AN ATHLETIC PEOPLE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 16, 24 February 1914, Page 6

AN ATHLETIC PEOPLE.

EQUIPPED PLAYGROUNDS NEEDED. OPPORTUNITY MAKES THE MAN. From Ow Special Correspondent. .WELLINGTON, February 23.'-' - Mr A. L. Chappell's article ju'Saturday 's SUN on atheletic . decadence in the Old ""Country stresses one point which is entitled to serious if not paramount consideration. He observes that the main objective should be not so much the winning of highest points at Olympiads as the raising of the average ability in athletics. A general practice, of athletics ~is much more valuable than the production of a few, specialised record-breakers. At the same time' the • wide? • cultivation of athleticism would certainly discover cases of exceptional merit in which specialisation would be warranted. A broadening of the base of our outdoor sports could not fail to improve the quality of the limited number of men at' the apex; -but it-is inthe* broader base that the true national value would be. ' '-- ■ ' ..

~What should be done to promote that •wider, practise of athleticism by the community at large?' V < . "A close observation of outdoor sport? in New -Zealand will convince most, people that the facilities* provided for athletes are altogether insufficient;

"Probably the 'same - 'thing could, be said of England.. There is plenty of human material practically untested; and the defect is not so much "in the young fellows as in their lack of opportunity. '" Seeing that athletics for. the multitude is' a eoriimunity matter.,, why does not the State or the educational authority or the local body take a keener interest in not only providing greHnds but in equipping them and'providing inducements for the pursuit .of outdoor games and pastimes? -

A PART OF TOWN-PLANNING. - "Arguing along these lines, one is pleased to find that Dr. Barret,, of Melbourne, who lectures to-night in the Town Hall, advocates the American playground system as a part of townplanning. • * • • • This it undoubtedly is. Concentration in cities and destruction of rural life in the Old Country have minimised the old field sports of the village green order. In some eases urban local bodies have provided open spaees where a man may actually run about without being warned not to walk on the grass; but play-grounds in the American sense did not exist till ihe United States showed the. way. And they have since shown the way to all other competitors at the Olympiads.

Here in Wellington the City Council has spent-many thousands of pounds in tumbling hills into gullies and thus creating flat open spaees. which have been surface-soiled and glassed. But the City Council does"" not possess a playground as described by the manager of the. American track specialists, Mr E. Peixotto. Probably such a thing does not exist in New Zealand. Among his' discoveries in this Dominion Mr Peixotto narrates the fact that a New Zealand athlete,- one ef the foremost in Australasia, has had to do his runs in a hOrse-paddock and rub himself down afterwards. - ■ If the ere'me de la creme has no better facilities than this, what inducement is there for the general crowd that does not possess—or is "not conscious of—special aptitude.

QUITE APART FROM PARKS. •- Dr Barret states that "in America enormous sums have been spent in playgrounds, equipped with gymnasium, baths', and other conveniences, and all under skilled supervision. liUnsupervised play is -not permitted.'' Last' year the United States spent H nfillion' sterling on such.play-grounds, and Chicago alone has about 37 of them. "It. should be understood," adds Dr Barret, '' that these are quite separate-ifroni parks,' and "serve an entirely different purpose. I may ,say that this play-ground system does not exist itf Australasia at present, though the elements of it. are being created now in the City_ of Melbourne. It is being adopted to a fairly large extent in Great Britain." In California the grounds are divided and different parts- are allocated to special uses. Usual features' are a] baseball ground and a cinder track for running. Basket-ball equipment is favoured, because the game is thought more highly of there than here, and. can be played in a small space. -. Anyone who has attempted athletics in the conditions generally met with in New Zealand will realise how much 'the American system commands success; -in advance. In the circumstances the Australasian athletes, in competition with the invaders, have done very well. Cricket is a game that needs good practice pitches as well as good match ones, yet the writer, has sometimes had to play on turf that would be unsafe even for a football match. And as »or football—! !

When he lectured .here, Mr Peixotto, who in California is employed by the education board to control school sports and play grounds, . addressed himself particularly to sports and educational authorities. Dr Barret appeals to town-planners, local bodies, and the whole public. Surely the time. for a forward movement has arrived. E. V. UALL.

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