The sport of cricket
was our inaugural sport, which was best known by the early settlers
of the time. Early hockey tours of Indian national teams to New
Zealand began with the first Indian Army side visiting in 1926. Next
to come was Dhyan Chand’s All India side in 1935 and the wizardry of
the captain himself was never to be forgotten by those lucky enough
to see Dhyan Chand play. These early tours were the catalyst for the
formation of Indian Sports Clubs in NZ. In 1936, the Auckland Indian
Sports Club (AISC) was established by its Founding Members –
Khusalbhai Madhu, Parsotbhai Keshaw, Parbhubhai Dheda, Dajibhai
Dheda, Maganbhai Bhikha and Bhanabhai Fakir. The sport of cricket
was the first to be played by Club members but despite all the
initial enthusiasm, there was great difficulty for the Club getting
practise grounds and coaching in the period between 1936 and 1944
(the prewar and war years).
After the war, from
1948 the Club was in full swing and was accepted as a member of the
Auckland Cricket Association (ACA) and the Auckland Hockey
Association (AHA).
1972 was a year of
first-time events for AISC. The Club’s first Senior Mens side and
the first two AISC Ladies teams were entered into the AHA
competition. AISC’s more notable successes in hockey include coming
runner-up in the AHA competition in 1990, and then winning the NZ
Interclub Knockout competition in 1991. The Club has also had many
national and provincial hockey representatives in the period between
1976 and 1990, the most notable of those including the selection of
four members from the 1990 AISC Senior Mens team for the NZ Mens
side (Peter Daji as Captain, Chan Chhiba, Paresh Patel and Ian
Woodley).
Following the sale of
the lease for Hobson Park to the Dilworth Trust in 1996, this
essentially saw the end of an era for AISC and the Club was forced
to seek new clubrooms. In 1998, the Club underwent a name change to
Tamaki A.I.S.C (Inc) after signing a 20-year lease with the Tamaki
City Council for the Seaside Park Clubrooms. Also during this same
year, the first artificial surface was laid at Lloyd Elsmore Park
(LEP), which ultimately led to a drastic change in the game of
hockey as we knew it at that time. After the Tamaki City Council was
integrated into the Auckland City Council, the Club returned to its
original name Auckland Indian Sports Club, or “Indians” for short.
With regards to
cricket, AISC has had countless successes in the ACA competition,
mostly in the minor grades. During the 1982/1983 cricket season,
AISC entered its top team into the Senior B level. As a result, two
of the Club’s top players at the time – Kanu C. (KC) Patel and Dahya
C (DC) Patel – were recognised for 21 years service to the sport.
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