From a humble rural community on the outskirts of Whangārei comes the story of a young farm boy who hit the international table tennis stage and is still going strong 60 years later.
James Morris, 71, is one of two Northlanders recognised in the 2024 New Year Honours. He has been made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for his years of service to table tennis that helped put New Zealand on the sport’s map worldwide.
Morris continues to live in the small farming district Marua, east of Hikurangi, where his love of table tennis was sown.
He was just a youngster when he first picked up a racket, often playing his mother Jean Morris on the family’s table tennis table in the farm’s homestead.
However, the sport took on a new lease of life when, as a 10-year-old, Morris lost his dad in a tragic boating accident.
“My mother made sure that we got into sport to help because that was a huge traumatic thing for the family at the time,” he said.
“It was to keep me going in the right direction.”
Jean soon recognised her son’s potential and began to take him to a table tennis club in Hikurangi and later next door to Opuawhanga.
“She always encouraged me to look to the next level,” Morris said.
Soon he was taking on the city folk at the club in town, some of whom were elite players on the national scene.
His table tennis ventures escalated from club competitions to provincial tournaments to national championships and eventually the world stage.
Morris first represented New Zealand as a teen in the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan.
“That was fantastic for a 17-year-old farmer boy from Marua,” he said.
There he saw the world’s best players - such as the men’s winner Stellan Bengtsson, of Sweden, and China’s Lin Huiqing, who won the women’s division.
“I always had a drive to try and reach my potential,” Morris said. “Seeing them was inspirational. It was mind-blowing for a young lad.”
Later in life, he became an instrumental part of the sport’s international development.
Morris served as vice president on the executive council of the International Table Tennis Federation from 2017 to 2021. In 2016, he produced the organisation’s first strategic plan - that was the same year he was an Olympic Games table tennis jury member. In November last year, Morris stepped down from the International Table Tennis Board.
Despite the international exposure, the home stage was his favourite.
“Something I’ll never forget was when the Japanese sent a team out in the late ’70s.”
The Japanese men’s team played Northland, made up of Morris and long-time friend and teammate, the late Garry Frew. The match was in the old Town Hall on Bank St.
“It was absolutely chocka with people,” Morris said.
In front of about 400 spectators, he brought Japanese player Toshi Furukawa, ranked about 20th in the world at the time, to his knees.
“I’ll never forget the excitement and just the home crowd cheering,” Morris said. “It was just great.”
He has given a lot to raising the profile of table tennis on home soil. He was the high performance director and national coach for Table Tennis New Zealand for about 10 years, and penned the organisation’s coaching manual. He coached the New Zealand Table Tennis team for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and was president of Oceania Table Tennis from 2013 to 2017.
In 2014, Morris was co-tournament manager of the World Veteran Table Tennis Championships in Auckland which drew 1600 players from more than 50 countries.
He chaired Northland Table Tennis and in the 1980s travelled the country to raise funds for the organisation to build its own stadium in Whangārei, and later contributed to the construction of its hall. He spent nine years on the Sport Northland Board, during which he played a key part in establishing the Kauri Club, which supports up-and-coming athletes.
Morris credits much of his success to local mentors Frew and Neti Traill - an eight-time New Zealand champion - and to his family: Jean; brother Craig Morris; uncle George Morris, who pushed him to be his best; and his wife, Christine Morris, who “kept the home fires burning” and gave him “great encouragement”.
While Morris has turned his attention more to the administrative side of the sport, he hasn’t quite put his racket down yet. He has entered into the World Masters Table Tennis Championships in Italy next year.
Karina Cooper is the news director and covers breaking and general news for the Advocate. She has a special interest in getting to the heart of a story.