Louisa Wall: Film shows what it takes to win

All you raving sports nuts, I suggest you watch Million Dollar Baby starring Clint Eastwood as the gunshot coach, Hillary Swank as the die-for-the-cause athlete and Morgan Freeman as the armchair critic with a little bit of technical knowledge revealed when Coach is out of sight.

What an engaging movie and one that shows all that is required to win and to be successful in sport and some aspects of life. Forget the twist at the end and the focus on moral deliberations. It is the substance of the action undertaken by our athlete in preparing for competition, the relationship she has with her coach and the trust that determines their interaction that is significant.

This reminded me of a Sir Edmund Hillary quote that a friend sent to me in Amsterdam, when we were at the 1998 women's Rugby World Cup which has been etched into my mind. It went something like ... It is about pressure and adversity and the quality one seeks in the traversing of any mountain. It is about a resolute mind firmly set on its objective that refuses to let its body slacken or rest.

Sometimes it is through adversity that winners emerge. It is through sheer guts and determination that goals are achieved. It is through clear and precise management and planning that championships are won.

An example of that is New Zealand Sevens super coach Gordon Tietjens. I've witnessed his trainings. They are fierce and intense. Some say you must train harder then the actual game and this is an ethos of Tietjens' for sure.

Sevens is a game of fitness, speed, skill, aggression, offensive defence and really tests the one-on-one skill of each member of the team. And it was wonderful to witness Tietjens as the conductor, instructor and guide his young team to victory in Wellington yet again.

In addition, Eric Rush has progressed into the assistant coach role with ease. Many of these young men form the feeder players into a system that equips our Super 12 teams and many an All Black has been produced from such plantations.

Now, let's continue to prepare well and win the Sevens World Cup in Hong Kong.

It was also excellent to see the men's softball live on free-to-air television last week. The Black Sox worked hard to win the international series against Samoa, Australia, Japan and an All Stars team and the 6-0 finals victory against the Japanese showed the true class of the team. Ka pai!

I read an interesting article over Waitangi weekend by Gibson Sheat and former NZRFU chief executive David Rutherford reflecting on Waitangi Day and what it means to be a New Zealander.

Their thesis was that the black jersey and brand unites the different communities that constitute New Zealand and it is time that we all taste the kumara that is New Zealand and be confident engaging and developing relationships with all members of the New Zealand family.

Interestingly, a colleague of mine said she had spoken to another Southerner and his comment was that there were no New Zealanders in the All Blacks.

Funny that some think that some of those who represent us (brown but not Maori, I presume) are not New Zealanders. And from what recently inducted education ambassador, All Black captain Tana Umaga says, being Samoan and having access and an understanding and appreciation of his Samoan culture is secondary to being a New Zealander.

Whatever motivates us in the domain of sport, ultimately we all strive to represent something greater than ourselves. And wherever you sit on our sporting landscape, the passion and pride of the Silver Fern has meaning and value to all of us Kiwis, irrelevant of our "secondary" strands.

* Louisa Wall is a former New Zealand netball and rugby representative.