From Rugby to Reinke: Sam Broomhall of Think Water Canterbury
A Think Water Canterbury technician services a center-pivot irrigator.
T
he All Blacks, New Zealand’s National Rugby Team, is world famous for its excellence and fighting spirit. One former All Black has brought that same passion to irrigated agriculture. Sam Broomhall works as a managing director for Think Water Canterbury, a family business that his father founded in 1981. For the last 4 years, Think Water Canterbury has been a dealer of Reinke irrigation equipment. In this interview, Mr. Broomhall tells us about his rugby career, his work at Think Water Canterbury, and the hard work that the two experiences have in common.
Sam Broomhall: I was born in and grew up in New Zealand. Our family ancestry is Scottish, but my mother and father were both born in New Zealand, so we have been here for a long time. My association and involvement in the irrigation industry dates to the foundation of our business in 1981, 40 years ago. Irrigation Leader: How old were you when you started playing rugby?
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Irrigation Leader: For our U.S. audience, which may be unfamiliar with your career, please tell us about your time playing rugby. Sam Broomhall: I grew up in a town called Leeston, with a population of about 1,500. I’m not sure how it is in the United States, but we have area-representative teams that combine to cover a wider area, in this case Canterbury. I played for a lot of representative teams when I was young, but I didn’t quite make any national or major teams. I played for my university for a couple of irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF THINK WATER CANTERBURY.
Irrigation Leader: Please tell our readers about your background. How long has your family been in New Zealand, and how long have you been associated with irrigation?
Sam Broomhall: I was 8 or 9 years old. That sounds young, but now that is actually considered quite old, because we have young kids running around at ages 3 and 4 playing what we call rippa rugby. It’s not full contact: They run around with little tags on the side of their hips and a big rugby ball almost as big as they are. They have rugby shorts that fall below the knees and socks coming up over the knees. There are more fans at some of those games than at some big games, to be honest. When I was a child, 8 or 9 was the earliest you could start, and I was just fine.
