History

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.