BASKETBALL

Southland Times, Issue 21091, 24 May 1930, Page 19

BASKETBALL

NOTES BY “DEFENCE.”

To-day’s matches are: Senior, Makarewa v. Rataj St. Mary’s v. St. Peter’s, Bluff v. Collegiate. Intermediate, Makarewa v. Kiwi, Collegiate v. St. Peter’s, Rata v. Bluff. Makarewa are leading in both Saturday Senior and Intermediate. Second round of Saturday matches commences to-day. Matches on Wednesday postponed for one week.

Entries for June 3 a record —39 teams—--16 senior, 23 intermediate. • Draw for seven-a-side published on Monday. Tournament will be held in Post Office Square, June 19. Wellington are raising £250 for new courts; it seems we all have to do it.

Rules for Seven-a-Side Tournament.

1. All players must wear registered costumes. 2. Each team shall be ready to take the field at the time appointed. 3. Any team not ready may be called upon to default the match. 4. Teams shall toss before the time for any game with the ground steward. 5. Teams are requested not to give cheers at the end of each game. They may cheer the winners at the end of the tournament. 6. Each game shall consist of two spells of 7 minutes each. Goals are changed at half time, but the game commences again at once. ' 7. The referee’s decision shall be final. 8. Each team must play the same seven girls all day, except in the case of an accident, when a substitute may be permitted if the referee gives consent. 9. No girl may play for more than one team. 10. Each club shall provide a ball and this must be branded with the name of the club. 11. Senior games will not be discontinued for lunch, but no intermediate games will be played between 12.30 and 1 p.m. Tea and cocoa may be obtained in the pavilion at threepence per cup (first cup) and one penny for any return. Bring your own cup. Oranges and apples may also be obtained. 12. Emergencies must be prepared to help with scoring, or in any other way if called upon. 13. For information apply to the Ground Steward, Miss M. Mahoney. 14. Scorers after each game shall put the score of the completed game on the forms supplied, and there will be collected and handed to the ground steward, who alone may operate on the score sheet. 15. The score sheets and the draw will be in the pavilion. 16. The draw for the first round will be published on Monday. Senior games commence, A section at 9.30 on courts A, B, C, D, and B section at 9.45 a.m. on the same courts. From 10 a.m. all senior games will be played on courts- A and B until the last round (see score sheet). Intermediate matches commence at 10 a.m. and are all played on courts C, D, E, F. The time and court for finals and semi-finals can be found on the score sheet. 18. The Senior Grade has been divided into two sections and the Intermediate into three. The following are the teams in each section. Please take special note of your section: Section A —Makarewa A, Bluff, Kiwi A, H. and J. Smith’s, Rata B, Collegiate B, Kia-Ora, St. Peter’s B. Section B —Rata A, Collegiate A, Pirates, St. Peter’s A, Kiwi B, St. Patrick’s, St. Mary’s, Makarewa B. Intermediate Section A—Makarewa, Kiwi A, Moths A, Rata, Central Methodist A,' Ex Gore High School, St. Mary’s, Haynco. Section B —St. Peter’s, Limehills, S.G.H.S. A, Pirates B, Collegiate B, Central Methodist B, St. Patrick’s, H. and J. Smith’s. Section C—Collegiate A, Moths B, Bluff, Kiwi B, Makarewa, Pirate? A.

The entrance fee of 2/6 per team shall be paid on or before Tuesday. The captain of each team - shall notify the Ground Steward as soon as her team has assembled and at the same • time hand in the names of the players for the day; also any emergencies. (Players need not necessarily be registered and playing an Intermediate as a Senior for " the day will not alter a player’s status.) The officials for the day arc: Court A—Referees, Mrs Mclnnes, Mr Hamilton; scorer, Mrs Weir. Court B—Referees, Miss Pay, Mr Dennis; scorer, Mrs Foster. Court C—Referees, Mrs Johnston, Mr Kinross; scorer, Miss_ Bain. Court D —Referees, Misses L. Strathern and E. Wilson; scorer, Miss F. Basstian. Court E—Referees, Miss Calder and Mr Cutt; scorer, Miss N. Basstian. Court F —Referees, Misses L. Smith, Golumb and I. Johnson; scorer, Miss J. Scandrett. Mrs A. C. Mac Ewen and Miss White will relieve as scorers in the afternoon. All officials are requested to be”in readiness at least five minutes before games are to commence.

