There Are Over 4,000 Girls Playing Basketball in New Zealand To-Day

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 441, 24 August 1928, Page 11

There Are Over 4, 000 Girls Playing Basketball in New Zealand To-Day

A STRIKING illustration of the tremendous strides basketball lias made among New Zealand girls is provided by the annual tournament of the N.Z.G.8.A., which is at present being held in Auckland. Teams representing 4,000 club players throughout the whole of the Dominion are competing for the New Zealand provincial championship.

LEAN YEARS HAWKE’S BAY RUGBY McKENZIE FACES BIG TASK GETTING READY FOR AUCKLAND Down in Hawke’s Bay they are preparing to wipe off the 29 —0 defeat inflicted on their team by Auckland on Eden Park last year. Followers of the game in Napier are confident that when Vin Meredith’s side appears there on September 15 Norman McKenzie’s stalwarts will be able to uphold the tradition that hafi ruled since 1923 — that in Hawke’s Bay-Auckland games neither side can win away from home. The Sun’s Napier correspondent says that the Aucklanders will find the Bay pack a hard lot to stop, but in his opinion the home backs will be shaded by the visitors. To find players to replace Mill, Johnson, Paewai, Cooke, Corkill, Palwasser, Barclay, Grenside and Nepia has been a pretty problem for the Bay selector this year, and in three representative games so far he has tried three different halves, six different fiveeighths. and four different wing-three-quarters. The only Bay backs who have played in the three matches are Huxtable, the wing-tlireequarter, Bennett, who has vacillated between first five-eighth and centre -threequarter and Yates, Who started at first five-eighth but is now back to his old position as fullback. Norman Cashmore, formerly Auckland Varsity five-eighth, is now in Napier, where he plays for the H. 5.0.8. Club at halfback. He won representative honours in that position for Hawke’s Bay in the first game of the year, but he failed to retain the cap. He showed great grit and solidity on defence, but hardly got the ball away smartly enough on attack to satisfy the Hawke’s Bay selector. CUNDY’S GREAT RECORD By Scoring 24 of the 57 points registered by Wairarapa against Bush in the recent Ranfurly Shield match, R. Cundy, the burly Masterton fiveeighth. established an individual scoring record for shield games. The highest total scored by one man in one game prior to this stood to the credit of Morrie Brownlie, the All Black skipper, who totted up 19 in the game in which Hawke’s Bay beat Wairarapa 77 —14 in 1926. The Bay skipper on that occasion scored three tries andconverted five others. Against Bush, Cundy converted nine tries and goaled two penalties. Cundy has a unique scoring record in shield games, for. though he has appeared in only six such encounters, his scoring tally is already over half a hundred.

Until this week, during which the third annual tournament of the New Zealand Basketball Association has been in full swing, few people have been aware of the large and enthusiastic following which favours one at the finest games for girls in the country. A healthy sport, exciting to play and spectacular to witness, basketball has now gained a comparatively strong footing in most of the provinces throughout the Dominion. Its rise to the ranks of prominent games, however, has by no means been the result of any vigorous boosting, but by the sheer merit of the game itself. A POST-WAR MOVEMENT Although it has been played in the schools in Dunedin and Auckland, among senior members, for nearly 20 years, it was only in 1922 that any

thought was given to the idea of having a central body, which would standardise playing rules and help in the formation and arrangement of interprovincial matches. The first association was formed with its headquarters in Auckland, but the .mere forming was as far as it got. No further effort to hold a meeting appeared to be forthcoming, so the Wellington Basketball Association took the matter up. This body communicated with the four chief centres, where senior associations had been formed, inviting representatives from each to make a trip to the Capital City to endeavour to re-establish a controlling body. THE FIRST MEETING There was a most enthusiastic response, and on May 21 and 22, 1924, the inaugural meeting was held, with Mrs. R. S. Mclnnes, Miss M. E. Armstrong (Wellington), Mrs. H. D. Muir, Miss Archer (Canterbury), and Miss Anderson (Auckland) present. The

Otago Union wrote in sympathy with the movement, and the New Zealand Basketball Association came into being, with Mrs. Massey (patroness), Mrs. R. S. Mclnnes (president), M,rs. H. D. Muir (vice-president), Miss D. R. Crumpton (hon. secretary), Mr. W. W. Waddilove (auditor), as the officials for the first year. It is interesting to note that Mrs. R. S. Mclnnes is still president of the New Zealand Basketball Association, also president of the Southland Basketball Association; Mrs. H. D. Muir is still vice-president of the New Zealand Basketball Association, and president of the Wellington Basketball Association. Miss D. R. Crumpton is president of the Hawke’s Bay Basketball Association, arid Mr. W. W. Waddilove is still auditor. The first New Zealand tournament was staged at Dunedin in April, 1926, and was won by Auckland, with Wellington a good second. The followingyear the tournament took place at Wellington, and was again won by Auckland, with Wellington again taking second place. Throughout New Zealand there are well over 4,000 players affiliated to the chief association. In Auckland alone there are over 700, this city having easily doubled its numbers since 1924, when the New

