EDUCATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16487, 28 February 1914, Page 8

EDUCATION.

TOPICS FOR TEACHERS AND OTHERS. THE SCHOOL SPORTS. A RETROSPECT. (By Lux.) “ The value of courage and decision, perseverance and self-control, is not to be determined only from the part they play in making a people capable of self-defence. These qualities are not necessary in war alone. Without them we should never attain to high success in any walk of life. It is not to lie expected that the courage and self-control and determination which physical exercise produces would immediately niako their appearance where moral questions arise. . . . But where physical exercise has prepared the way' in .the education cf- the will, then the indispensable moral exercises which practical work offer us will find a cast of mind much readier to receivo impression.”—Dr George Kerchenstoiner, Director of Public Schools, Munich. It is now close on fourteen years since a prominent member of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association, oil returning from a visit to Australia, furnished tho local branch of the Association with a glowing description of tho school sports he. had witnessed on the other side of the Tasman Sea. This was the genesis of the Public Schools’ Snort* movement in North Canterbury. The Canterbury branch of tho Amateur Athletic Association, desirous of advancing athletics in tins 'province, saw no reason why children’s sports meetings, which were a. feature of school life in Australia, could not he as successfully adopted here. Once the idea was conceived, the manner of carrying it out was a small matter to sporting enthusiasts. Messrs P. Selig. r • W. Johnston and C l . T. Aschmann were appointed a deputation from the Association to wait on the headmasters of the city schools. The idea was welcomed on all sides, and on July 28, 1900, a special meeting was held in the Y.M.C.A. Hall to discuss ways and means ol' holding the first school sports gathering. At this meeting Mr L. B. Wood was elected president of the newly-formed Schools Sports Association. , and Mr C. T. Aschmann was appointed the secretary. The first council meeting was held in August of that year, and on the first motion submitted it was decided to hold the sports in the last week in November. Hie interval between August and December was a- busy time for the promoters of tho movement, and the committee and secretary exhibited a rare degree of enthusiasm and selfsacrifice. It was no easy matter to arrange in detail everything in connection with so big ft venture, and committee meetings were held almost every night. To show with what alacrity those pioneers of the school sports movement in Canterbury worked. it is recorded that a member ■ of this first committee, though at that time resident in Belfast, attended these nightly meetings without fail. The first sports -gathering was held on November 29, 1900: Thirty-three schools were represented, at the meeting, and fifty-seven events were included iu the programme. Ten squads of boys entered for senior drill, and twenty squads of girls took part in the girls’ drill. The entries for tho different events, considering this was the first public school gathering, were large, and consisted of 1721 boys and girls. A boys’ challenge shield, presented by Mr L. B. Wood to tho school scoring the most points in athletic events at the meeting, was won by the Normal School, while Kaiapoi carried off the honours in drill. Financially, too, the first meeting was a success, for after paying all expense* £2l 14s was left in hand.

Tli. 3 year 1901 was a busy one for the Association. In the previous year it Jisd taken over the control of school cricket from the Canterbury Cricket Association, and in April, 1901, it relieved tlio Rugby Union of the management of .school football'. A hockey competition was also arranged at this time for girls. An ambitious schema to initiate yearly primary school football matches between Canterbury and Wellington was attempted in this year, and in September a representative school team, in charge of Messrs 0, T. Aschinann and P. Meiisues, made the first trip to Wellington.' * In the following year, however, it was decided, owing to the distance and the expense involved, that the annual match between the two provincos should be abandoned. The sports gathering of 1901 saw the institution of an old bovs’ race and an addition to the spectacular side of the sports in a massed display of wand, dumbbell and club exercises by tho boys and

from the presidency of the Association, and m recognition of his valuable services in forwarding, the school sports’ movement, he was elected a life member of. tlie Association. Mr Aschmann’s resignation ; as . secretary followed shortly afterwards, arid he also, as a mark of his services to the Association, was made a life member.

In 1904 Mr !W.- D. Bean succeeded Mr Aschmann as secretary, and special races were instituted for the District High Schools, A tennis championship for school children was suggested, and a sub-committee was appointed to carry out the scheme. Public support, however, to this competition was not very, great, and the first and only tennis tournament was held- in 1905. when there were eight entries for boys’ and thirteen entries for girls’ singles, and five entries for boys’ and eleven entries for girls’ doubles. The railway disaster at Chaney’s Corner m 1905 robbed the Association of one of its ablest members, Mr Alexander. He had worked hard to make the sports a- success, and in his death the Council of the Association suffered a great loss. Mr Bean retired from the secretaryship this year,and Mr 0. W. Garrard was appointed his successor.

