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STRATFORD HOCKEY GIRLS

VISIT TO WHANCAMOMONA.

(By "Periwinkle.) Of the many winter sports indulged in by tlio girls and young wonen of the present time, hockey is p rlinps the favorite and most popular »a; t It is one that if once played is always interesting and amusing; and besides boing a splendid form, of recreation, it is a pleasant and healthy pastime. It is a very popular, game in New Zenland, and in Taranaki all the larger schools have a girls' hockey club. On 25th May, last month, fifteen members of our hockey club, accompanied by lour of our Stratford School teachers, paid a visit to tho little township of' WhaiigamoiiK.'iii. At about seven o'clock, the ".Toko buster" left the Stratford station, carrying, among other passengers, the. expectant and enthusiastic memoes of our club. Several of them remained on the platform of the carriage, and although the wind was blowing rather furiously and tho night air was by no means pleasant, they were '.'irfeetly happy, singing and making .t.crry to their heart's content. They wore g tatly interested with all they sa.v at Iho various s.ations, and, indeed, many of them saw too much, for in the darkness of the night, electric iramcar.-; and many large motor engines were buzzing about at Toko and Hui-' t'oa, while at ono Other station aeroplanes were hovering around. At least these things our girls imagined, chaffing and greatly amusing the country folk'assembled on the 'different stations. By the time that about one half of the journey had beeJi completed, sleepiness and the cold wind had driven those on the platform into shelter. There Was no: sufficient room for all of us in the only carriage not occupied by tiie ordinary passengers, so that eight of-our number retired to the first-chug smoking carriage, mere being no gentlemen in k. These soon made themselves comfortable, . uomo talking quietly and earnestly, while others madej rather a bad pretence at sleeping. Quietness thus reigned until within about half a mile of the Whangamoinona station, when we all suddenly became quite excited and bustled around gathering up our hockey sticks and various parcels. The Whangainomona hockey girls and many residents greeted us at the. station and: immediately took us to the haU/Hwherei I ittftfthifl£»?BfijJsr*JMjJf hWndetf'rduisl. Dancing was then' ill-* flailg&l in a'nfl atH3# pMfein&ifc;i*!d ptW. ■joyablo even|ig was spent, tfedJg&tJhering .breakiiiJ up at one o'clock. The Whntag'airion|>na litery psMf crotisly lookfjus in E f¥i»'4'i'e : night, and all of our girls speak higlilv; of the many kindnesses shown tfteni'.i ( = The next morning (Saturday), at about half-past six or seven o'clock, one might have noticed the Stratford girls one by one appearing, for in our uniforms, a part of which is the characteristic red jumpers, wo could be plainly seen at our different lodgings. Before breakfast, inany of us indulged*in a SjUoAk , aud : our red iunlnors again -proved, eminent, showJ .i< ■ B •.U|H] .iJJ?.. \U\V h ,Miii ing our girls distinctly as siey appeared around the bonds and corners of the various roads. My companion and 1 first paid a visit, to the field, where tlie . ( nruch * looked-for-waid-tftdhajtch was to be played. Our opinion "of !the_ field was that Jit' r'lUf f f ' OU V?4 > J 1^ ,L '. we wore perfectly correct,tor when tho . i. ...

i JV|3 tyuijd it n> <Woi?se%mm we ejected. On returning . »to our lodgings* "we parcook of a hearty breakfast and' then sot off to view the .scenery of the lit.le township which .so interested us all. Before wo had gone very far, we were joined by one of our companions, and in high glco we set off along the railway line, -that being the best course to pursue in seeing Llie scenery. A returned soldier from Gallipoli then came ill to sight, and he accompanied us on our wanderings, pointing out the most interesting places and kindly telling us about the li tie township. We were deeply engrossed in the high hills covered wnh uush and scrub, and had not noticed how quickly the time had gone or that we. had travelled over two miles. Fearing lest we should be lute: for the [match, we turned to retrace our steps to the township. / Suddenly around a bend there emerged our four school teachers, who, like ourselves, and all of the Stratford girls, wim' out viewing the scenery. Amidst their Whanganiomona surroundings they were enjoying themselves immensely, one of : them exclaiming: "1 think it's just de- • lieious!" All seemed to agree with , this, and after giving them a short j description of our wanderings, we loft I lhem and continued our journey. We ' soon arrived at our destination, ami L securing our hockey sticks, set out for j

