THIS YEAR [1998] we celebrate 45 years of the PIC Netball Club. And we are doing it in our usual way. Throughout Saturday 26 September [1998] we are playing netball and having fun. In the evening we will come together for a meal and dance! We have also marked this occasion through a specially commissioned logo and motif for our uniforms. This 45th Anniversary book has been produced as a first step towards recording the full history of the Pacific Island Church Netball Club. As always, many people have contributed to the planning and organizing of our 45th Anniversary and we are grateful to them all - you know who you are! In particular, the PIC Netball Club wishes to acknowledge the support and assistance of the following organizations and individuals: Anae Arthur Anae MP, for allowing us the privilege of celebrating our 451h Anniversary in style. Our sponsors LV Martin & Son. Many thanks to Trevor Douthett and his team for helping to make this publication happen! Fisher & Paykel. We have always appreciated the support received from Tim Kirkup and Liz Hogan. This George, for managing the production of this publication. Ngarangi Walker (Miss Nga!) for the administrative assistance and transcribing the interviews. Alistair Stewart for the design and layout of the publication you hold in your hands. And all members, past and present who have contributed to the book.

Psalm 149:4. The Lord takes pleasure in His people; He honors the humble with victory.
THE Pacific Island Church Netball Club was established almost five decades ago by early contemporary Pacific migrants. Its foundations are steeped in the Church whose name it continues to carry. Like those Pacific pioneers the Club comes from humble beginnings where the priority was fellowship and a shared cultural understanding of the world and ones place in it.

We have come together to celebrate 45 years of the Pacific Island Church Netball Club. From our unassuming beginning in 1953 under Mama Tangi's leadership, PIC has forged a path that leads to success, fostered by a living Pacific spirit. Our achievements are notable. Many of our players have gained representative status for Wellington, Samoa, the Cook Islands and New Zealand.
Ours is a club proud to carry the name of our founders. What we have achieved to date is a result of hard work and dedication. To mark this special occasion the Club commissioned the design of a new logo and motif, which are featured throughout this publication. The logo captures PIC's aspirations to 'be the best netball club in New Zealand'. In this logo we acknowledge our Church origins as well as sporting excellence.
The motif is an adaptation of the Mangaian (Cook Islands) tattoo pattern kaiparau. We are grateful to Michael Tavioni (Cook Islands master carver and artist) for producing the original sketches which were the inspiration for this motif. The new designs are also a feature of the new PIC uniforms and souvenir 45th Anniversary tee-shirts.
OUR BOOK
The original idea for this publication was for a full historical record of the first 50 years of the PIC Netball Club. For a variety of reasons however, this has not been possible.
Many of the founding members of PIC are now well into their "golden" years and some have retired to their home islands. We decided to produce this publication while we still had the opportunity to talk "face-to-face" with these pioneering women. We wanted to capture their stories in their own words. Another difficulty was that we could not interview everyone who has been active in PIC netball. We settled on an approach whereby at least two women from each decade were interviewed. Some women were obvious choices, e.g. our founding President, our first national representative, and our first Assistant Silver Ferns coach. The others were not so easy to select given the many members who have contributed and played for PIC over the past 45 years. We feel that these women are a wonderful testimony to all those who have served PIC.
Another problem encountered during the research for this publication was that our sources for background information were very limited and difficult to access. PIC Club records are scattered in the homes of past members and a search of the Wellington Netball Union's records was severely hampered because all of their records prior to the late 1980s have been destroyed by fire.
This publication, therefore, is not a comprehensive history. Many gaps will be evident. But it is a first step towards documenting PIC's development and achievements. The task however remains for extensive research to be undertaken that will provide an in-depth historical record of our club that takes us beyond the new millennium to our 50th Anniversary Kia na te ora! Jean

PIC's very first national representative honours went to Margharet Matenga in 1975. Since then, PIC has produced some of New Zealand and Pacific's most outstanding netballers. Indedd, the Club has given this country some of its most dynamic players and inspirational coaches.

• SILVER FERNS: Margharet Matenga MBE; Waimarama Taumaunu MBE; Rita Fatialofa; Tanua Cox; Noeline Taurua; Gail Parata; Leilani Read; Bernice Mene; Julie Dawson; Debbie Matoe; Julie Carter



• NZ COMMONWEALTH TEAM REPRESENTATIVES:
Noeline Taurua; Julie Dawson; Bernice Mene.


• YOUNG INTERNATIONALS and UNDER 21:
Meka Whaitiri; Tonia Heaps; Bella Leifi; Barbara Webster; Stephanie Washington; Jan Pickering.


• SAMOA:
Amanda Dunlop; Bella Leifi; Erika Tualaulelei; Leilani Read.


• COOK ISLANDS:
Margharet Matenga; Tungane Ponia; Ina Kamana; Selina Matenga; Joy Tupangaia; Luciana Matenga; Suzie Trego.

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By the time Mama Tangi and the Reverend Tariu Teaia arrived in Wellington in the early 1950s, they had already established themselves as servants of the Church in the Cook Islands. They first migrated to Auckland to assist the Reverend Challis with the settlement of early Pacific migrants and they came to the Capital to continue the development work of the then Pacific Islanders' Congregational Church.
On their arrival they discovered that the Pacific community had begun to take shape. So their energies went into strengthening the community, outreach and pastoral care.
Their story was very much in line with that of other new Pacific migrants. Papa Tariu traveled the width and breadth of this country meeting the many isolated Pacific people scattered both in rural and urban communities. Mama Tangi, in the main, remained in Wellington and worked to support their calling.
Many early Pacific migrants will recall the socials held in the old church hall in Newtown and Papa Tariu's gentle and warm manner.
The Teaia's are credited with the formal establishment of the Cook Islands Sports Association and in particular the then Pacific Islanders' Congregational Church Basketball Club.
We salute the pioneering spirit of our parents who set up the Church and our wider Pacific community in Wellington. In particular we acknowledge the service and hard work undertaken by Papa Tariu and Mama Tangi.
Mama Tangi was seldom seen at the front, she always saw her role as the support to her husbands' service. And yet, even after Papa Tariu's death, Mama Tangi continues to serve her God and her Church at the age of 87. As the first President of our netball club we acknowledge her leadership, her charisma and her vision. Forty five years on, her vision and pioneering spirit continues to live on in the hearts and life of what is today called the Pacific Island Church Netball Club.
While unable to physically join us tonight due to poor health, Mama Tangi extends to you all her warmest greetings and congratulations. "her vision and pioneering spirit continues to live on."

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