Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Table topper
Rex McCaa’s passion for sport has always been a major factor in his life and it continues to be, both on and off the field.
A former premier grade rugby player for Redwood and Old Boys in Blenheim, and before that the Murchison club and Buller representative team, Rex’s latest sporting venture is table tennis.
Rex turns out for Full of Spirit in the Marlborough senior competition and plays alongside his son Steven and Simon Bishell. After a slow start last year, the two youngsters are fast improving and, with Rex as steady as ever, they are near the top of the points ladder.
Rex played table tennis during the 1980s in the old St Pats hall, fitting it in between rugby trainings and in the 1970s played representative table tennis for Nelson.
Born and raised in Murchison, Rex played rugby for Buller, mainly at first-five out of the Murchison Club. His dad Bill was president of the Nelson Bays Rugby Union and his mum Joyce still lives in the family home at Murchison.
Rex came to Blenheim in 1984 with his wife Ruth, also a fine sportswoman, a representative hockey player for Buller and Marlborough who still turns out each week for Emcee.
Working as warehouse manager for Hope Gibbons, Rex joined the Redwood Rugby Club, playing in one of Marlborough’s finest-ever club teams for a couple of seasons before shifting to Old Boys.
The couple owned and ran the Renwick Dairy for nine years and now own the $3 shop, which certainly keeps them busy.
Rex’s sporting talents weren’t restricted to rugby and table tennis. He was a fine golfer, good enough to play off scratch and shoot a course record 67 at Marlborough one season. He represented Marlborough and was a Tasman selector, one highlight being involved in that job in 1997 when Tasman won the Tower Inter-Provincial.
Recalling that period when they also tipped over Wellington, Rex said: ‘‘We had two local boys in the team, Kerry Fyfe and Wayne Bowie. It was definitely one of the highlights of golf for me. I enjoyed selecting. We had a lot of fun and I added stuff I had learnt from rugby.
‘‘I turned it from being an individual game to a team game. The Marlborough and Tasman teams as a whole, created a team environment. I picked a squad and everyone was involved.’’
Racing power boats was another string to his sporting bow and he thrived in that as well, winning several races in his 350cc hydroplane The God Father. That’s scaled down now to model boats but it’s table tennis which keeps his sporting urges satisfied.
‘‘I still enjoy competing but I play for the enjoyment and enjoy my son being there as well.’’
The McCaa ‘‘man cave’’ in Gleghorn St is legendary and a place where the family can sharpen up on their table tennis skills among other leisure pursuits.
Rex and Ruth have three adult children, Steven, Andrew and Candice. Like their parents, they all have or still do play sport – Andrew is a talented allrounder, cricket being his main game. He is a former Marlborough Hawke Cupwinning player and is now captain of Wanganui.
Steven is a representative golfer and a handy cricketer.