the Wlumgaraomono recreation grounds, lying some little distance out oi' the township. Wo were rather amused at the spectacle which greeted us on our arrival there, for the "village green," as the grounds might well be called, presented a very interesting sight. The "rod feds," as some of the residents named the Stratford girls, were amusing themselves on the field with the home. team, while those who had assembled to witness the match were taking up positions from which they might attain a good view of the proceedings. Seated on the grandstand, the remains of an old rata tree,

wore three of the Stratford .school teachers. From their quiet corner, they could obtain an excellent view of the match, while at the same time, being

on a higher level than the field itself, they were in a splendid position to be J, able to barrack for their team. They were, however, not conspicuous in performing a great deal of encouragement I, and wcv(} perhaps interested in other I matters more to their tastes. The match was to have begun at half-past . ten, but several of our members were so deeply engrossed in their wander- .

.Y.gc, that they must evidently have forgotten how. time is apt to go very much quickly than when not wanted to do so. The Whangamoinona school could not muster enough girls for n full team, and accordingly obtained the services of three boys. Our lost members soon arrived, and the match •at last began. It proved to be a very interesting and amusing one, for as I the ground was very slippery, the players were by no means sure of being on their feet all tho time. Some, in the act of showing as they thought hi tine exhibition of hockey playing, non Id suddenly find themselves sliding and skating in a peculiar manner, and would by no means carry out their intentions. Others, running as if for very life, hotly pursuing an antagonist, would slip, and perhaps end stretched full length on top of their hockey sticks or find the latter lying some little distance from them. These, t.oIge.her with other peculiar antics. Ijesides making the players the more determined to win, afforded great amusement for the onlookers, who wero evidently taking great interest in the game, and were, by no means forgetting to barrack for their own teams. The smaller children, playing together around the field, were being amused by an idiot boy who was marching around with a long stick cut from an adjoining hedge over his shoulder, or else was skylarking with the older boys. He, poor fellow, thought he was doing bold strokes, and would occasionally stop! in bis merry making, and waving his arms frantically, give the Whangainomona girls a little encouragement. After a very interesting and exciting match the Stratford team won-by one point, the score being: Stratford three, to Whangamoinona- two. I|

The match over, we were entertained tij a hearty luncheon aw the hall and 'afterwards, returning to our. different lodgings, to gather up our belongings, and bid good-bye. to our kind hosts a:nd hostesses, we reluctantly set but for the railway station. The Whangainomona hockey girls and many residents assembled at the railway station to bid us good-bye, land as the trail! started on its journey, we took what perhaps might be our last look at the little township where we had so en joyed ourselves.

The journey home was perhaps not so interesting as that of the previous might, for-vthe excitement .and .exe.cta? fcion. was now over. Some of us were tired and {made ourselves comfortable tin the carriage, while others remained on the pliijfornij some singing and stfriW talkjmj;, but all quite happy and evidently jwjell pleased with the trip. Much to the discomfort of those oilti iMfl "?-rain i j was „ encountered at To Wera, but!Being only slight, it did not catiso them to leave their positions. We arrived at Stratfprd. at half past three on Saturday afternoon,, and were qtiito disgusted to Arid it raining rather heavily there. Though perhaps rather tired, we were all very happy, having enjoyed ourselves to the utmost, and wo will never forget our pleasant journey to the little township of Whangarhomona. , ... ■ „.,„

'This is tliie third time;that 'members of our Hockey Club have been to

Whanagmomona; and ' although \v"e thoroughly enjoyed ourselves oh the previous occasions, the time spent during the last one seems r to, be mqre pjeaj Bant than that of the preceding ones." The Wlianka residents : - 'were'*very' hesjatflbJe*. find it was mainly through kindnesses that we so thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. On that".."we visit; the little township, • we f become more' and more interested iti it. and our trip to Whangamomona might easily oe classed as the event f,f ' thn hockey season.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/STEP19160627.2.33

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 70, 27 June 1916, Page 7

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,580

STRATFORD HOCKEY GIRLS Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 70, 27 June 1916, Page 7

STRATFORD HOCKEY GIRLS Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 70, 27 June 1916, Page 7

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