All Blacks Doctor Honoured By Alma Mater

All Blacks Doctor Honoured By Alma Mater

All Blacks’ doctor Deborah Robinson has received a distinguished Alumna Merita award from her former secondary school, Diocesan School for Girls, for her contribution to sports medicine.

The award from the all-girls independent, Anglican school in Auckland honours old girls who are outstanding women in their chosen field and are excellent role models for students.

Dr Robinson is the only woman who has been an All Blacks’ doctor – a role she has had since 2006 – and she is also the only woman to have toured overseas with the national rugby side as part of their management team.

Previous Alumnae Meritae from Diocesan School have included film director Nicky Caro, Pumpkin Patch founder Sally Synnott, U.S.-based Radio New Zealand broadcaster Judy Lessing, and renowned scientist Professor Margaret Brimble.

Dr Robinson, who moved up from her family home in Gisborne to attend Diocesan as a boarder for five years until the end of seventh form in 1977, says her time there was a vital part of her life.

“So to be recognised as an Alumna Merita is really gratifying,” Dr Robinson said after receiving her award at a full school assembly at Diocesan today which was also attended by old school friends and colleagues.

“I have stronger memories of school than I do of my university years. I was the perfect type of child to be able to go away and cope. At Dio, there were almost not enough hours in the day to fit in all of the opportunities I was given.”

Dr Joan Ingram, head of the old girls committee responsible for selecting Alumnae Meritae, said it was “ground-breaking” to be a female All Blacks’ doctor and showed girls that they could do anything they put their minds to.

Dr Robinson said it was important for students to follow their passions and not limit to their career options too soon.

After playing sport against her peers in Gisborne in a very competitive environment, Dr Robinson says she found had an edge when she moved to Diocesan and played hockey, cricket and basketball.

She was awarded cricket colours in Year 11, basketball colours in Year 12, was cricket captain In Year 12 and 13, and basketball captain in Year 13. After being a school prefect and head boarder and gaining an A Bursary and Scholarship Maths in 1977, she went to Otago University and did a Bachelor of Science, then graduated from Medical School in 1987.

Even though sports medicine was not yet a speciality in New Zealand in the 1980s,it was a personal passion that Dr Robinson was determined to follow. While still studying she set up her own elective at a sports clinic aligned to a Dunedin rugby club which she describes as “inspirational” and in 1990 she paid her own way through a one-year Diploma in Sports Medicine at London University – one of the first of its kind.

After returning to New Zealand to train in Christchurch as a general practitioner, she was employed at SportsMed where she has worked for 20 years as well as being a doctor for sports teams including the Crusaders (2002 to 2006) and the Silver Ferns (2004 - 2006).

Her New Zealand Rugby contract means she is usually the All Blacks’ doctor when they are assembled for six months of the year from July.

Travelling overseas with players, some of whom are in their 30s and missing their young children, means she inevitably takes on a broader, pastoral role at times. “On tour we do become like one big family because we are away for a long time, but it is important for my relationship with the guys to have the right tone. When you are part of management, you can’t be their best mate.”

“My job is to help them be as good as they can be. People worry about making the right decision. But it is quite simple. You have to tell yourself: ‘What I am trying to do here is what is best for the player and best for the team.”

Dr Robinson, who would sneak out of bed at boarding school in the middle of the night to watch FA Cup finals, says she has always loved the big match atmosphere. “I embrace it. When I’m at a match I come out onto the pitch, look at the crowds, listen to that anthem and just take a minute to absorb it all before I focus on my job.”

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