TRACK AND FIELD

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 24, 29 January 1938, Page 11

TRACK AND FIELD

BUILDING-UP PROCESS

SPORT IN WELLINGTON

OFFICIALS ON THE

MOVE

(By "Sprinter.")

point .of _ view of public patronage amateur athletics as a sport ■ , has been somewhat in the background in Wellington o^ recent years, except r,, in the. case pf the more important " ;v .meetings, which have continued to atV. 5 tract interest. ~,But taken as a whole ']'.'■ public interest in the sport,, like the .^ old grey mare,.is not what.it .used to be. Not for instance/ what 'it J was, say, ten years or so ago. * ' " Various reasons have been advanced '" for this decline. One.is the changes ■'that have taken piace in community "■■life, influenced to quite an appreciable '■-'"'. .extent- fry the greater amount.of leisure i,;-yat the disposal'of p.eople generally and /." the greater. iise;bf the motor-car, hence ';;; the .opportunity and the means of '!..': agoing out of town for "the weekends. .^Another.contention that is mad? is "the ~;] lack of a strong representation, dt. athv.; letes of real class, and. to this may also ,;.^be added the 'absence of a personality- "'■'-■ performer—a.'.draw-card—such .as a ...,,.■ Randolph Rose of othfer days. There is !.,'no! doubt. something to be said for ,i. these contentions and perhaps others . ( .jthat may,.be advanced ,as. well, but ' lately there have been signs of ,a, re- ".,'. ..yival of interest,, and there are mem-•,-1 bers! of the Wellington Amateur s Ath: .■'.; letic Centre, Mr. ~F.- Bond, Mr. A. B. v.; Chappell, Mr. B. Sutherland, Mr. A. i: '.'.'■ JD. Rowse, and others who by the!, plans '■'~, they have in mind indicate that they '-, '.. ' are seized of the possibility of build-' -, ing th,e sport up again in this city. r ■« ..Wellington, of course, is-not at ■'- all , w.ell off when it comes to-suitable '-grounds; and ; first-class facilities, but ;? that is something-iwnich) from■•a■■praci:" .•«~' :^t^Cßl•■pojnt•■.qf-v.ie■w"lnust, it seems,- be I .forgotten,-about at the moment.- When ',-..- the. National Council ot Physical Wel- -, fare and;Recreat.ipn L gets gping this is' •~a matter which then-may-be remedied •,. or in respect to.-which some assistance .;■ -,may. be .given.,; -;In. ; the.,meantime■the Basin Reserve: is the best that : is available handy to the city. The only drawback is that -the'•■•use: of this ground dot ■•,afternoon .meeting's islimited, but as a means of overcoming. this difficulty , electric light ' meetings can be held. Some seasons ago these used to be well:patronised, and the attendance at one held there recently, only an inter-club meeting, indicated"; the {"possibility of this type of sports" fixture again being worked up. satisfactorily.: ■ ■ ' r-yßqvr caff-^hey, ; be madej a. success? It' is of importance,' of -course,, that , weather conditions should be favourable in the first instance. Another fan-. ; .portant point is that the-standard of the competitors r should be good and '~.-.there'"should be .sound prospects of vgood- performances, with: the meeting •:ably controlled; arid providing some^ thing of interest all the time; r THE COACH'S WORIf. ;-.■-. There it a tendency among some : people to belittle the calibre. of Wel- ; .lingtori athletes. True; Wellington can---1 %q\, boast of the., samp, number.. of. r chamr , : .Dions, a^'. was/the case some .years ago, f but nevertheless, there .are.jtn this city, :' :a .number of .athletes, : c}f/-= class with . 'others coming on under the -guidance v ( .Fitch., He knows his ]pb, thoroughly 'and is.keen. Ihat his ,services;, should .. ' he'put to the' fulles^possibleuse. Fitch ..with oihers [ •realises .the necessity of ■. 4 i^te.resting.',the' public by, haying ath4ptes capable lof turning in class per'.formances anclTulso (by. proy/ding con- ; tests or events a.JLLttle,,different from the usual.'; order..'' He^ has; a number , of ideas in this direction to. launch a little later, but in the meantime is concentrating on improving the performances ofcomp.etitprs.^ He ,is npw-work-'rVirig under-a-'greatly-iriiprbvecl coaching syllabus, which,, besides instruction from him pel,the ground at,,-Hataitai Park; Wellington'CPllege," and-the Hutt or Petone on certain nights of the week, makes-provision for sub-coaches .appointed, by,:,ithe jclubs ; ;andv for the screening'of action/films! Two of these films were :sHownin; the Hataitai Park gymnasium on Thursday night to an ' attendance of about 75, and preceding them was a- New Zealand scenic lent ( .by the Tourist and Publicity Depart ■.^.■ment. ,The-two, athletic, films depicted ;g, world-champion ■ athletes and near. |;C champions in'i competition and train■i..j frig. -They, were slowed- up, and the. machine was, also stopped at-times so ..;-.:,that "a particular section'of the film ft--.could. be. put through again with a A view, to. the technique requir- ± for a. ■ - - particular event being more-firmly im- : .pressed on the mind. Alt the time a -; -running commentary was provided by - - Fitch:- and for nearly: one- arid a half. £ hoursthe.audience of athletes sat there ~; * fitt a none-too-comfortable gymnasium (really a big shed) thoroughly interested. . Not only do these films assist in giving variety,, to the training routine,,but it is; hoped by Mr. Fitch that by the time, the athletes have seen them a few times,' plus the explanatory observations by him, they-.will aid the / competitors: in' -eradicating- present faults, in acquiring the right technique; and in turning in better performances. V\ f T,he ..widening .of; - the .-.scope; "of ':.._ th c v 'audiences so 'as' to' include members of the general public who may be interested has bjsen mentioned as a matter which may receive .. consideration a little later. This' Would bring such .-^people into closer contact "with the. ■■■~-vspqrt and-- no -doubt- they ?would.find ...much to interest them.in the fitas. .' In addition to his work on.the.pracr tical side, Fitch, has been busy! of late . -writing a book on • athletics for Nevy Zealand athletes. No book of this 'kind has been- written'in'New -Zealand pieviously. Profusely illustrated ~ it sets out suitable exercises, the technique of various events, and deals also with other interesting points. The book bs expected to be available from the publishers in a" very short time. ADMINISTRATIVE SIDE. The coach then is playing an important part in the building-up process and on the administrative side the officials are also branching out. Heartened no doubt'by the attendance at the recent electric light ■ meeting when teams from the Wanganui and Wellington Clubs competed, the centre athletic £,üb-committeehas decided to :hold a big open handicap meeting under electric light at the Basin-' Reserve next Saturday, night at 8 o'clock. For this meeting an attractive programme of cvehts-has oeen arranged and the sub-committee in out also to provide something extra.' ■ In this connection negotiations have been in train during the week for a demonstration by the Lyall Bay Surf 'and Life-saving-Club's junior team. This team" won success at the recent New' Zealand championships in the South Island and they have been described as'absolute artists at marching.; Final arrangements for the team to appear had yet to be made at the time of writing. What - -is'expected to besireal star turn will • be the attack to be made by A. Hill on'the 75 yards and 100 yards world sack-race records. Well-known as a boxer, footballer, and versatile ath- • 'lete on the track, Hill, as all who have * seen him in action will agree,- is a

