INDOOR BASKETBALL

Chronicle (Levin), 15 May 1946, Page 2

INDOOR BASKETBALL

GAMES IN OTAKI TO-NIGHT Indoor basketball is proving one of the most popular forms of winter sport and recreation right throughout the world to-day. New Zealand, being a sport-minded country is not far behind in playing and organising tnis game, too, and right throughout th'e Dominion centres are now preparing to start the" season. This means that some thousands of young men and women are engaged each week in playing this popular game. It can readily be seen that the time is not far distant when teams representing North and South Islands will meet in a serie's of matches against each other. All the cities in the country have a large number of teams competing in their respective competitions, and as close as Palmerston North something like seventy teams play the game each week. • ii ^ In Otaki the game is well under way. A good working committee, with Mr. G. McKinley as secretary, has already done the ground work of inaugurating the competition. The Railway Hall has been made available agaln this year, and already about fourteen clubs are oiv'the lists. The competition will be somewhat different from last season. The committee has decided to play competitions for the ladies and also for the- men. This means that the ladies will play under their own rules and this will greatly assist them when they meet outside teams later in the season. To keep the lively interest going that was created last year another competition between the ladies and men will be played in the form of aknock-out. The Railway Hall will bc available to-night at 7 p.m., when practice games will be played. Two exhibition games have been arranged for 8 p.m. to give new players some idca of the rules and especially the ladies, who will play different rules. The following teams will lakc the floor: — Ladies.— No. 1 team: Hammond, Baker, M. Quinlivan. Merwood, Ralph and Edwards. No. 2 team: J. Williams, Boeth, Snowden, Johns'on; Burgess and Hakaraia. The referees are J. Gow and G. McKinley. t Men. — No. 1 team: Gow, Mathie, Winiata, McKinley and Bloomfield. No.' 2 team: Hakaraia, Horley, Julius, Hodges and Bartosh. The referees are D. Julius and J. Merwood. . Mr. J. Gow, a player with considerable experiencc, will control all games. Contact has been made with the Physical Welfare and Recreation officer in Palmerston North (Mr. Allan) , who has already stated that visits can be arranged by teams from any centre under their control, so a good season in Otaki is likely.