Every player should cut this ou") and then no. mistake will be made. Finance.

Two weeks from to-day there is the carnival and by this time every basketballer will have received a note to remind her that she is just as responsible fis any member of the executive, more so really, for it is the girls .who have the fun of matches. The' members of the executive do most of the work of organization. They even mark out the courts for play—to save the expense of getting someone else. A lady who is especially interested in one of the biggest clubs at a meeting of the members to consider what should be done towards earning the requred money said: “No bazaar can be a success without organization. Team work and enthusiasm; enthusiasm is probably the most important.” Are you enthusiastic 'for the welfare of Southland Basketball Associations and are you all pulling together to get the best results? The following is the draw for, the position of stalls:—Collegiate (1), Kiwi (2), H. and J. Smith’s (3), Central Methodist (4), Pirates (5), Haynco (6), St. Peter’s (7), Rata (8), St. Mary’s (9).

At least one player has been reading these notes carefully, because as soon as she saw the S.B.A. needed £2 per player," she thought about ways and means and has practically that amount in hand now. I wonder how many of the rest of you have done likewise.

Saturday’s Matches.

. The sun shone brilliantly and there was not enough wind to affect the games, so that everything was ideal for matches on Saturday. Bluff entered the Intermediate Grade for the first time and though they appeared nervous, possibly because of the unfamiliar courts, they showed promise of great things. It was noticeable because of the number of wasted throws, that the team had not practised much together, but they gave quite a good showing and should be reckoned with later. It was rather a pity that the first match should have been against such a strong combination as undoubtedly the Collegiate team is. Good luck Bluff. It shows enterprise to come in at the end of the first round. Hard luck for St. Peter’s that they could only muster seven girls against such a strong team as Makarewa. It" must have been most strenuous to play short —both the defence and forward thirds. It would spoil the combination of a much older team than that of St. Peter’s. However, keep it up St. Peter’s and fry to field all your team.

Kiwi and'Rata had an interesting game. Rata was a girl short in the defenders. Whether the players had decided to retrieve their bad showing of the previous week, I don’t know, but they came alive wonderfully and played a real game. The passing was good, the catching better and altogether they were a great credit to their coach. Kiwi had a good team playing too, but they lacked the combination of centre third, with the result that the ball was sent to Rata’s forwards more consistently. In the senior grade Rata were a VC D" strong combination against St. Mary s who were not playing their regular team, M. Maloney was on the’field for the first time this season, and N. and K. Rutherford and W. Pasco are all new players. This club is handicapped by not having an intermediate team. New players commence in the senior grade without having had the experience and confidence gained by playing first in the lower grade. It makes it very difficult for the club to field a strong team, let there are good players in both teams; they practise consistently and are well coached. I suppose all clubs experience these difficulties at times and are disheartened by the lack of results. However, keep on St. Mary s. You always give everyone a good game even if you don’t win. The game which aroused most interest was that between Bluff and Makarewa, both country teams who had not been beaten, and last season the only defeat Bluff had was in their niatch against Makarewa. Both teams looked well on the field, the green and red tunics being an excellent contrast from the point of view of referee and spectators. Everyone was so keyed up and so anxious not to make mistakes, that both teams made far more than I have seen either make before, during this season at least. The game was a very hard one, much too hard and to the spectators the expressions on the faces of the players would have made one believe that it wasn’t a game for enjoyment. Frankly, I was disappointed. A game to me means good, accurate, and swift passing, and clever interception and some give and take. One is usually accused of bias if one says the losing team played the better game, but certainly the ball was much more often in the Bluff’s forward third. Had Mrs. Te Koeti been as accurate at shooting as was M. Wright, the result would easily have been different. M. Wright was shooting brilliantly; there is no other term to use. She only once had the ball in her -hands and failed to score, which is a very remarkable performance. This season she has consistently been scoring well and it seems to me the only way to beat Makarewa would be to prevent this player froni handling the ball. Bluff couldn’t manage it. M. Wright will be another representative I feel sure.