6,384 | +4.2% |
| Athletics | 9,359 | 4,191 | 5,170 |  −5.5% |
| Cricket | 9,134 | 2,049 | 7,085 | −1.9% |
| Futsal | 8,822 | 2,868 | 5,954 | +24.4% |
| Tennis | 5,249 | 2,649 | 2,600 | +8.6% |
| Rugby sevens | 5,220 | 2,081 | 3,139 | −0.2% |
| Cross country | 4,901 | 2,464 | 2,437 | +94.5% |
| Kī-o-rahi | 4,716 | 2,194 | 2,522 | +52.2% |
| Rowing | 4,517 | 2,360 | 2,157 | +11% |
| Swimming | 3,538 | 1,663 | 1,881 | +5.4% |
| Rugby league | 3,281 | 784 | 2,497 | +66% |
| Water polo | 3,267 | 1,521 | 1,746 | +0.5% |
| 3x3 basketball | 2,796 | 826 | 1,970 | n/a |
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Rugby union is the national sport in New Zealand. It has the largest spectator following of all sports in New Zealand. New Zealand's men's national rugby team, theAll Blacks, has the best winning record of any men's national team in the world, and is currentlyranked third in the world.[5] The All Blacks won the firstRugby World Cup in 1987, and again on home soil in 2011. They won their third World Cup in 2015 in England, becoming the first holders to successfully defend their title. The All Blacks traditionally perform ahaka, aMāori challenge, at the start of international matches. This practice has been mimicked by several other national teams, notably thenational rugby league team, and thebasketball teams. New Zealand's women's national rugby team, theBlack Ferns, also has the best winning record of any women's national team in the world, and is currently ranked second in the world. The Black Ferns have won a record six championships at theWomen's Rugby World Cup in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017, and 2021.
OutsideTest matches, there are three widely followed competitions:
In thesevens variant of rugby union,the men's national team has been the main force in the sport since the creation of theWorld Rugby Sevens Series in 1999, winning the World Series 12 times in its 16 seasons. They have also won theRugby World Cup Sevens thrice, in 2001, 2013 and the most recent edition in 2018, and won the first four gold medals awarded insevens at the Commonwealth Games (1998–2010). The country also hostsone round of the World Series each season atWestpac Stadium inWellington. In women's sevens, thenational team is about as dominant as the men; they won the first three editions of theWorld Rugby Women's Sevens Series (2013–2015) and are the current holders of the Rugby World Cup Sevens, winning the women's tournaments in 2013 and 2018. New Zealand hosted the2021 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Cricket is the national summer sport and the second most popular sport in New Zealand, which is one of twelve countries competing inTest match cricket. The provincial competition is not nearly as widely followed as rugby.
Historically, the national cricket team has not been as successful as the national rugby team. New Zealand played its first Test in 1930, but had to wait until 1956 until its first Test victory. The national team began to have more success in the 1970s and 1980s. New Zealand's most famous cricketer, the fast bowlerRichard Hadlee.
New Zealand has traditionally been stronger inone-day cricket, having reached the final of both the2015 and2019ICC Men's Cricket World Cups, beating South Africa and India in the semi-finals but ultimately losing to Australia and England in the final respectively. (They tied the match in2019 but lost on boundary countback).The team also won the2000 edition of theICC Champions Trophy and reached the2009 final, and won the bronze medal at the1998 Commonwealth Games.
Martin Crowe andKane Williamson won the 'Player of the Tournament' award in the1992 Cricket World Cup and2019 Cricket World Cup respectively.Geoff Allott was the highest wicket taker in the1999 Cricket World Cup along withShane Warne. Fast bowlerKyle Mills is the highest wicket taker inICC Champions Trophy matches.Martin Guptill was the highest run-scorer in the2015 Cricket World Cup and even broke the record of the highest score in World Cup matches during his knock of 237 againstWest Indies in the quarter-final.Trent Boult was the highest wicket taker in the2015 Cricket World Cup along withMitchell Starc.Kyle Jamieson was the Player of the Match in the2019–2021 ICC World Test Championship final.
