Exhibition Lacks Sporting Interest

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 25, 15 December 1939, Page 38

Exhibition Lacks Sporting Interest

2ZYA Talk Will Help Fill Centennial Gap F. INGRAM, whose work and interest it has been * to keep a critical eye on New Zealand sport, past and present, as a journalist, believes that the Centennial has not taken enough notice of athletics. He tells The Listener that the Exhibition ignores sport, that even the Physical Welfare ’ Branch’s splendid collection of photographs ignores the immense possibilities in New Zealand, whatever it does for other countries, and that it is time something is done about it. Out of a comprehensive sporting library (which contains, for instance, N.Z. Athletic Championship Programmes for a century) he has dug up some material for the doing of this evidently necessary job and has secured the cooperation of Station 2YA for 7.40 p.m. on the evenings of December 22, 29, and a

January 5. His subject: Great New Zealand Athletes — A Centennial Tribute. Some of the Great Joe Scott, ten years of age, three foot six inches, walking over a two-mile race at Dunedin, beat the Australian

champion, adult, six foot three inches. Bob Fitzsimmons, Billy Murphy, Tom Heeney, fought for New Zealand. "Tiny" Freyberg swam for New Zealand (and is now to lead New Zealand in battle). Malcolm Champion was our first Olympic swimmer. Violet Walrond was the first to use the crawl stroke in New Zealand water. Tony Wilding played tennis. Dick Jarrett introduced ‘the crouch start for sprinters, began basketball, and designed physical exercises for the schools. The New Zealand Army relay team was famous.

There was Lovelock, and a dozen others up to Boot and Matthews, who are still walking almost unnoticed about the streets of New Zealand cities although they are among the best athletes in the world. — So the story goes on. In these talks Ingram is skipping Rugby, cricket and horse racing, but finds himself left with almost more material than he can handle. Listeners interested in sport, or listeners who aren’t will find his collection worth following up.