this, for at the present time it lias over 1,000 affiliated players. Of course, both these cities and other centres also have numerous schools where basketball is the leading - pastime among the girls, but these players are not connected with the controlling body. AUCKLAND’S GREAT RECORD Mainly because the game has been in vogue in this city for so many years, has Auckland always been able to field a sufficiently strong team to clinch ‘he championship of the Dominion, and again at the present tournament its chances of adding another important victory to its list of honours appears bright, although teams from other centres are year by year becoming stronger. Wellington, Auckland’s old rival, is here in force again, and is bound to have much to say in the final reckoning. There are seven teams competing in tlie tournament, including five from the South Island —North Otago, Ashburton, Canterbury, Southland, and Otgo; while the North Island teams are Auckland, Wellington, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, and Poverty Bay. A LIVELY SCENE The onlooker at the present championships which are being held on the

the teams march on to the court in line, turn about, and then cheer cne another—exceptionally rousing cheers, for girls. Everything is done systematically, and in order. The games are fast and exciting, and are played in a real sporting spirit. During their stay in Auckland the visiting girls are billeted out, arid the association has arranged various entertainments for them in the evenings. ASSOCIATION’S PROGRESS At a meting of the delegates last" Wednesday evening, Mrs. R. S. Mclnnes, president of the New Zealand Backetball Association, said it was gratifying to note that since last year 1,000 more girls had joined. A letter

received from Mrs. Gordon Coates, patroness of the association, was read, expressing her pleasure at the progress of the association, and stating that she would give the movement her support in every way. The annual report stated that although the association paid its way comfortably, not much surplus was being added to reserve funds. There was an increase in the number of teams throughout the country, and the figures at present were as follow: Wellington 93, Auckland 69, Canterbury 53, Otago 47, Southland 25, Hawke’s Bay 47, Ashburton 14, Taranaki 7. From congratulatory messages received from all over the Dominion, it was felt that slowly but surely the association was becoming a force in New Zealand, and was of considerable benefit to numbers of girls who would otherwise have no outdoor sport. The next tournament will be held in Canterbury.

HOCKEY Following are the teams for tomorrow’s matches at Remuera. Senior Grade Varsity.—Winn, Sparling. Brown, Storry, Ellison, Tizard, Taylor, Seelen, Don, Hamilton, Philpotts. arsity Whippets.—Linton, Patterson, Burnett, Noakes, Chambers, Wilson, Spencer, Adams, Lamb, Simpson, Hubble. Mount Eden.—Anderson, Mainland, Surman, Hedges, Chaplin, Kelly, W. Lomax, Ash, Alexander, Fletcher, Penman. Somerville.—N. Chiplin, R. Munro, W. Gardiner, E. Rogers, X. Haggett, G. Cole, H. Watts, A. Seccombe, E. Watts, C. Watts, G. Peace. St. Luke's.—Hanna, W. Williams, Burnett, Butler, Robertson, Steele, Hookham, Bay. Giles, Duncan, Giles. North Shore. —H. Rankin, F. Anthony, T. Parker, A. Frater. R. Frater. N. Thornton, W. James, J. Lucas, G. Rykers, P. Anthony and R. Jones. Senior B Grade Otahuhu. —Xield, Rivers, Cochrane, Everett, Saul, Hughes, W. Gardiner, J. Gardiner, Mingins, Jenkins, McKenzie, F. Gardiner. Somerville Colts.—B. Cooper, R. Hunter, C. Smith, G. Gutry, C. Stanton, W. Heard, C. Preston, G. McNab, C. Edwards, L. Edwards, D. Maxwell. Second Grade Varsity.—Palmer, Leonard, Alexander, Wilson, Broun, White, Blake, Carter, Leonard, Hay, Brodie. Papatoetoe. Knight, Robertson, Thompson, Mellsop, Rankin. McFarland, Cutforth, Lusby, Chaplin, Postlewaight, McGovern. Mount Eden.—Brown, Bowden, Hirst, Hirst, Jenkins, Taylor, Horspool, Horspool, Jones, Cole, Jansen. Somerville—H. Brooker, T. Gough. C. Moore, H. Skinner, C. Stanton, R. Barker, D. Maxwell, G. McNab, M. Smith, L. Edwards. B. Craig. v St. Luke’s.—Franklin, Clark, D. King, Vipond, Donaldson, J. King, Burnett, Brown, Cawkwell, Grace. Wesley.—lreland, Clark, Burton. Davis, Crabtree, Fleet, A. B. Chappell. K. Slaney, A. B. Burton, O. Slaney, J. Chappell. i LADIES’ TEAMS Senior Grade Y.W.C.A. —Misses M. Hinge, M. MeLauchlan, B. Mason, J. Judd, E. Hubber, E. Harford, E. Nicholson, I. Grace, M. Raisher, M. Matthews, Q. Ward. Somerville Misses Hoyte, Bell, Cooper, Goldsbro’, McCarthney, Bulliams, Bell. Blake, Hill. Andrews, Walsh. Mount Eden. —Misses A. Twiname, Z Twining, K. McGill, B. s. Ross, C. Kelly. IX Nash, Klenner, G. Lowe, D. Mason, Volemere. Junior Grade Y.W.C.A. <B).—Misses M. Jones. V. Rickard, E. Roberts, R. Blair, D. E< ■ les, M. Buckley, R. Woodford, K. Edwin, J. Locke. E. Blair, J. Baxter. Y.W.C.A. (A). —Misses B. Fraser, E. Rawle, I. McConkey, E. Rawle, I. Biddle, M. Scarborough, M. McMiken, D. Corson. A. Biddle, A. Railey.