InTwenty20 cricket, New Zealand has twice reached the semi-finals of theICC T20 World Cup, doing so in2007 and2016, and has reached the final in2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup by defeating England in the semi-final.
In June 2021, they beat India in theICC World Test Championship Final in Southampton to become the inaugural World Test champions. They were hence ranked the number one Test team in the world. New Zealand has won two multinational ICC tournaments-2000 edition (now referred to asICC Champions Trophy) underStephen Fleming andICC World Test Championship underKane Williamson.
New Zealand's men's team, theBlackcaps, have neither won theICC Men's Cricket World Cup, nor have they won theICC T20 World Cup. They did win theICC World Test Championship in2021 andICC Champions Trophy in2000.
New Zealand's women's team, theWhite Ferns have reached the final ofICC Women's Cricket World Cup four times, winning the2000 edition of the tournament. They also managed to win theICC Women's T20 World Cup in2024.
There is also aLondon New Zealand Cricket Club based in London, England, forNew Zealanders living in or based in the United Kingdom.
Netball is the most popularwomen's sport, both in terms of participation and public interest in New Zealand.[6] As in many netball-playing countries, netball is considered primarily a women's sport, with men's netball largely ancillary to women's competition. The sport maintains a high profile in New Zealand, due in large part to its national team, theSilver Ferns, which withAustralia, has remained at the forefront of world netball for several decades. In 2008, netball in New Zealand became a semi-professional sport with the introduction of the trans-TasmanANZ Championship. The sport is administered byNetball New Zealand, which registered 125,500 players in 2006.[7]
Unlike Australia, whererugby league is the dominant rugby code, rugby union is the more popular code in New Zealand.[8] The New Zealand domestic league is semi-professional.
The New Zealand national side has competed in theRugby League World Cup since 1954. They were the previous World Champions, winning theWorld Cup for the first time on 22 November 2008 atLang Park,Brisbane. The team also reached the2013 Rugby League World Cup (hosted by England and Wales) final on Saturday 30 October 2013. They lost to Australia in the final, 34–2.[9] The team's most recent title came in the2014 Rugby League Four Nations tournament by beating Australia, which brings theirRugby League Four Nations championships total to two.
Football has always been a significant sport in New Zealand, and was introduced by the first English settlers. It is considered the regional sport ofGreater Wellington, which in turn is the only region in New Zealand not to haverugby as the most popular sport. This is exemplified byWellington having New Zealand's first professional side, theWellington Phoenix, which plays in the AustralianA-League. Football's greater regional popularity has been due to extensive support among the city's half a million people, especially since inner city clubs were formed immigration fromEurope and theMiddle East in the postwar period. These clubs were often ethnically based, includingWellington Olympic AFC (Greek),Wellington United (Dutch andHungarian), andIsland Bay United (Italian). TheMiramar Rangers have often been considered Wellington's local powerhouse.[10] Several Wellington Phoenix players have gone on to have major success overseas, such asSarpreet Singh,Roy Krishna,Marco Rojas andLiberato Cacace.Wynton Rufer, considered the country's greatest ever footballer, was born and raised in Wellington.[11]
Nationally, the sport is administered byNew Zealand Football, which changed its name from "New Zealand Soccer" in 2007 to move in line with common usage around the world. Use of term "football" to refer to the sport is increasingly favoured by news sources and publications.[12]
TheNew Zealand national team, nicknamed the "All Whites", has qualified for theFIFA World Cup twice. At their first appearance in1982, the All Whites were knocked out in thefirst round with three losses. Their next appearance in2010 saw another first-round exit, but with considerably more success on the field; the All Whites earnedthree draws, including a 1–1 result againstdefending championItaly, ending up as the only team that was not beaten in this edition. The country's professional men's football team are,Auckland FC andWellington Phoenix FC, who play in theA-League which is otherwise an all-Australian competition. The two major domestic competitions are theNew Zealand National League, which is played between ten teams from the regional league:Northern League,Central League andSouthern League. The other competition is theChatham Cup which is a knock-out competition played between clubs. Neither the Auckland nor Phoenix first teams can play in the Chatham Cup.
