By Peter O'Brien, Vice-President N.Z.U.S.U.

A New Zealand university blue is the highest award which can be gained within the structure of the universities of New Zealand by a student sportsman, and ranks second only to a New Zealand representative blazer.

There was a time, prior to 1948, when blues were awarded at the drop of a hat to many competitors whose sporting ability was little better than that of the average club member.

In 1948 the New Zealand University Students' Association, which had previously considered blues swords itself, decided to set up a panel of outstanding sportsmen to make recommendations on the award of blues. Thus the New Zealand University Blues Panel was born and it commenced operations at Easter Tournament, 1949.

The first job of the Panel was to decide what a blue should be, and then to devise methods of ensuring that a blue should not be

awarded unless it was proved conclusively that the nominee was an outstanding sportsman worthy of the highest university sporting honour that can be awarded.