ESSENTIALITY OF SPORTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 72, 14 May 1943, Page 4

ESSENTIALITY OF SPORTS

THE fact that each successful sports meeting and gymkhana in this district has been netting progressively increased sums for the various Patriotic fund allocations may be taken to mean that there is a definite need for this type) of community" meeting, in time of war. Approximately £3000 has been raised already in the Whakatane area by this means and the amazing feature: is that far from becoming tired of the repetition of the same form of amusement in centre after centre, the public appears to exhibit a growing thirst for them, ensuring their success and spreading their popularity. The reason probably lies in tho very fact that we are living in emergency times, and that with most of our normal avenues of sport and recreation at a standstill due to our young men being absent, we welcome the new procession of pastimes as an outlet for our suppressed appetites for sport and social intercourse and cheerfully subscribe to their success. The question which l\is arisen as a result of this expression of public opinion* is, why should not the newly established round of sports meetings be placed upon a systematic and permanent basis, so that even when the boys come home we shall stila be able to preserve that sense of neighbourly co-operation which was born during the years of war.