ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1854, 13 September 1913, Page 14

ATHLETICS.

.(By Mercuey.) GREAT IDEA SET ON FOOT. Proposal to Raise £10,000. Tho vSydnoy "Referee' has started a orusado. It has set itself tho task of raising a national fund for tho equipment of an Australasian team for tho 1916 Olympio Games at Berlin. Tho intention and import of tho movement is thus set.forth: — To send a team of 50 men and women to battle for tho name of Australasia in the Sixth Olympiad in Berlin in 1916 £10,000 is needed. There is only ono way of getting this. Start right away on a great national movement throughout the length, and breadth of_ Australia and New Zealand to raise it, and placo the financial difficulties which always faco travelling amateur bodies on cno side, and let our best men, adequately representing this quarter of the globe, go to tho post unhampered. "To tho great generosity of tho American people is due the success of the American representatives atthe Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912." Thus wrote James E. Sullivan, the American. Olympio Commissioner to tho Olympic Gamos of 1912. "To tho great generosity of tho Australasian people Is due the success of- tne Australasian representatives lat the Olympio Games in Berlin in 1916." May it bo the privilege of the writer to pen that testimony after tho next contest of tho champion champions. This is a big project indeed, and an ambitious ono,. but it is one that should corfimand tho support of every lover of, and believer in, amateur athleticism in Australasia. The movement has had a good send-off—the promoting newspaper headed. tho subscription list with, £100, in addition to which amounts were collected on the first day swelling the total to over £300 —a good day's work.

What are Vie Going to Do? No domibt the N.Z.A.A.A. and N.Z. Olympic Committeo will be approached from Australia as to ways and means of working up interest in the Dominion. If these bodies' decide to help tho enterprise along—and they can have '_ no reason for not doing so —a systemised plan of campaign will be necessary. Already in the Dominion a levy is laid on athletic club members of 3d. per capita, and tho proceeds are devoted to the Olympic Fund. . This is an excellent idea, but it could be pushed considerably further. As it is, the collection is not made as rigidly as might be the caso, and a considerable amount must bo lost each year through club slackness, but it is in the extension of the principle of tho levy to other branches of sport that the greatest benefit could bo All amateur sports bodies should have equal Olympic interests, although, of course, those which cater for the individual as against tho team naturally have greater opportunities for being represented at the Games. What We Might Do. Nevertheless, footballers, cricket and hookey eto. t should_ take their share, in common with tennis players, swimmers, and runners, and if the levy idea could bo extended over all these organisations, and '«■ thorough and earnest endeavour wero made to collect 3d per annum from each member thereof throughout tho Dominion, an amount could bo raised each year that would easily mako up New Zealand s share of tho required £10,000. Plecfl-de-Resistance To-day. • The weekly epistlo, according to "Mercury's" esteemed harrier correspondent, runs ftß under:— Onco again this afternoon will the football interval at the Athletic Park be beguiled by a harrier foot race. This time tho event is to tako the form of a teams' relay raco ovor two miles. The conditions provide for teams of four men, each member of which will run half a mile, the quartet represented by the first man homo to bo tne winner. A novelty in, the selection of each team will bo tried. Tho names of the starters are to be drawn from a ballot-box in fours, and each quartet will form a team, irrespective of the clubs to which the winners belong. This, it is calculated, will materially add to the interest in obviating the possibility of the entry of a orack. representation from any one club making a runaway race of Tho entry list will be a big one, and in this connection it is pleasant to be able to ohroniclo the fact that tho Brooklyn Club's executive, which has hitherto officially hold aloof from those runs, has intimated that the obstacles which in the early part of the week looked like preventing its members participating have been surmounted, and that consequently • its men will be present in force. • Every Harrier Wanted. As has already been stated, to-day's event will be the last of its kind fotr this season under the auspices of the N.Z.F.U., but there is Btfll plenty of inducement for harriers to keep _in form. On October 4 the Rugby TTnion intend conducting a sports meeting at tho Athletio Park as' a grand finale to ring down the curtain on present season. At this meeting tho interests of the harriers havo beon studied, in bo far that three of tho events on the programme aro scheduled for them. In kindly consideration for- this all our cross-country men shoujd show their appreciation by whole-heartedly- supporting tho union's venture. Club Doings—Brooklyn. ' At Miramar last Saturday tho Broolclynites disposed of their annual seven milo intor-elub handicap. Despite tho inclemency of tho weather it was one of Wellington's worst days—a field of about 'twenty saddled up in tho wind and rain. F. J. Byrne was on the scratch mark notwithstanding which fact he won out in the end in 46min. 45sec., with It. Ballantyne (GO sec.), second, and C. Murray (7osec.), third. As is not unusual in these long races several of tho competitors wandered like lost sheep and went astray with naturally considerable detriment to their chances. Ono of these was R. Harvey who, but for this mishap, ran exceedingly well, and R. Ballantyne, last year's winner, did likewise with tho result that Byrne "got in at him" at tho finish and won by some yards. To miss tho trail is certainly hard luck for tho unfortunate wanderers, but under such conditions as prevailed on Saturday it could not bo expccted that an abundance of course stewards would ho available, and moreover, if a largo percentage of tho competitors can keep on tlio trail there should be no reason why tho rest should not, the more especially, too, as directions aro generally given as to the route before the runners start. Tho Wellington Club. Our sonior club conducted its weekly run on Saturday afternoon at Ivarori, where tho greasy nature of tho hillsides added to tho enjoyment. Numerous side-slips, throw-outs, etc., wore witnessed, and as each exponent of the glissade, toboggan, or plain glide did his shunt ho received applause for his prowess. Tho trail which was undertaken by two residont members was oxtremely satisfactory. A run over it again next season when perhaps weather conditions will be moro favourable, may bo looked upon as settled. In the run-in W. Donaldson, W, Press, and G. Wostou were tho placed men.