wizard-in a sack.' "■■He'is" to": attack"' the two records in the one race, namely: 10 4-ssec for 75- yards and; 14 l-ssec for 100 yards. > According to available'information, the 75 yards record was established, by R. Mercer at Rochester in 1901.: Another attraction for this meeting will be an attempt by the centre coach on the world record for one of the-intermediate distances1, possibly 130 yards.

It is hoped to hold more than one of .these electric.^iight .meetings - and there is the pr*os'pect later of some of the outstanding men from other centres being invited to take part. In the meantime it is intended to concentrate on local talent which alone should be capable of proyidirig" something really worth while and a change from the normal run of' Saturday night entertainment, As one of the attractions for a second meeting'there is in prospect an attack by A. R; Wilson orl ! the wprld recprd fpr three-quarters of i a mile. "'Wilson- is the 'Wellington provincial • mile champion -who ran W. A. C. Pullar\(Otago) to such a close finish' in the-fast- and thrilling mile at the last New Zealand championship meeting. ;: Wilson; is, in great form again this season and but for the fact that he was once in the professional ranks, and' thus is ineligjble to compete at the .fixture,'he probably would ha^e been in the New Zealand team now ih Sydney for the British Empire Games. ' Enough has been written to indicate that those concerned "with the welfare of amateur athletics in the Capital have been stepping, lively lately with a view to the recovery of some of the ground lost in recent seasons.