THE ATHLETIC YEAR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1945, 31 December 1913, Page 5

THE ATHLETIC YEAR.

EVENTFUL PERK®. BIG PROGRAMME FOR THE FUTURE. A GLANCK i'OiUO AXD AFT, [Dv Qi;i7„] Standing hat in hand at the gate <?t 1914 wo wave good-byo to genti.v-van-ishing 1913, and while yet wo linger wo cast our minds back over tho eronU of tho year which, before the rising <if\ another SHii, will have' crumbled into' eternity. Tlio letrospecliro eye lights first on the field of athleticism—not any particular game, but the collection of competitions broad!" known as athletics. .Inst now athletics are nearer tho <iyo ti'iiin most _ other spheres of. muscular activity, 'Die star feature of tho year in this branch of sport is the* visit of tlio learn of American athletes. Their tour was arranged by tho Now Zealand Amateur Athletic Association arid tho team consists of J, Power {distance runner), K. H. Catigbey (shotputter), It. K. Temploton (hurdler, jumper, and vaulte.r), and G. Parker (iprinti>r). 'JTie members of tho company am all capable of good performances, inifc wo havo wion nonfl of them, Gjcccptiuy; Parker, at their best. Power, whose mill) running should hays been tho great treat of all tho gatherings, has been unwell ever since lio landed, and has been ablo to do no more than show* us how tho early portion of tho.dis*' tanco should he run. Running like n powerful machine, ho makes most of our distanco meii look like tho awkward <u(iia(l. at a. drill shed, and, there-' !or«, though he. has not yet been ailo to finish with any dash', 116 has sirated that milers must take their work moro seriously "and tackle theift task with a will. Templeton has mate it dear that we can profit by adontiiig. his stylo of polo vaulting and has siiowiti that fiomo of our high jumpers need? to look about for new methods of top-> ping tho bar.

JParlior and Our Athlotlo Talent. , None of us have seen many sprinters than Parker. Ho has won ,v line percentage of his races in Now SSoa-f land against heavy handicaps, and but'' for his accident would almost certainly, have lowered some of our records be-' ioro he departed. Here, in Wellington j' he- cut out the 100 yards i.u lOsoe., running against the wind; he ran .212 yards (■!- 220 yards track 8 yards short) in, Ijlscc.; and did 120 yards in 1134 sec.i TTie 120 was'run with the wind, but'the' 1 time is neyfrrtheluss marvellous because' lie slowed up 15 yards from tlio tap®' owing to one of t-lm muscles in his left leg giving cut. Such brilliant sprinting ns Parkers should be sufficient to help the sport along in Now Zealand, oven. though tlio team as a whole has -not) been able to do justice to its reputation*, The team too small for the under-,' taking set it* and ill-luck and hard work have wrought- sucli li-avoc that ite is improbable that more, than one member of the quartet will perform at Mw« terton to-morrow.

The year has Hot unearthed any New Zealand matye-1 of the track. \Ye do not seem to bo overcrowded with prospective world-beaters. G. P. KeddoH, of Southland, is in the very forefront- of all 120 yds. hurdling talent, and. A. W. Dormer, of Auckland, is considered' capable of doing big things in middle-' distance, events, (J. N. Mali, the Auckland -distance runner, is another man of mark to whom tlio country may confidently look for accomplishments which will rank high among the performance of the best. Mediocrity describes onr sprinting. But it is mor-o necessary to spread the pastime than to product) marvels.' Great goad will have been done by the visit of tho Snwricans if it has roused public men to think how they can improve 'existing recreation grounds,. and malso other grounds, so that more boys and girls, and more young men may bo induced to indulge in healthy recreation and wholcsomo competition, Mr. Peixotfco's. lectures, have expounded this idea adequately, and what re-mains is for vis to adapt tho scheme to our own circumstances, and put it into execution.

Rugby's Quality Maintained, Our amateur Rugby football year has been a brilliant one. The, team which went to California and British Columbia, gave an account of itself which thoroughly justifies Neiv Zealand's pride in her All Blacks. The gtrafc winter pnstimo still has a remnrknMo hold of, the public, though the advent of other; good games has resulted in manv' yomigsters, who in 'earlier times wmild have learnt Rugby, donning this jer-j seys of hockey and soccer clubs. For; years prior to last winter wo beard thfti hoary cry, "Rupfuy has deteriorated."' The 1913 All Blacks (tho tourists of! California and British Columbia) a.-p-'J pcared twice in Wellington, and here,' at least, the wail has not- been heard since. .Rugby hits wot deteriorated; it' has improved. If it is less spectacular l ,, to some, that is because tho devices' which succeeded years ago aro now! systematically provided against, and tho Way to brilliant openings, and senfa-j tional happenings rarely occurs. Rugby: in theso days is bettor than Bttgby in! tho old days,' heeanso tho science <if, preventing dangerous openings has been | perfected. One regrettable thing rc-j garding Rugby is that wo aro not gct-| ting tho opportunity of playing as many, first-class international fixtures as is desirable. Rugby's, strongest c®nipet,i-| tors arc hockey and soccer iHid thci League gante. They aro opponents ofV the fnt'uro rather than the pre-.j sent. Tho two first mentioned a roll doing well among the- hoys. Seliooi-j boys have not been catered for in,', Rugby as well as they should liavc been, j and this is not tho faiilt of tho Rugby,j Union. Cricket arttl Tennis,

Cricket remains, the principal summer \ game in a general sense, though it is f seriously rivalled by tennis, which claims-' largo numbers of devotees. Tim visit of the Davis Cup team to Wellington about twelve months ago gave to tennis a useful fillip, and tho popular pastime is still progressing steadily and gaining ground on rival sports. Cricket is looking quite large and important. In Wo!-, lington wo have struck a batsman's/ season, and have had tho pleasure oft seeing an ample share of tall scoring.; At present the country lias a toaral touring Austv.ilin, arf we aro looking) ■forward with tho keenest delight to tho( \isit. of a team of Australian blacks to-j wards the. end of tho season. As tho; team will probably include Trmnpor,| Noble, Macartney, Armstrong and other! brilliant cricketers, the visit will 1)0 ono' of tho most important events in tho' cricket history of tile tail. The stato' of cricket in Now Zealand just mv\ appears.to ! ae fairly satisfactory. After t]«»-team now m Australia, has pkyedj a few more matches, and after fch<j Aus-J Italians isavo been, across here, w« will 1 liavo a. better idea of how ire sfaiitl in : relation to the chief cricket countries of the world. It seems, however, that our batting is improving, but that our bowling is very weak. The touringteam won a couplo of country matches easily, defeated Queensland) but was oxpeiHedly annihilated by Nciv South Wales. Altogether, the athletic year has been fairly satisfactory, and the prospects for 1934 are good. ' For th-e future thoyo is much to bo done. Cricket must be built tip on a hotter basis, Hugby must get a better run among the younger liovs, public fields must bo . provided Willi facilities for tho training of athletes, better use must be mwio of the playing spaces at tho schools, aud :,üburb'nn areas must be secured in order io provido recreation grounds inr the days when, tho city wilMwvo grown far beyond its present' tizo.

(Continued en Pogos 2, 3,9, and 11.)