A life of rugby for West Coast legend

There would be few New Zealanders around with a string of achievements in rugby as impressive as West Coast’s John Sturgeon. And the list is getting longer as he has recently been named the Buller/West Coast Rugby Legend as part of the Living Legends project.

There wasn’t much choice about whether or not John would play rugby he says as he started playing at Te Kinga Primary School on the shores of Lake Brunner. A two classroom school all the boys had to play rugby. From there John has gone on to an illustrious career in rugby.

John played rugby for the United Club from 1954 until 1968, the year in which his services to rugby administration began. He started as an Executive Member of Star Rugby club and by 1976 was appointed to the management committee of West Coast Rugby Football Union. From 1984 until 1986 he served as Chairman of the Union, and then returned from 2000 until 2007 in various committee roles. “Join a rugby club and have a friend for life” says John.

He has been recognised locally with numerous awards including the West Coast Administrator of the Year in 1987 and the Ron King Trophy in 1988 (for the person who contributed the most to rugby).

But it is perhaps for his national roles that he is better known. John was elected to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) council in 1987 and has served numerous roles, but most recently as President, elected in 2009 and his proudest moment in rugby he says.

He also spent many years during the 1980s managing the New Zealand Colts Team, Northern Maori Team and New Zealand Sevens Team before going on to manage the All Blacks from 1988 until 1991. John says managing the All Blacks at test level was one of his greatest times in rugby.

John received a Queen’s 1990 Commemorative Medal for service to Rugby, Mining and the Community and was made an MBE in 1991 for his services to sport.

And life outside of rugby has also been of great service to sport in New Zealand, John also serves as a Trustee on the Halberg Trust.

John says his recent achievement as a Rugby Legend as part of the Living Legends project is a great honour. “I feel humble, almost overwhelmed and really appreciate the honour”. “It’s an exciting year for rugby in New Zealand and Rugby World Cup offers a wonderful opportunity to promote New Zealand and the game of rugby” he says.


About Living Legends
Living Legends is a community conservation project that is coordinating 17 native tree planting projects throughout New Zealand during Rugby World Cup 2011.
Each planting is being run in conjunction with provincial rugby unions and will be dedicated to a regional ‘Rugby Legend’ who has been selected by the union.
These Rugby Legends are people who have made a significant contribution to rugby in New Zealand.
Living Legends will plant almost 80,000 trees nationwide in 2011, and is making a five year investment to plant a total of 150,000 trees by the end of the project in 2015.
The plantings all take place on public conservation land, and will encourage New Zealanders and overseas visitors to participate in the events.
Plantings will be held in Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Horowhenua-Kapiti, Wellington, Tasman, Buller/West Coast, Mid Canterbury, Christchurch, Otago and Southland.
Living Legends is a joint venture of Project Crimson, an environmental charity with 20 years experience in community-based native restoration projects and the Tindall Foundation. We are thrilled to have the support of our major sponsors the Department of Conservation and Meridian Energy.
About the Buller/West Coast Living Legends planting project
The Punakaiki Coastal Restoration project is on the beautiful West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. This project focuses on habitat restoration of coastal land adjacent to Paparoa National Park.
The project is a partnership between Conservation Volunteers New Zealand and Department of Conservation involving abandoned mining land gifted to DoC by Rio Tinto. The Conservation Volunteers aim to restore the biodiversity of the area, develop an education and knowledge base to support species protection, strengthen community networks, build the capacity of community partners to engage with and use the site, and provide a “new heritage” for the benefit of future generations. The project is just under a year old, and aims to plant 20,000 trees a year, some raised on the site and others bought in from local suppliers.
On 1 October 2011, volunteers will plant 5000 additional native trees at this site as part of Living Legends programme of work.