Auckland City FC won the semi-professionalOFC Champions League competition in a record twelve times;2006,2008–09,2010–11,2011–12,2012–13,2013–14,2014–15,2016,2017,2022,2023 and2024, and earned the bronze medal at the2014 FIFA Club World Cup held inMorocco.
Football is especially popular amongst young people. In 2017, football was played by 25,037 secondary school students, making it the fourth-most popular sport behind netball, rugby union and basketball.[13]
New Zealand hosted the1999FIFA U-17 World Cup, theinauguralFIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2008 and the2015FIFA U-20 World Cup and co-hosted the2023 FIFA Women's World Cup alongsideAustralia.
The Auckland-basedNew Zealand Breakers are the only New Zealand-based team in theNational Basketball League of Australia. Four players from New Zealand have gone on to play in theNBA:Steven Adams,Aron Baynes,Sean Marks, andKirk Penney.
On the international stage, the Tall Blacks (New Zealand's national team) came in 4th place at the2002 FIBA World Championship.
Australian rules football is a growing sport in New Zealand with programs established under the reorganised governing body ofAFL New Zealand. Australian rules football was previously much more popular in New Zealand, with a team competing at the1908 Melbourne Carnival. Participation dropped afterWorld War I. The game was re-established in New Zealand in the 1970s.
Leagues currently exist inAuckland,Canterbury, Waikato, andWellington. Thenational team won theAustralian Football International Cup in2005.
New Zealanders who have played in theAustralian Football League, the premier Australian rules football competition, includeJoe Sellwood,Wayne Schwass,Thomas O'Halloran,Danny Dickfos,Trent Croad andKarmichael Hunt.
The various Cup days in the major cities attract crowds, the biggest ones beingAuckland Cup week and theWellington Cup festival.Phar Lap and manyMelbourne Cup winners were bred in New Zealand.
Athletics is New Zealand's second-most successful Olympic sport with 24 medals, of which 10 have been gold.Arthur Porritt was New Zealand's first Olympic athletic medallist, winning bronze in the100 metres at the1924 Summer Olympics. The race was later immortallised in the 1981 filmChariots of Fire, although at Porritt's request his character in the film was renamed "Tom Watson".
The nation in particular has been strong inmiddle-distance events. New Zealand men have won Olympic gold in the1500 metres three times:Jack Lovelock in1936,Peter Snell in1964 andJohn Walker in1976. Snell also won back-to-back gold medals in the800 metres in1960 and 1964.
The national governing body isAthletics New Zealand, which formed in 1887 as the New Zealand Amateur Athletics Association and adopted its current name in 1989.
TheAuckland Tuatara of theAustralian Baseball League are currently the only professional baseball team playing in New Zealand. The Tuatara began their inaugural season during the2018–19 Australian Baseball League season, and originally played their home games at McLeod Park inTe Atatū South.
TheNew Zealand national baseball team are known as The Diamondblacks.
Beach volleyball is a growing sport in New Zealand. In 1996 brothers Glenn and Reid Hamilton represented New Zealand in the first ever beach volleyball event at theSummer Olympics at Atlanta, USA.
In 2018 Beach Volleyball made itsCommonwealth Games debut. Tauranga brothersSam andBen O'Dea claimed the bronze medal while Shaunna Polley and Kelsie Will gained 5th place.
The national governing body isVolleyball New Zealand.
Equestrian sportsmen, sportswomen and horses make their mark in the world, withMark Todd being chosen international "Horseman of the Twentieth Century", and many juniors atPony Club level. Mark Todd won a gold medal ineventing at the 1984 Olympic Games, and again at the 1988 Games. He won Bronze at the 2012 London games. A Bronze Medal was also won in the Teams Event at the 1988 Games. Further medals were won at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Games.
Amateur boxing was earlier a popular sport in New Zealand, but during the 1950s there was a move to stop schools promoting boxing championships and the sport is now only of minority interest.
