Sport New Zealand abandoning transgender guidelines and rent falls
Reporter Aiden is at the Olympian Tree Planting Challenge, where Olympians and local kids are battling it out to see who can plant the most trees to restore Papakura streams.
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Otago Daily Times
39 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Dog eats passport: New All Black's dilemma
Leroy Carter. Leroy Carter's dream All Blacks call-up nearly turned sour when he discovered his passport had been chewed up by his dog days before leaving for Argentina. Utility back Carter, named among the injury replacements in Scott Robertson's Rugby Championship squad, found his passport ruined on his bed and had to scramble to arrange a new one. "I got my passport out to take a photo to send to the (team) manager and I just left it on my bedside table," the 26-year-old told media. "My partner went to the gym and left my dog home alone and it's gone down the hallway, jumped on the bed and just chewed up the passport and my teeth aligners. "It was a bit of a shambles yesterday. I was trying to get an emergency one but I think it's all sussed (sorted) now. "I thought it would happen to me, something like that, so no point getting stressed about it, just trying to sort it out." Most of the All Blacks squad will fly out on Friday for Argentina where they play their Rugby Championship opener against the Pumas in Cordoba next week. Carter, who represented New Zealand in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics and won a bronze with the squad at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, earned his first All Blacks call-up after his debut season with the Chiefs in Super Rugby. Carter said he was out for breakfast with his partner and some of his teammates from provincial side Bay of Plenty when Robertson called to confirm his selection on Monday. "I got an unknown-number call. I guess I thought if there was a day to answer those it was probably (that day) and he just said congratulations," said Carter. "I honestly can't really remember what else he said after that. I was pretty emotional and pretty stoked to get a phone call like that. "All the boys were pretty pumped but I was still in a bit of a shock."
Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Dog eats All Blacks rookie's passport
Leroy Carter. Leroy Carter's dream All Blacks call-up nearly turned sour when he discovered his passport had been chewed up by his dog days before leaving for Argentina. Utility back Carter, named among the injury replacements in Scott Robertson's Rugby Championship squad, found his passport ruined on his bed and had to scramble to arrange a new one. "I got my passport out to take a photo to send to the (team) manager and I just left it on my bedside table," the 26-year-old told media. "My partner went to the gym and left my dog home alone and it's gone down the hallway, jumped on the bed and just chewed up the passport and my teeth aligners. "It was a bit of a shambles yesterday. I was trying to get an emergency one but I think it's all sussed (sorted) now. "I thought it would happen to me, something like that, so no point getting stressed about it, just trying to sort it out." Most of the All Blacks squad will fly out on Friday for Argentina where they play their Rugby Championship opener against the Pumas in Cordoba next week. Carter, who represented New Zealand in rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics and won a bronze with the squad at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, earned his first All Blacks call-up after his debut season with the Chiefs in Super Rugby. Carter said he was out for breakfast with his partner and some of his teammates from provincial side Bay of Plenty when Robertson called to confirm his selection on Monday. "I got an unknown-number call. I guess I thought if there was a day to answer those it was probably (that day) and he just said congratulations," said Carter. "I honestly can't really remember what else he said after that. I was pretty emotional and pretty stoked to get a phone call like that. "All the boys were pretty pumped but I was still in a bit of a shock."
Newsroom
11 hours ago
- Newsroom
Where is she now? Helen Littleworth
Helen Littleworth is one of New Zealand's leading physiotherapists, based in Dunedin. She's worked with a stellar roster of athletes over the years – including Olympians Alison Shanks, Nick Willis, and Erika Fairweather, as well as Paralympians Holly Robinson and Anna Grimaldi. Working with a world champion in track cycling, a top middle-distance runner, a freestyle swimmer, and Para athletes requires a tailored approach for each individual, which Littleworth believes she learns the most from them. 'The day you stop learning is the day you go under,' Littleworth, now 59, says. 'I learn everything from my patients and athletes, whether they're 80 years old or an elite athlete. I respect and love them all. They keep me as passionate about my craft as I was when I first graduated from university. 'Of course, there are online courses you can take to expand your knowledge and tick boxes, but the shared connection with the athlete is vital.' Seven years ago, Littleworth – who works with the Physio Performance clinic – was introduced to a new philosophy in gaining efficient movement from an athlete, which 'greatly impacted' how she thinks about movement patterns today. 'You try to keep up with your athletes – asking yourself, 'Can I do that? What if I do this?' Each collaboration is based on welfare, openness and trust,' she says. Helen Littleworth was physio to the NZ team at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Photo: Supplied Littleworth was always open to change in her own career as an outstanding double-international athlete. Back in 1986, she was first selected for the New Zealand women's hockey team as a centre back. Two years later, when the Black Sticks failed to qualify for the Seoul Olympics, her future in the sport seemed uncertain. 