It’s always a fantastic day with all participants – the ones having a go and the ones facilitating it – having a ball.
Watching TV One in the early evening regularly makes me grimace.
Not, as you might imagine, because of Seven Sharp. Which can certainly provoke such a reaction, what with the mealy mouthed Mike Hoskings , stating the fricken obvious in the lectures he gives at the end of each cringing half hour or even Toni Whats-er-name who fell from my grace with her artless quip recently in which she described herself as looking “special” in a pic showing her without her make-up on.
No, it's because of the earlier feature at the tail end of the weekend news, 'Good Sorts'. I grimace because it always makes me feel like a lazy twat. It’s sort of the opposite to schadenfreude, a German word that describes the pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.
I feel stink about the greatness of those good sorts. These include dedicated poodles, teenagers who have developed life-saving apps, teenagers who save lives, people who make teenagers exercise. Actually teenagers feature a lot.
Last weekend I witnessed the real deal. It was the Tiaho Surf day at Ruakaka. This is a day when a bunch of volunteers get together to give disabled people a go at surfing. It’s always a fantastic day with all participants – the ones having a go and the ones facilitating it – having a ball. It can be a high-risk event, taking people with complex disabilities out in the water.
However the risk is mitigated by the unassuming laidback leadership of veteran surfer Gary Butt.
Gary is one of those guys who exudes a subtle positivity and aura of calm leadership that puts everyone at ease and makes you feel like doing things – mainly doing whatever he asks you.
So often with sports champions, while they don’t overtly skite about their accomplishments, more often than not they use their sporting prowess as leverage for self-promotion.
Garry’s water sports prowess is punctuated throughout the decades: 1963 inaugural New Zealand Junior Surf Champ at 14 years old; surf lifesaving Surf Ski National Champion three consecutive years running…and his achievements go on, including those this Saturday surrounded by a bunch of smiling, surfing youth who just happen to have disabilities.
And when you talk to Gary he rates Surf Day right up there with his finest triumphs. It is the “smiles on the faces” at Ruakaka that Gary waxed lyrical about when sharing a quiet post surf beer at ours last weekend.
The diversity of helpers, including some of my old surfing mates roped in, were smiling right along with the young folk who caught a wave for the first time.
This is why Gary and his equally good sort wife, the lovely Mary who ran H Q in the surf club, freely dedicate so much time and expertise to the cause up and down the country.
Many people with disabilities feel alienated from the mastery of sports, particularly those sports which have high cool and fear factor, like surfing. Rather than lording it over those differently abled, Gary is a hugely empowering presence who supports the helpers and suffers to surpass what they thought they could do.
So, along with the sun, the surf, the sizzling sausies, the certificates and the chilled bottles of yummy flavoured milk (thanks, Primo) , the Tutukaka Surf Company, Halberg Trust, Tiaho, Blomfield and NorthAble LYNKS staff, thanks Gary – you're a taonga for our community, and a real 'good sort' .
Downloadable pdf below:
| Available Downloads | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Wonderful ‘good sorts’ rule the waves | 419 KB |