Professional boxing in New Zealand has producedJoseph Parker,Geovana Peres,Daniella Smith,Maselino Masoe,Bob Fitzsimmons,Torpedo Billy Murphy,Cherneka Johnson, andFloyd Masson all World Champions.Herbert Slade,David Tua,Kali Meehan,Lani Daniels,Michelle Preston andTom Heeney were all contenders for a World Championship.
New Zealand enjoyed success in canoeing and kayaking at the Summer Olympics in the 1980s with sprint kayakers such asIan Ferguson andPaul MacDonald, winning four gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles games, and gold, silver and bronze at the 1988 Seoul games. The sport had a lower profile in the 1990s and 2000s, with the single Olympic medal success in the time beingBen Fouhy's silver medal at the 2004 Athens games. In the early 2010s, canoeing and kayaking returned to international success with sprint kayakerLisa Carrington winning multiple gold medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games.[14]
New Zealand has produced a number of notable cyclists, across a variety of disciplines includingtrack cycling,road cycling,mountain biking,Downhill andBMX. New Zealand won two cycling medals at the2008 Beijing Olympics –Hayden Roulston took silver in the Men's 4000 m Individual Pursuit, while the men's team pursuit team took bronze. At the2017 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, the New Zealand team took a total of five medals, equalling the country's record medal tally previously achieved at the2012 and2014 Worlds, withEthan Mitchell,Sam Webster andEddie Dawkins winning the gold in the men's team sprint for the third time in four years and Mitchell additionally becoming the first New Zealander to medal in the individual sprint.[15] In road racing,George Bennett became the first New Zealander to take an overall win in aUCI WorldTour event when he won the2017 Tour of California.[16][citation needed] The sport is governed in New Zealand byCycling New Zealand.
New Zealand hosted the 1995World Gliding Championships atOmarama in North Otago, near the centre of the South Island. In 2002 and 2003,Steve Fossett tried to beat the world gliding altitude record there (see:Gliding New Zealand andexternal links below).
New Zealand'sMichael Campbell won the2005 U.S. Open Golf Championship.
The New Zealand amateur team of Campbell,Phil Tataurangi, Steven Scahill and Grant Moorehead won theEisenhower Trophy (World Amateur team event) in 1992 in Vancouver.
SirBob Charles has won theBritish Open and a number of other titles.
Lydia Ko, born inSeoul but raised from infancy in New Zealand, was #1 in the women'sWorld Amateur Golf Ranking, and won two events on the US-basedLPGA Tour before turning professional in 2013. She has since won seven more LPGA events, and for a time was #1 in theWomen's World Golf Rankings for professionals. The first of Ko's two stints as #1 in the professional rankings began in February 2015, before her 18th birthday. Later in 2015, Ko won her firstmajor championship, theEvian Championship.
Tournaments and competitions includeNew Zealand Open,New Zealand Women's Open,New Zealand Amateur andNew Zealand PGA Championship.
In New Zealand, like most other Commonwealth nations, "hockey" without an identifier refers tofield hockey, as opposed toice hockey and other kinds of hockey. TheNew Zealand Hockey Federation (also known as Hockey New Zealand) administers the sport in New Zealand, and had 48,174 registered players in the 2013 winter, of which 52.8 percent were female and 47.2 percent were male.[17]
The New Zealandmen's national team andwomen's national team are both known as the "Black Sticks". The best result attained thus far by the men was a gold medal at the1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The best placing by the women thus far has been a 4th placing at both the1986 Women's Hockey World Cup and the2012 Summer Olympics. In the Commonwealth Games they have won a silver medal at the2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze at the2014 Commonwealth Games, and gold at the2018 Commonwealth Games. As of 23 December 2015[update], the men's team is ranked 8th and the women's team is ranked 4th in the world by theInternational Hockey Federation (FIH).[18]
Ice hockey has been played in New Zealand since 1937, but is a fairly small sport and has currently around 1600 active players.[19]
The national governing body isNew Zealand Ice Hockey Federation which is made up of 3 Regional Associations. Since 2005 the NZIHF organises theNew Zealand Ice Hockey League that currently consists of five teams, two teams fromAuckland, one fromDunedin, one fromQueenstown and one fromChristchurch.
