RAIN MARS SEASON.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20257, 28 July 1937, Page 12

RAIN MARS SEASON.

TENNIS IN WAIKATO. ASSOCIATION’S DIFFICULTIES. WILDING SHIELD CHALLENGE. "The worst feature of the past season has been the abnormally wet summer,” says the report of the Waikato Lawn Tennis Association, to be presented at the annual meeting in Hamilton on Thursday. “The New Zealand championships were played under most disappointing conditions and hardly any tournaments of Importance were finished without serious interruption.” The principal events of the season for Waikato tennis players were the challenges for the Wilding Shield and the Nunnerley Casket. The men’s team consisted of Messrs .T. Roach, D. B. Livingstone, J. Leng and D. Clow, and the ladies’ team, Misses N. Beverley, M. Beverley, B. Drake and M. Edmondson. The. Waikato representatives played In Ihe -Canterbury anrl New Zealand championships, but failed —probably on account of the heavy courts —to show attractive form. In the Nunnerley Casket the team did not play as well as was anticipated. but, the. men's team more than fulfilled expectations, being defeated by only seven matches to five. The challenge came nearer to success than that of any other centre, and it Is even more satisfactory to add that the conduct of both teams earned the hearty appreciation of their opponents. This was the first occasion that a Wilding Shield challenge had been launched other than from one of the main centres, and the performance of the Waikato representatives indicated that the standard of play in the territory would bear comparison with that of any province in New Zpaland. Representative Matches. Of representative matches the report states that although a desperate attempt had been made to play the Taranaki fixture on hard courts at Cambridge, rain finally forced abandonment. The Bay of Plenty game had been abandoned owing to a bereavement suffered by two members of the visitors’ team, while the Auckland match was decided, Auckland being at full -strength and soundly defeating the Waikato team. J. Roach’s defeat of A. D. Brown, the holder of the Auckland provincial title, was a feature of this contest.

Wet weather had again interfered with the North Island championships, to have been held at Easter, and these were finally abandoned. In numbers the entries had been 50 per cent, higher than for the previous year, and the standard of the entry had never been so high, nor had competitors ever come from -so far afield.

“The larger part, taken by Waikato representatives in the Wilding Shield, Nunnerley Casket and interprovincial events has been made possible only by the increased amount collected by levies," continues the report. “Even this amount, however, is compatible with only a hand-to-mouth administration of tennis affairs, and is inadequate for the efficient organisation of the game in an enormous district, extending from Hunlly to Taupo and from Tirau to Taumarunui. The same restricted policy imposed on Hie executive is also imposed on every subassociation and every club. r l lie annual levy of Is fid per playercovering the overhead of the district executive and the New Zealand Council—is. inadequate for these purposes. Until tennis players as a whole recognise that the overhead of tennis management is worth more than Is fid per head per annum, wider activities cannot be developed,” concludes llie report.