NZ Deaf Sports Convention, Christchurch 1971.
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Stories from people attending the Convention. Source: New Zealand Deaf News, 1971, Vol. 8, No. 4.
Rough Voyage: “The Wellington players and supporters did not enjoy their voyage on the “Maori” to the Deaf Sports Convention in Christchurch. Once the ship was out to sea it rolled from side to side from the effect of the waves raised by strong easterly winds. Tables, chairs and glasses of beer slid everywhere. One jolly, matronly-looking, deaf lady, tried to hand onto her chair only to be tipped over backwards with her legs in the air and her underwear showing for all the world to see. Mrs. Bessie Le Marquand, who was among the passengers, said that she had travelled to and from Christchurch many times since 1905 but she was sure she had never experienced such a rough trip before. The ship rolled all the way till they got to Lyttelton.”
Wrong socks: “Just before the inter-club table tennis matches started a competitor started to pull on the pair of white socks she had bought that day. To her horror she discovered she’d bought a child’s size in socks instead of an adult size. They covered only half her feet.”
The New Zealand Deaf Indoor Basketball team to play against the Australian Deaf Boys were selected during the Labour Weekend Convention. They were: Jack Campsie (Capt.), Peter Murray (Vice-Capt), Bernard Clews, John Ballantine, John Ferguson, Gary Howard, Peter Downie, Ken McDiarmid, Keith Gordon (Coach).
