Letters: Collision sport more reason for concern than form of entertainment

The high-impact collision sport can lead to participants being knocked unconscious. Photo / TikTok

Letters to the Editor

Collision sport too much of a risk

It is very concerning that so-called “collision sport” is now here, with the first Auckland event this week.

Consider American football’s awful experience from over a century ago – frequent player deaths and injuries were common in the 1890s, and continued into the early 20th century.

One notorious tactic (banned in 1905) in college football was the “flying wedge” where five to 10 players formed a “V” and charged at high speed toward a single opponent (usually the ball carrier).

By 1910, American football was at risk of being banned because of public outrage at what various public figures called a “barbarous amusement” and “rugby’s American pervert”.

So the sport began to clean up its act with rule changes (such as allowing forward passes) and the infamous safety gear.

Sporting entertainment is fine but not if it encourages players to put their lives at risk.

Graeme Easte, Mt Albert.

Pointless bravado at best

This new collision sport is about as moronic a way as possible to permanently damage your brain and whatever other bodily functions are involved.

If the organisers of this idiocy are hellbent on going ahead with the event here, a few conditions must be met. Everything from facilities (including playing fields) must be privately owned with no interest or input from councils, and players and any equipment, advertising and any other promotion must be paid for by private sponsors.

There should also be no ACC coverage for injuries, however serious or long-lasting they may be.

The whole idea is one of pointless bravado at best, sheer stupidity at worst.

Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark.

Embarrassed by treatment

After reading the article on nurse Mary Parkinson Peni (May 19), I, as someone of European descent, am highly embarrassed and can only apologise profusely to this young lady, having had to endure this sort of treatment.

Good on you, Mary, for your dedication in training to care for others and also for embracing your culture.

In the past eight years, I have had some serious health issues requiring a lot of hospital time and have found all the nurses I encountered very special people, always caring and empathetic.

I also encountered a Māori nurse at Waikato Hospital with a moko kauae and she was a lovely person and gave me excellent care.

It is a pity Māori tend to be under-represented in the medical professions.

Warren Cossey, Morrinsville.

We need nurses like Mary

What a beautiful young woman Mary Parkinson Peni is.

When we need nurses, we are lucky to have her. How sad that she is experiencing racism while working at a hospital.

I have been shocked several times by those older than me expressing racist views about the use of te reo and other cultural values of Māori. I then mention that in Wales, Ireland and Scotland, road signs have been in English and the local language (Welsh and Gaelic) for decades, and the sky has yet to fall in.

It’s sad, but hopefully this will change with the younger generation coming through.

J.A. Wallis, Blockhouse Bay.

Well done, sort of

Great to see Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Health Minister Simeon Brown admitting they made a mistake and giving the funding back to urgent care centres.

Except, wouldn’t it be good if, actually, they had said that instead of making a beat-up about putting funding into some new urgent care facilities, including in Luxon’s own electorate?

Their roundabout way of admitting that they had to rethink the original decision to not give adequate funding to urgent care centres in rural and suburban communities hasn’t gone unnoticed by us who live in areas where the urgent care facilities had earlier been curtailed from lack of funding. But thankfully, in reading the announcement fine print, it looks as if it may be restored. Albeit with the right hand taking what the left hand has held out, with the nursing staff knowing their pay equity claims are thrown on the funding scrapheap.

Neil Anderson, Algies Bay.

Will health care be free?

Could someone clarify will the health services announced by Christopher Luxon and Simeon Brown be free? If not, it will not alleviate the wait times in the hospital A&E departments at all.

Supplying these clinics will be of no use if you don’t have the money to pay for the services, however desperate you are.

Where will the staff to work in these facilities come from, as there is a serious shortage already for medical staff?

Sue Gallahar, Māngere East.

Savea for ABs captain

When you consider the way that Ardie Savea played and showed his leadership skills on Saturday in the game between the Blues and Moana Pasifika, I think we have the wrong captain for the All Blacks.

His style of leadership is very much akin to that of Richie McCaw. Food for thought.

Mahendra Kumar, Flatbush.