'After leaving school [Wairarapa College], I got a job because hockey was user-pay at that time, even though Pat Barwick ran professional-like camps out of Christchurch,' Littleworth recalls. 'I was 22 years old when I started studying physiotherapy at Otago. 'During my hockey times, I'd spent some time on the physio table, injured. I was interested in how the body worked and healed.' While studying, Littleworth was introduced to rugby. In 1988-89, she was a member of the Crusadettes, a University of Canterbury team that broke new ground by touring the US and Europe – a rarity for a women's rugby team even in the late 1980s. Funding their own travels, the Crusadettes won 17 out of 21 matches, scoring a remarkable 520 points while conceding only 67. They were pioneers for New Zealand women's rugby, with 10 members of the team playing in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in Wales in 1991. 'That's where my love for rugby was cemented. It was an unbelievable experience playing on a limestone field in Spain, living on a bus and driving through two or three countries a night while learning to play serious rugby, even though I was quite inexperienced at the time,' Littleworth says. In 1989, Littleworth started as the blindside flanker in New Zealand's first official match – a 13-7 win against the California Grizzlies at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. The game was organised by Crusadettes coach Laurie O'Reilly. A year later, O'Reilly and Littleworth helped organise the World RugbyFest in Christchurch, featuring over 400 players. Littleworth's teams – the Crusadettes, Canterbury, and a New Zealand XV – won all their respective matches. NZ's 1991 World Cup team. O'Reilly was so impressed with Littleworth, he appointed her captain of New Zealand for the inaugural Rugby World Cup in the United Kingdom, organised by a similar group of committed pioneers. 'The World Cup in 1991 cost $5000 each to attend. It was a rugged experience,' Littleworth says. 'We had the skills, but we were behind the USA, which defeated us in the semifinals due to their greater match experience and fitness. Their women had enjoyed organised competition for several years and set the early benchmark, which sounds funny to say now.' O'Reilly, in his diary, described Littleworth as 'an outstanding captain, both on and off the field,' noting that she was a well-prepared communicator with invaluable technical and tactical knowledge. Those attributes, despite a lack of governance support, helped the Black Ferns excel culturally and on the field. By the time Littleworth stopped playing in 1996, she'd won 19 of her 20 matches in the black jersey, including an 86-8 slaying of the USA in her penultimate international. Littleworth then served as the Black Ferns physiotherapist from 1997 to 2003, playing a key role in their Rugby World Cup triumphs in 1998 and 2002. At the 2002 World Cup in Barcelona, she became the first mother granted permission by New Zealand Rugby to take a baby on tour. Daughter Hanna, who was still being breastfed, was with Littleworth as she treated the players. Helen Littleworth (third from left, back row) with NZ's successful 2016 Paralympic team. Always evolving, Littleworth aligned with High Performance New Zealand as a preferred physiotherapist. She was the physio for the New Zealand Olympic team at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympics, as well as the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and the Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. She also worked at three world athletics championships and spent seven years with the White Ferns cricket team. Today, she's employed by the Otago women's football and cricket teams. 'The biggest change in physiotherapy is the greater demands on the athletes to perform because of professionalism and the advancements in sports science, and the possibilities that it creates. You can literally monitor everything about an athlete now, and some things happen much quicker than they used to,' Littleworth says. 'Effective rehabilitation relies upon listening, looking and assessing, and while technology can help immensely, it cannot replace hands-on physiotherapy and effective clinical reasoning, which is as much intuitive as it is scientific.' It's not just high-profile athletes Littleworth assists. Every day, people with common ailments, as well as those facing serious injuries that require multiple surgeries, receive treatment. Littleworth shares some memorable examples, including a victim of a drunk driver who sustained severe head and knee injuries but eventually recovered enough to walk, skateboard, and surf again. Another client suffered a serious head injury while adventure racing, but was able to return to effective walking, long-distance kayaking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Helen Littleworth at her job with Performance Physio in Dunedin. Photo: Supplied Littleworth keeps a close eye on the Black Ferns and last month attended a reunion during their 37-12 victory over Australia in Wellington. She holds fellow flankers Sarah Hirini and Liana Mikaele Tu'u in high regard. So how does she rate the Black Ferns' prospects for the Rugby World Cup in England? 'We have the talent, but we can't just rely on being good at rugby,' Littleworth says. 'In my observations of women's sports globally, everyone is improving rapidly, and in New Zealand, we don't have the huge resources of some other nations. We need to find innovative ways to succeed, much like Laurie O'Reilly did. 'I followed the 2022 World Cup closely, because Wayne Smith worked closely with Laurie. What Smithy accomplished with that team in less than 12 months was phenomenal, daring, and clever.' Littleworth wishes the late O'Reilly were still around to witness the evolution of women's rugby. 'He was a lateral thinker and a visionary. He contributed so much that I find myself appreciating him even more now that he's gone,' she says. 'I've never heard a bad word spoken about him, and I try to model my approach to physio, my communication and trust with patients and athletes from Laurie. He was a grand man, coach and mentor.'