The year 1903 was year, and on April 29 an afternoon sports meeting was held in the Exhibition grounds. At the annual gathering in November the physical drill competitions for the Cadets wore dispensed with. Owing to his appointment, as an inspector in the Auckland, educational district, Mr Garrard resigned his position as secretary, and Mr Pi T. Evans was elected to fill the vacancy. In 1907 Mr Evans retired, and with him Mr F. Waller, who had done excellent service ns assistant secretary since the initiation of the movement in 1900. Mr W. W. Gnrton was appointed Mr Evans’s successor.,

A eaven-n-side football tournament was instituted in 1908, but this was the only tournament of this nature held until 1913 when the ...North Canterbury schools beat the South Canterbury schools by three points to nil. The suggestion that a North- Canterbury school football team should be sent to Timaru was first mooted, in 1.908, but owing to the' lateness of the season it wan decided to , hold over the visit until the next year.. At the gathering in November of that year the wand drill for girls was omitted, and scarf drill was. substituted. Physical drill with arms was replaced by tree-arm exercises, and-figure marching was introduced. for the first time.

• The first football match .played between representatives of North Canterbury and South Canterbury Schools was contested at Timaru on August--14, 1909, when South Canterbury won by six. points to three. A fifth-grade football competition formed as. a connecting link between the schools and junior football was organised by the School Sports’ Association in this year. It wn« agreed to hold competitions in the following year for hoys under seventeen, and clubs were formed by grouping the schools into districts. The net. proceeds from the sports gathering of 1909 were granted to the funds for the erection of a children’s ward at the Hospital. No fresh innovations were introduced in 1911, with the exception that hoop drill was substituted for scarf drill. South Canterbury was again victorious in the annual football fixture at Timaru, defeating North Canterburv bv fire noints to three. Mr Tv. AV. Garten resigned his position as secretary in 1912 and in recognition of his long and worthy service in that connection lie was elected a life member of the Association. Mr T. A. Fletcher, the present secretary, succeeded to the position. South Canterbury once again gained a victory over North Canterbury in the annual football match, defeating the latter by nine points to three. Last year the fates seemed in league against the School Sports Association, for not on'lwdid rain prevent the annual gathering from being- held in 1913, but .the disbandment of the Junior Cadets deprived the sports of their chief spectacular display. Tho gathering which was liokl last Saiurdav, though eminently successful in many ways, and reflecting great credit on its promoters, yet lacked the public support which such a gathering should command. The postponement of the sports, due. to adverse weather conditions, no doubt accounted in some degree for the > falling off in the attendance. hut for some years past public support has declined. Great crowds flock, to Lancaster Park to witness representative football or cricket matches', and it is surely not too much to expect that public support should he accorded to the junior branches of the games from which our future cricketers. footballers and athletes are recruited. And now there is talk that these annual gatherings of school children are to lapse for a year or two. One may ask why, but the reason is not hard to find. The apathy of the general public has been mentioned, but there are other * reasons for the abandonment. It lias been found increasingly difficult to get children to enter for the athletic events and the displays. and perhaps tliitf is due to the lack of interest on the part of parents. The greatest blow, however, that the school sports movement lias received lias been the passing of the Cadets. Teachers nil over the country deploio this step,' and thev maintain that tho hold the teacher had over the boys has been slackened. A fine esprit- de corps existed among the Cadet battaiions, and the extra responsibilities which came with the oromotion to tlie ranks of sergeant and corpoi f»l 'a-ere iiuuortant- factors in t*io making of school discipline, and in the building up of character. Teachers, too. hare noticed a marked falling-off in Hie marching of their boys, and m rehearsals for the displays of last .jatnrday, it was a matter of no small cumcultv to “ stiffen uo ” the marching. But though the annual school sports may lapse for a year or two, the football. cricket and hockey competitions will bo continued usual. r lhrous£noiiw the time the North Canterbury School Sports Association has been in existpuco it lias received generous support from the Canterbury Rugby Union, but this remark can hardly be applied to the Canterbury Cricket Association. A connecting 'ink lias been provided between school and junior football, but as yet there is no such link between school and district cricket. Much could he done in this direction if the Cricket Association exhibited a little more interest in school cricket. hor instance, discarded material could be distributed among the various city schools, promising hoys admitted into the clubs, and occasional tickets sent to witness representative, matches. If these steps were taken it would be in the best interests of cricket, for our future representative cricketers are now playing with broken bats on shingle pitches. Amateur athletics at the present time are at a very low .ebb in Canterbury. and it seems a pity that such a, manly sport should decline for want of support. A useful suggestion conies from one quarter that something should ba done by the Aroatour Athletic Association to' establish, an intermediate grade between the schoolboy and th» grown-up man. Many a promising boy in school athletics has, on .leaving school, been so disappointed with having to compete with men at athletic meetings that he has withdrawn from tho sport. If the schools sports are not held for a year or two, monthly evening meetings for schoolboys might bo instituted, and tho boys thus kept interested in athletics. It is to be hoped, however, that when public interest once more revives, tho annual gathering at i Lancaster Park will be a pleasing feature of tho school year.