New Zealand'smen's national ice hockey team is called the Ice Blacks and thewomen's the Ice Ferns.
New Zealand Indoor Bowls was introduced in 1908. Membership peaked in 1963 with 73,100 affiliated members, today it has an estimated 20,000 members currently affiliated.
Kickboxing is a growing sport in New Zealand. New Zealand have had multiple world champions includingRay Sefo,Mark Hunt,Israel Adesanya,Michelle Preston.
King in the Ring in an eight-man kickboxing tournament that happens between three and five times a year in New Zealand.
Kī-o-rahi is a traditional Māori ball sport played in New Zealand with a small round ball called aki. It is a fast-paced sport incorporating skills similar toAustralian Rules,rugby union,netball andtouch.[20]
Despite New Zealand not having a major car industry since the 1990s, it is successful atmotorsport. There are many levels of competitive motors sport series in New Zealand, which are most simply broken down into watersports (hydro-planing, jetski racing and thundercat racing), automobile racing (Club and national level circuit racing and rallying, with some international events, as well as speedway) and finally motorcycle racing (street, circuit anddirt/motocross).
To date, New Zealand has seen oneFormula One World Champion,Denny Hulme, in 1967. Six other New Zealanders have raced atGrand Prix level:Bruce McLaren (four wins),Chris Amon,Howden Ganley,Mike Thackwell,Brendon Hartley andLiam Lawson. Bruce McLaren founded theMcLaren racing team, which was named after him.
In addition to their Formula One careers, Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren won the1966 24 Hours of Le Mans sports-car race.Earl Bamber won the2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, and won again in 2017 with fellow kiwiBrendon Hartley. Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme won fourCan-Am sports-car racing championships, from 1967 to 1970.Scott Dixon won theIndianapolis 500 in2008, and theIndyCar Series championship in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020. Dixon has won 53 races in his IndyCar career, the second most after American driverA. J. Foyt.
New Zealand has drivers currently competing on a high level on the world stage:Scott McLaughlin,Shane van Gisbergen andFabian Coulthard are among several New Zealand drivers who have contested the Australian-basedSupercars Championship, which holds a round in New Zealand each year, at thePukekohe circuit.Greg Murphy has won the pinnacle race of the Supercar season, theBathurst 1000, four times.Brendon Hartley won theFIA World Endurance Championship in 2015. Two New Zealanders currently compete in the AmericanIndyCar Series:Scott McLaughlin forTeam Penske, andScott Dixon forChip Ganassi Racing. One New Zealander currently competes inFormula One:Liam Lawson, who is driving forRacing Bulls in the2025 Formula One World Championship.
A1 Team New Zealand was a front-runner since the series inception.Jonny Reid won seven races for the team helping it twice claim second place in the Championship, 2006–07 & 2007–08. On 20 January 2008,Taupo Motorsport Park hosted the fifth race in the2007–08 A1 Grand Prix season.
Rallying is a popular sport in New Zealand, and has previously hosted rounds of theWorld Rally Championship (the last time being in 2012) and hosts theAsia-Pacific Rally Championship each year. A competitive national championship is run each year, and some drivers also take part in theAustralian Rally Championship, most notably the latePossum Bourne, who was a seven-times Australian Rally Champion.Hayden Paddon is New Zealand's top rally driver, formerly competing in theWorld Rally Championship for Hyundai. New Zealand also has its own rally championship, with theNew Zealand Rally Championship going Paddon's way seven times.
Ivan Mauger, born inChristchurch on 4 October 1939, won a record 6motorcycle speedwayWorld Championships in1968,1969,1970,1972,1977 and1979. He also finished on the podium of the World Final in1967 (3rd),1971 (2nd),1973 (2nd) and1974 (2nd). Mauger also won theSpeedway World Team Cup riding forGreat Britain in1968,1971 and1972, while winning the title for a fourth time with theNew Zealand team in1979. Mauger was also theSpeedway World Pairs Champion in1969 and1970 as well as theLong Track World Champion in 1971, 1972 and 1976, a total of 15 World Championships in speedway racing.
