Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1938. THE EMPIRE GAMES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 86, 21 January 1938, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1938. THE EMPIRE GAMES.

The best wishes of all New Zealanders will accompany the team of athletes that sailed for Sydney last night to take part in the Empire Games. Ashburton has a particular interest in the doings of the team owing to the inclusion of two representatives from the County—V. P. Boot among the runners and R. Withell among the boxers. Another feature that arouses special interest generally is the sending of the pioneer New Zealand woman’s representative cricket team. Of the Dominion team as a whole it can be said that this country will be worthily represented in the field, and that in like measure members will play their part off the field in cementing the good relations that exist between the Dominion and the other units of the British Commonwealth. Founded a few years ago as the. British counterpart of the Olympic Games, the Empire contests exercise an important influence on sport. At the Olympic Games international considerations sometimes diminish the cementing power of the democracy of sport, but at the Empire fixtures a truly unifying spirit prevails. The Games that will be held next month are the third of the series, and the fact that they are being held in connection with the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of New South Wales invests them with an importance not associated with the ordinary gatherings. Thus there is an assembly of representatives of no less than fifteen Empire countries, tot&lling about five hundred men and women, the nearness of Australia enabling New Zealand to send a larger contingent than would be possible were the venue farther afield. Besides taking part in a most important sports gathering the Empire athletes will have the privilege of assisting in an historic occasion commemorating the foundation of a community that has developed into one of the most prosperous, most vigorous nations under the Imperial Crown. While Ashburton will naturally hope that its particular representatives will win laurels in their respective spheres and that New Zealanders in general will achieve successes, the principal desire will be that no circumstances arise to deprive the best men and women of their due. The competitors can confidently be expected to conform to the main consideration, the display of the spirit of modest winnings arid cheerful losing. Such a spirit is traditional in British sport, a factor that has its value in that much wider, field erf Empire progress and stability.