Phil Quinney pictured with the World Test Cricket Mace.
Taranaki sports broadcaster Phil Quinney says it was “an honour but also very humbling” to be recognised by his industry for his decades of service.
At the New Zealand Radio Awards held in Auckland early this month, Phil received a service to broadcasting award, and says hearing his name called out at the awards ceremony was a “complete surprise”.
“My boss had asked me if I was going, but it didn’t cross my mind why I was being asked....it was a real surprise and actually really humbling to be recognised in this way. I am lucky, I love what I do.”
Phil’s voice is well known to Taranaki listeners who tune in to hear his Saturday morning local sports show on NZME radio station Newstalk ZB.
He started in radio in 1984, after getting interested in it through a friend. His passion for radio and sports had started long before however.
“As a kid, I would listen to the radio, on the weekend and in the evenings, I remember staying up late listening to cricket commentary from the UK and across the world, and loving it.”
Phil still loves it, and recalling how as a child he would play at commentating, he reckons he is “very lucky” to be doing it in real life.
Despite having spent nearly four decades working as a radio broadcaster, Phil says he still gets nervous before commentating.
“Which you should. It’s live sport on live radio, you never know what is going to happen. It’s always exciting.”
Asked to pick some of the highlights from his sports commentating career, he has to think for a bit.
“Every sports match can be exciting, that’s the thing with live sports, it’s never the same and things can change quickly.”
When pushed however, there are a few that stand out.
“Basketball, back when I started in Taranaki, myself and Jeff Cleaver did the commentaries from the YMCA where basketball was played back then....and I did the commentary for three rugby world cup matches in 2011. The Taranaki games are always special. Taranaki rugby, it’s such a great atmosphere......I remember the Ranfurly Shield back in 1996, Taranaki won it off Auckland, that game was incredible. The ITM cup in 2014, when Taranaki plated the semi against Auckland. The crowd just went ballistic when Taranaki won. The atmosphere, it was like being at a world cup final.”
Listening to Phil talk about Taranaki sporting successes over the years, you might think he grew up supporting Taranaki teams, but Phil is originally from Christchurch. Having started his radio career in the South Island, with stints on local radio stations in Timaru and Oamaru after completing his training in Wellington, Phil moved to Taranaki in 1987.
“I thought I would be here for a year or two. In radio, you tended to move around quite a bit then, and so I didn’t move here thinking I wouldn’t ever leave. It was temporary, not permanent.”
Just like live sport, life has a way of being unpredictable however and once Phil met Kim - his future wife, “a Taranaki girl” Taranaki became his permanent home.
“Kim has been such an incredible support throughout my radio career and everything else I have done. I couldn’t have done it without her. I am really lucky and I really do appreciate everything she has done over the years to support my career as well as raising our family.”
Kim’s support has enabled Phil to not just forge an incredibly successful radio career, but also his “other job” as a residential and lifestyle sales consultant and auctioneer with Property Brokers plus the 12 years he served his community as a district councillor with New Plymouth District Council.
Phil’s love of sport means even when he’s not working, he can still be found on a sports ground - with golf being his particular passion nowadays. So when he’s on the golf course, does he start mentally commentating his own game?
“My fellow players would say I do, and not just in my head. They would also say a lot of what I say might not be suitable for broadcast!”