How awesome for Team New Zealand to be back as Louis Vuitton Cup Winners, and official Challengers for the America's Cup. I know the event has captured the Country's imagination again after the frustration of 2013, and it's great to see another group of amazing young sailors, cyclors, and world-class designers coming through the ranks for New Zealand.
The depth of sporting talent constantly coming through the ranks in Godzone is pretty awe-inspiring and encouraging, but we need to make sure that we don't just assume it will always be there. We invest nearly $1 billion every year in sports and recreation in New Zealand, and it's important that we keep investing in such a vital part of Kiwi culture, so that we can look forward to future All Blacks, Silver Ferns, and Team New Zealand-ers.
Another crucial consideration for future sporting success, is the opportunity for young Kiwis to be able to see their sporting heroes and heroines in action.
In this modern world of instant information at our fingertips, live sport becomes even more important. Once the result has been put out on social media, it's highly unlikely anybody is going to sit through the delayed coverage - when we can get it - but with Sky holding a monopoly on our top-level sport, hundreds of thousands of Kiwi Kids almost never get to celebrate in the moment.
We can only hope that having its merger with Vodafone turned down by the Commerce Commission will force Sky to consider whether it's even best for them, having all the top sporting eggs in one monopolistic basket, but we shouldn't hold our breath.
