Bay Of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, SEPT, 27, 1948 THE FORGOTTEN SPORT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 100, 27 September 1948, Page 4

Bay Of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, SEPT, 27, 1948

THE FORGOTTEN SPORT

Gloriously fine weather last week must have set everyone thinking of the summer to come, of the beaches, the river, the cricket pitch, bowling green and tennis court. There are moves afoot to get most summer sports going at Whakatane —with one notable exception. We have no athletic club. Or, if there is one, it is keeping itself very quiet, and did so all last summer. It seems strange, in a community as sports-minded as this one, that there is no organisation catering for the oldest, cheapest, and one of the best sports, of them all. Admitted, there are many other attractions here, but it must also be admitted that probably the best training ground for all sports, summer and winter, is the athletic track. The natural movements of running, jumping, throwing, walking-are the bases of all sports, and the best possible producers of allround! fitness. - Beauty of athletics is that it builds fitness Nature’s way, by the natural use of muscles for the purpose for which they were given us. Here is none of the stiffness of formal drills, none of the knotted, bulgy muscle of the “stunt” physical culturist — but the natural God-given poetry of motion developed to a science. That there is ample good material here is undoubted. From the football and hockey fields alone, we should be able to round up sufficient talent to make a good in any in-ter-club athletic meeting. No doubt cyclists could be persuaded to co-operate. The two sports usually run hand-in-hand. To commend it to young people whose pay envelopes are not yet fat enough to run to heavy subscriptions and expensive sports gear, athletics has the virtue of low cost. A pair of spiked shoes is not an expensive item, and most wardrobes already include a singlet and a pair of shorts. Moreover, club subscriptions need not be high, because there is really little required in the way of club gear at the outset.

In- view of all those advantages, it does seem a pity that interest in this grand old sport should have been allowed to lapse. Perhaps there will be an

attempt to revive it this summer. If there is, it should commend itself as an effort worthy of support amongst all who realise the value of ,the physical fitness of her people to New Zealand. \