Following on from the author’s earlier New Zealand Hall of Fame book, this does something that very few other “best Kiwi sporty types” books fail to do: it covers a variety of sports.
I’m a proud Kiwi, so naturally I’m a rugby fan. But there are other incredible New Zealand sportspeople out there, doing us proud on the world stage, but they are often overlooked in favour of rugby players and cricketers. Sure, we all get interested in the “other” sports when a Kiwi sportsperson or team does well — one little America’s Cup win and suddenly we’re all yachties, and an Olympic gold gives us all the urge to become rowing experts — but those dudes and dudettes deserve recognition (and respect) all the time, not just when they are collecting medals.
This book achieves that, showing just how impressively talented Kiwis are in a wide range of sports.
The author, Maria Gill, says she always planned for New Zealand Hall of Fame would be part of a series and that the second book would be a sport book. However, she had difficulty choosing just who to include.
Determined to have one sportsperson from each sport, Gill struggled to decide between Captain Fantastic Richie McCaw and undies ambassador Dan Carter so she asked friends, fans and family on Facebook to help with that decision.
An added bonus is the inclusion q-codes for each entry, meaning you can scan that with your smartphone to be taken directly to a website or video about that person.
Some of those included in the book have lots of victories under their belts, some are just starting out. But they are all Kiwis we can be proud of.