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New Zealand's most popular sports are rugby (primarily Rugby Union but also Rugby League ), Soccer , cricket, and netball (the top ranking female sport by participation); Golf , Tennis , Rowing and a variety of Water Sports , particularly Sailing . Snow sports such as Skiing and Snowboarding are also popular. Equestrian sports are highly popular especially with women and participation numbers begin to overhaul rugby and other contact sports in older age groups. PARTICIPATION RATES Data on participation rates in sport in New Zealand is published by SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand). SPARC's data can be found at: This data relates to the period 1997 to 2001. Some care needs to be taken when interpreting it. For example, 'Top Sports and Physical Activities' gives Rugby Union as the fifth most popular sport for New Zealand adult men with 137,100 participants, and soccer as twelfth most popular with 83,800. Neither Rugby Union nor Soccer appear in the top 15 sports for adult women. On the other hand 'Participation in Sport' states that 158,100 New Zealand adults participated in Rugby Union in the previous 12 months, and 143,300 New Zealand adults participated in Soccer. A difference in 60,000 seems quite large. The top 5 sports played by boys (5-17) in clubs are:
The top 5 sports played by girls (5-17) in clubs are:
The top 5 sports played by men are:
The top 5 sports played by women are:
RUGBY UNION Rugby Union is popular across all sections of New Zealand society and many New Zealanders associate it with their national identity. It has the largest spectator following of all sports in New Zealand. Given its wide following, Rugby union may be said to take the place occupied by Soccer in most other countries. New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks , has the best winning record of any national team in the world. The All Blacks traditionally perform a '' Haka ''—a traditional Māori challenge—at the start of international matches. This practice has been mimiced by several other national teams, notably the National Rugby League Team and the Basketball Teams . Outside of test matches, there are two widely followed competitions:
RUGBY LEAGUE Unlike in Australia, which is an interesting comparison given its similar history and geographical vicinity, Rugby League is the less popular of the two rugby codes in terms of both participation and spectatorship. It is not nearly as prominent in schools as rugby union. However, the Australian NRL (National Rugby League), in which New Zealand Warriors play, is widely followed. CRICKET Cricket is the highest profile summer sport in New Zealand. The national competition is not nearly as widely followed as the case with rugby, but international matches are watched with interest by a large proportion of the population. Historically, the national cricket team has not been a successful as the national rugby team. New Zealand played its first test in 1930 but had to wait until 1956 to win its first test. The national team began to have more success in the 1970s and 1980s. New Zealand's most famous cricketer, the fast bowler Richard Hadlee who was the first bowler to take 400 wickets in Test Cricket , came from this era. NETBALL Netball is similar to Basketball and is primarily played by women. It has high levels of participation and is popular as a spectator sport. SOCCER See Also: New Zealand Soccer and the , are widely followed. HORSE RACING Although its popularity has waned in recent years, Horce Racing (or just racing) is often considered to be one of the three Rs of New Zealand culture (the others being rugby and beer). It is principally associated with gambling. The various cup days in the major cities attract large crowds. OLYMPIC GAMES The country achieves well on a medals-to-population ratio at the Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games . See, for example, New Zealand Olympic Medalists and New Zealand At The 2004 Summer Olympics . New Zealand's most celebrated Olympian is probably middle distance runner Peter Snell , who won three gold medals and broke several world records during the 1960s. YACHTING, AMERICA'S CUP Auckland hosted the last two America's Cup regattas ( 2000 and 2003 ). In 2000 , Team New Zealand successfully defended the trophy they won in 1995 in San Diego , but in 2003 they lost to a team headed by Ernesto Bertarelli of Switzerland whose '' Alinghi '' was skippered by Russell Coutts , the expatriate Kiwi who helmed the victorious ''Black Magic'' in 1995 and ''New Zealand'' in 2000. Coutts and Brad 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 has since been dismissed from the Alinghi team; he fought a court battle with Bertarelli to allow him to sail in the 2007 America's Cup contest in Spain, but reached a settlement that will keep him out of that contest. EQUESTRIAN New Zealand equestrian sportsmen, sportswomen and horses make their mark in the world ( Mark Todd was chosen as international "Eventer of the 20th Century"). GLIDING New Zealand is famous among Glider Pilots for hosting the 1995 World Gliding Championships at Omarama in North Otago near the centre of the South Island. The Southern Alps are known for the excellent wave soaring conditions. Steve Fossett has recently tried to beat the world gliding altitude record there. (See Gliding New Zealand and external links.) ORIENTEERING Orienteering is a popular sport in New Zealand that combines Cross-country Running with land Navigation skills in the woods. Variations of the sport popular in New Zealand include Bicycle orienteering, Ski orienteering, and Rogaine s. 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 organized by the New Zealand Orienteering Federation . NEW ZEALAND NATIONAL TEAMS National team names The national men's rugby team is known as the All Blacks, rather than the NZ rugby team and 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 have acquired 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 nick-names (e.g. is called the ' All Whites ', and they play in all white. At the time the national soccer team was formed an all black strip would not have been allowed. Two notable exceptions to the 'All Ferns' naming schema are the Kiwis (men's Rugby League) and SWANZ (women's soccer). National team colours New Zealand's national sporting colours are not the colours of its flag, but are black and white (silver). The Silver Fern is a national emblem worn by New Zealanders representing their country in sport. National team names
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