Barry Briggs, born in Christchurch on 30 December 1934, is a New Zealand motorcyclist who won four individual Speedway World Championships (1957,1958,1964 and1966) and took part in 87 world championship races. Briggs also won the Speedway World Team cup with Great Britain in 1968 and 1971.
Ronnie Moore became New Zealand's first motorsport World Champion when he won the1954 Speedway World Championship, backing that up to win a second time in1959. Moore also won the World Pairs Championship with Ivan Mauger in 1970. Although born inHobart,Australia in 1933, Moore's parents moved to New Zealand while he was a child.
Since thenGraeme Crosby andAaron Slight have both risen to the top of World Championship motorcycle racing, in500cc andSuperbikes respectively but championships have been elusive. AlsoJohn Britten designed a revolutionary motorcycle called theBritten V1000.Shayne King became the first rider from New Zealand to win the 500ccMotocross World Championship in 1996.[21]Stefan Merriman is a four-time winner of theWorld Enduro Championship forenduro motorcycling.
In 2003Wade Cunningham become New Zealand's first everFédération Internationale de l'Automobile world champion by winning theKarting World Championship.[22]
Orienteering is a popular sport in New Zealand, that combinescross-country running with landnavigation skills across a range of settings. Variations of the sport popular in New Zealand includebicycle orienteering,ski orienteering, androgaines. Orienteering is a popular sport for youth and juniors, and New Zealand regularly sends competitors to both the World Orienteering Championships and the Junior World Orienteering Championships. Orienteering in New Zealand is organised by the New Zealand Orienteering Federation[23]Matt Ogden won the middle-distance event at the 2012Junior World Orienteering Championships inSlovakia.[24]
Rowing has been a consistent medal winner at the Olympic Games with the first coming in 1920. New Zealand have won medals at every Olympics between 1968 and 2016, with the exception of 1980.
At theWorld Rowing Championships of 2005, inKaizu, Gifu, Japan, New Zealand won four gold medals in four consecutive races – now known in New Zealand sporting culture as the "Magic 45 minutes".[25]
In 2006,Nathan Cohen became the first New Zealander to win a gold medal at theWorld University Games in any sport, rowing asingle scull.[26][27]
In addition, a number ofRowing World Cup events have been won by New Zealanders.Rowing New Zealand is the governing body.
Lake Karapiro in the Waikato andLake Ruataniwha in theMackenzie Basin are the two premier rowing venues in New Zealand. Karapiro hosted the2010 World Rowing Championships.
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New Zealand sailors have won a large number of international events, including Olympic Games medals in 1956, 1964, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2016. New Zealand holds the current[update]America's Cup sailing title, having won it three times in the challenge's history.[28]
In New Zealand, surf lifesaving sport encompasses a number of different disciplines, including surf swimming, board paddling, surf ski, beach flags, beach sprint, Ironman with competitors starting from the age of 7.
Auckland hosted consecutiveAmerica's Cup regattasin 2000 and2003. In 2000, Team New Zealand successfully defended the trophy they won in 1995 inSan Diego, butin 2003 they lost to a team headed byErnesto Bertarelli of Switzerland whoseAlinghi was skippered byRussell Coutts, the expatriate Kiwi who helmed the victoriousBlack Magicin 1995 andNew Zealand in 2000 as well as many other Kiwis. Coutts andBrad Butterworth, along with several other Team New Zealand members, defected to Bertarelli's Alinghi team, taking with them a wealth of experience that allowed the new team to win the America's Cup on the first challenge. Coutts was later dismissed from the Alinghi team; he fought a court battle with Bertarelli to allow him to sail in the2007 America's Cup contest in Spain, but reached a settlement that kept him out of that contest. The2021 America's Cup was held in Auckland'sWaitematā Harbour after New Zealand won the2017 America's Cup.[29] Emirates Team New Zealand took out 1st place against Luna Rossa of Italy.
