Introduction

Abstract

Aotearoa New Zealand remains touted as an incredibly successful sporting nation despite its small population and arguably geographically remote location. Yet as the Introduction details, a range of challenges for sport and recreation lurk beneath the surface. Through providing an overview of the various chapters in the book, the Introduction outlines how Aotearoa New Zealand has a range of “legacy” issues, particularly in relation to race, ethnicity and gender, while being shaped by forms of tradition, myth, ritual and nostalgia, which many sports are needing to work through. Though there have been a range of government interventions through policies, these have largely been hampered by the strength of Aotearoa New Zealand’s neoliberal orientation. Collectively, the Introduction and the book as a whole metaphorically and symbolically criss-cross the New Zealand sport terrain to unearth some of these issues and tensions, both large and small, that undergird the contemporary sporting landscape.