To Excel Beyond Sport

Barry Maister clearly remembers the day back in 1965 when Arthur Lydiard visited his school to talk about the great athletes he coached and the rewards of running. Lydiard was of course coach to a raft of top athletes, including Olympic Games gold medallists Murray Halberg and Peter Snell.

"I could almost recite what [Lydiard] talked about," Maister says now. "He said that running was the basis of health, and that health is the basis of living. He talked about being the best you can be, whatever you are doing."

"It inspired me and my hockey team mates to put running at the forefront of our training. And I'm still running," Maister adds.

Within a few years of Lydiard's visit, he was a key member of the New Zealand hockey team. He played at the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. Then in 1976, he was on the team to the Montreal Games, where New Zealand won its historic gold medal.

Maister has witnessed numerous other young New Zealanders get inspired to get out and achieve, much as he was by Lydiard. (Before he became NZOC secretary general in 2001, Maister was a teacher and principal.) "From people like [Lydiard] I know the importance of role models. We have so many good role models in New Zealand sport," he says with conviction.

Sharing the inspiration is central to the satisfaction he gets from being part of the NZOC. "[Founder of the modern Olympic movement] Baron de Coubertin saw that young people could grow through sport. He could see the value of role models, he could see the power sport has in promoting universal values, tolerance, excellence and respect - playing by the rules. Those values are just as important today as they ever were," Maister says.

NZOC Secretary General Barry Maister at the NZOC Athletics Team Announcement, Auckland, April 2008. Credit: Renee McKay, Photosport.

"That is what makes the Olympic movement different. It is unbelievably special and unique. It is not just an Olympic sporting event, it is bigger. The Olympic movement is about growing the whole person. It is a philosophy. It is a humanitarian organisation. It is about using sport as a stimulus to be the best you can be."

Much of the NZOC's time is spent on "providing unique Games experiences" for New Zealand's athletes at Summer, Winter, Youth and Commonwealth Games. "We don't want to leave any stone unturned to help athletes to excel. But also to give them unique experiences, to help them to grow as people," Maister says.

Less publicly, time also goes into strengthening sport, and spreading inspiration, down to the grass roots. The NZOC works closely with New Zealand's 42 [ National Sports Organisations]. NZOC Olympic Ambassadors like Danyon Loader visit schools nationwide. The NZOC, through the Olympic Solidarity Fund, backs sport development, with a focus on youth, talent ID and coaching programmes. The organisation promotes a range of programmes to foster sport and human development in areas from ethics to various ‘sport for all' initiatives.

"We accept that not everyone can be an Olympian – but everyone can excel in something," says Maister. "When we go into a school, we don't say, be like Barbara Kendall. We say, look at what Barbara Kendall has achieved and how she has got there."

"We use such stories to inspire young people – to be the best they can be - in music, or dancing, or whatever they choose to do."

Every opportunity is taken to promoting "Olympic values" at all levels. "We want to tell the stories that inspire young people; to share what makes our Olympians tick; the challenges they have overcome; how they have achieved."

The NZOC has an Olympic Museum and a Study Centre, which is a repository of Olympic history and information. Every request for information is answered, and every opportunity taken to educate people about the values of the Olympic Movement.

All this is in line with the goals of the international Olympic movement. Around the world, there are 205 Olympic Committees, all with the same rules and charter; there is regular communication between NZOC and IOC.

Five years ago, IOC president Jacques Rogge visited New Zealand. Rogge rated New Zealand a model Olympic Committee, saying: "You bring the full expression of what being an Olympic Committee means". Worth noting, the President will be visiting this country again in 2009.

Maister doesn't shy from the fact that the Games and IOC has faced a good deal of controversy, and politics over the years. Beijing looks like being no exception. "But the Olympic movement began in 776 BC. It has survived so much. It is much more than any individual Games. It stands for something significant and enduring," he states.

On a personal level, Maister rates himself an Olympic junkie: "I am passionate about it. I love seeing sport at the very best. It is an absolute privilege to be able to go to the Games." He still gets a buzz, seeing athletes warm up, seeing how they tackle the conditions, seeing the sheer intensity of the competition.

"If I had to pick, I would say a day at the athletics stadium at an Olympic Games is like seventh heaven for me. But it could be anything – it could be a day at the archery, or the bobsled track. The Olympics is the absolute pinnacle."

Before joining the NZOC, Barry Maister was Rector of St Andrews College in Christchurch for six years. Prior to that, he was Headmaster of Riccarton High School for eight years; and he spent 15 years at Christchurch Boys High, rising to the position of Deputy Principal.

In hockey, Maister has coached teams to New Zealand junior level. He is a member of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

What changes has he seen in the Games since he went to Mexico City 30 years ago? Maister lists four main areas: professionalism, commercialism, doping in sport and security.

All Games sports except for boxing now allow professional athletes. That "has a lot of implications," he says. "It has raised standards. There are also higher expectations from the athletes – which puts pressure on what we supply."

Commercialism of the Games has grown exponentially over the last quarter century. "That has caused issues but it has a good spin off," he notes. "Ninety-three percent of what the IOC earns [from sponsorships, endorsements, licensing and sales] gets put back into developing sport. Commercialism allows a huge contribution to be made by the IOC, for the development of sport around the world."

Performance enhancing drugs have become a disturbing issue. No-one would argue the drug battle has been won, but "I look at the steps that are taken [by the IOC] and it is a huge commitment and investment," Maister points out. He is also confident about the ‘drug-free culture' in New Zealand sport.

As for Games security, Maister was in Munich (1972) when Palestinian terrorists took hostage and killed 11 members of the Israeli team. "Everything changed from that moment," he assesses. "Beijing will be like Athens, it will have unbelievable security."

Updated | 31 Oct 2008.

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