New Zealand has several areas forskiing andsnowboarding, on both islands.Whakapapa andTuroa are the only commercial resorts on theNorth Island;Queenstown,Wānaka andChristchurch are the top locations in theSouth Island to access the mountains. In addition to the commercial ski resorts, New Zealand has many non-profitclub fields across both the North and South Islands, particularly in the region of the Southern Alps close to Christchurch such asCraigieburn Valley,Broken River andTemple Basin. In the North Island, there are club field skiing options onMount Taranaki at theManganui area and also on the Eastern aspect ofMount Ruapehu atTukino.
International snowboarders from New Zealand includeMitch Brown, who placed 25th at the2006 Winter Olympics in the men's halfpipe, and his sisterKendall Brown, who placed 15th at the2010 Winter Olympics in the women's halfpipe. New Zealand snowboarderJacob Koia is currently sitting in 18th position on the TTR world rankings.[30][citation needed] Notable skiers includeClaudia Riegler, Olympic medallistAnnelise Coberger andAlice Robinson.[31]
New Zealand's men'ssoftball team, nicknamed the "Black Sox", have been successful on the international stage.
TheNew Zealand women's national softball team are nicknamed the White Sox. They won the World Championships in 1982.
Squash has been played competitively in New Zealand since 1932. In 2010, there were 220 clubs affiliated with the national organisation,Squash New Zealand.[32] Competitions are played at club, regional and national level.
DameSusan Devoy won theWorld Open Championship a record four times, in 1985, 1987, 1990, and 1992. She also won seven consecutiveBritish Open titles from 1984 to 1990, and an eighth in 1992.
AtSquash in the 2010 Commonwealth Games,Joelle King andJaclyn Hawkes won gold in the women's doubles. King andMartin Knight won silver in the mixed doubles.
New Zealand hosted the Women's World Team Championships in 2010. They were held atInternational Pacific College inPalmerston North.
InSquash at the 2018 Commonwealth Games,Joelle King won gold in the women's singles andPaul Coll took silver in the men's singles. King won gold again withAmanda Landers-Murphy in women's doubles. King and Coll won bronze in the mixed doubles.
Surfing in New Zealand has a history dating back as far as 1963, when the first national championships were held atMount Maunganui and won by Peter Way. Surfing has since become more popular with many New Zealanders competing on the international scene. In 1976, New Zealand hosted the Amco/Radio Hauraki Pro at NorthPiha which became the first event of the very first year of theWorld Professional Surfing Tour. The event was won by Michael Peterson. In 1987, Iain Buchanan would go on to compete on the world tour finishing 34th overall, the highest placing ever for a New Zealand surfer. New Zealand's top surferMaz Quinn at a young age won theBillabong Pro-Junior Series in Australia in 1996, then competed in the World Pro Junior final in France coming second overall toTaj Burrow. Maz Quinn placed 7th on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) in 2001 to qualify for the World Championship Tour (WCT) – the first Kiwi to do so. Woman's surfing has also come far in recent years with New Zealand surferPaige Hareb currently sitting in 8th position on theASP World Tour of Surfing.[33]
Tennis was introduced to New Zealand in the 1870s, soon after the modern form of the game was invented in England.
The first New Zealand Tennis Championships were played at Farndon inHawkes Bay in 1886.
Māori participation in tennis began soon after.Sir Maui Pomare, the first Māori to qualify as a doctor, won the USA Inter-Varsity Tennis Championships in 1899 while he was studying there. This began a legacy of Māori participation in tennis, with players emerging over the years, most recently professional players likeKelly Evernden,Rewa Hudson andLeanne Baker. But perhaps the doyenne of Māori tennis wasRuia Morrison, who played in international competitions, and atWimbledon, in the early days of the professional era.
New Zealand and Australia, combined as Australasia, were founding members of theInternational Tennis Federation (ITF) in 1913.
New ZealanderTony Wilding was the World No. 1 player in 1913. He was Wimbledon Champion in 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913. He was a pivotal figure in helping Australasia win theDavis Cup in 1907, hold it in 1908 and 1909, and to win it again in 1914. He was killed in action duringWorld War I on 9 May 1915 in theBattle of Aubers Ridge, northern France.
