IDEALS IN SPORT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3049, 17 June 1926, Page 2

IDEALS IN SPORT.

CONSERVING THE RIGHTS OF MEMBERSHIP.

Sport, one of nature’s tonics for mankind, has evolved from the simple pastimes of primitive man to a state requiring the highly organised institutions of to-day for its conduct and the oversight of its appointments.

For purposes of organisation it is necessary that members of a community should enter into definite contract one with the other that their needs may be so controlled as to provide better facilities for the pursuit of their recreation aud afford opportunity for social contact and the exercise of the healthy stimulus of friendly rivalry in games, of skill.

The advantages of organisation in sport carries with it responsibilities for each and every member of a sports body. Usually only a limited number of person aspire to the higher positions of responsibility, actuated either by a sense of community duty, or by the less idealistic trait of love of position, but whichever is the stimulating cause, the whole-hearted co-operation of (ho full membership is the minimum support that should he given those who place their time and service at the disposal of any body. Membership carries with it a responsibility which does not diminish when such member has discharged his financial obligations, but rather is confirmed by such payment. Duty to his club means in effect subserving his will and his desires —in club matters —to the common good of the organisation as a whole, putting forth his best efforts for its welfare, submitting to disciplin, and observing such loyalty as is necessary for the honourable fulfilment of his club’s engagements and obligations, and the harmony of its social atmosphere. To reap the full reward of organisation, “self” should be subservient to “all,” and the spirit of tolerance prevail. The person who joins a sports body with the sole intention of appeasing the appetite of self is no nearer the road to success than he who enters business with profit only as liis goal without thought of rendering service.

Honest ambition in sport is the stimulus which promotes success; selfishness the canker which undermines harmony, weakens the social structure, and even shakes the very foundations of an institution.

“Each for all” should be the motto; tolerance, generosity of spirit; a labour of love which, by promoting pleasure for one’s fel-low-men, will, in turn, enable one to share his pleasures and cause one to fell that “to give is even better than to receive.” Each member of a sports body lias a right in turn to expect courtesy aud consideration from fellow members; a right to receive equal treatment with the most skilled; a right to feel the presence of complete good-fellowship, the atmosphere which alone can give him that peace of mind and mental relaxation which will transport him for the times being from the pale of work and worry and surround him, with that unadulterated geniality which will re-create the spark of optimism that makes life worth iiving—the purpose for which such sport has been organised. Thus we see sport in its various forms has developed as a necessity for mankind abreast of the progress of civilisation; has become a greater necessity with the passing of time and intensification of civil activities. Therefore, the need becomes ever greater that selfishness and smallness of soul should be eliminated from the confines of sport, and the Christian spirit of tolerance and generosity permeate its ramifications. The daily round of activities, which still retains something of a basic law of the survival of the fittest, offers all too many opportunities for the development of the creed of self. Let us, then, jealously guard at least one phase of civilisation where we can recreate and bask — if only for limited moments —in the cleansing atmosphere of man’s better nature, and keep our sports organisations free from the grosser passions of selfishness, prejudice and pugnasity.