New Zealand has competed in theFed Cup since 1965, when they played Argentina (won 2–1) and Australia (lost 0–3). At a Fed Cup regional tournament held in Christchurch in 2007, New Zealand played Jordan (won 3–0), India (lost 1–2), Chinese Taipei (lost 1–2), Kazakhstan (won 3–0), and Hong Kong (won 2–1).
New Zealand's representatives at the Olympic Games have been: 1912, Stockholm – Tony Wilding (Australasia); 1988, Seoul –Belinda Cordwell and Kelly Evernden (singles) and Bruce Devlin with Kelly Evernden (men's doubles); 1996, Atlanta –Brett Steven; 2008, Beijing –Marina Erakovic.
TheHeineken Open is part of the ATP International Series played in Auckland each year, just before theAustralian Open.
Hamish Carter of New Zealand won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and was rated world number one for several years. Other successful triathletes from New Zealand includeBevan Docherty, who won the ITU world championship, and a silver in Athens (both in 2004). He has also gained a bronze medal in Beijing 2008, and a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games (Melbourne in 2006).
On the women's side,Samantha Warriner was ranked number 1 in the world.[34] She won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, andAndrea Hewitt took bronze at the same event.
The volleyball national governing body isVolleyball New Zealand which is made up of 14 Regional Associations. Within each Association there are clubs and/or representative teams. The main events on the calendar each year are the National Secondary Schools Championships and the National Club Championships.
TheNew Zealand women's national volleyball team won the gold medal on several occasions.[35][better source needed]
New Zealanders first competed at theSummer Olympic Games in1908, with Australia as a combinedAustralasia team. TheNew Zealand Olympic Committee was formed in 1911 and was recognised by theIOC in 1919. New Zealand first competed as an independent nation in 1920 and has attended every games since with the exception of the 1980 Moscow games, which New Zealand boycotted (four New Zealand athletes did compete at the 1980 games though under the NZOC flag). The nation first attended theWinter Olympic Games in1952, and has competed at all but two (1956 and1964) Winter Olympic Games since.
After the2018 Winter Olympics, New Zealand as a nation has won 120 medals: 46 gold, 28 silver, and 46 bronze. All but three of those medals were won at the Summer Olympic Games. In addition, three medals, one gold and two bronze, were won by New Zealanders in 1908 and 1912 as part of Australasia. New Zealand ranks 34th on theall-time Olympic Games medal table by total medals, and 29th when weighted by medal type. The most successful sports of New Zealand have been rowing (24 medals, including 11 gold) and athletics (24 medals, including 10 gold).
Middle-distance runnerPeter Snell won three gold medals and broke several world records during the 1960s.
The country has hosted three editions of the games: the1950 British Empire Games and the1990 Commonwealth Games inAuckland, and the1974 British Commonwealth Games inChristchurch.
New Zealand's national sporting colours are black and white (or silver). Thesilver fern is a national emblem worn by New Zealanders representing their country in sport.
The national men's rugby union team is known as the "All Blacks". The national women's netball team is known as the "Silver Ferns". Historically, rugby and netball dominated team sport in New Zealand, and the national teams of other sports haveacquired names which have been formed with reference to these two (see: list below). The women's rugby team is known as the "Black Ferns", rather than the "All Silvers". Some of these names seem to have arisen as genuine nicknames (e.g. "Tall Blacks", "Wheel Blacks"), and some are neologisms developed as marketing devices (e.g. Black Sticks [hockey], Black Caps [cricket]). New Zealand Badminton temporarily named their teams "Black Cocks".[36] The men's national soccer team is called the "All Whites", as they play in an all-white strip. At the time the national soccer team was formed, an all-black strip would not have been allowed.
Two notable exceptions to the "Black/Ferns" naming scheme are the "Kiwis" (men's Rugby League) and "SWANZ" (the name formerly used for women's soccer).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/.../basketball/.../basketball-increasing-as-sport-of- choice-among-new-zealand-youthRetrieved 19 July 2017
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