PLAYING THE GAME.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 307, 28 December 1922, Page 9

PLAYING THE GAME.

SPORTS IN NEW ZEAItQJTP. RETBOSPECT OF THE YEAB. The past year in sporting oirclea has been one oi reconstruction rather than of achievement in the limelight of the international arena, and thoughtful builders oi the sound-body -in-a-sound jnind policy hare every reason for satisfaction with the position a.s it ie in all parts of tie Dominion to-day. The cjiief complaint ot sport is the growing pains which were so acute for the arst couple of years after the war, when all the available open spaces of the towns were cluttered up with young people' who wanted to have done with the role of spectator and to get into the games. This move from the sidelines and the grandstands haa added ten-fold to the burdens of administrators of all the popular sporfca. Their response to the call has just about doubled the space tnd facilities for games players, amd yet tie demand for more grounds, more instructors, more coaches, more referees end more umpires remains far from being satisfied. At the same time the enthusiasm among the players ie becomhtg educated more fully to recognition of the facts that the game is more important than the win, the tryer ie the hardest person in the world to beat, and , tie bad loser forfeits respect.

SOME SALUTARY BUMPS, public opinion on the subject of games bu been educated and moulded both ■from the inside and the outside by the tendencies of the times and international competitions, and is beginning to glimpse the philosophy ac well as the humour of the racehorse owner who had an Absurd-Eulogy colt, and christened him Epitaph. We have been saved from absurd eulogies inspired by excess of local pride in our eports champions this year, s o that the time for the epitaph has not arrived. Xew South Wales took us down a peg in the Rugby testa the World's sculling championship was lost by a Xew Zealander, and we find no tennis champion worth inclueion in a Davis Cup team. Affurat rS£ ! aJutaT y bumps, we have bee* fortified by the success of our amateur bosere u> the Australasian . championshrpe, the time records of our lady swimmere, and the defeats of the Australian soccer team. Franfclv our an* greater percentage of pWre THE WISTEJB BJORnL Su»f m P rov f, men t in the South Island play generally, and the winning of . -to-ißMfarly. Shield by Harrises Bayi the endy North Island combination that wowed form comparable with that of y*f°?* d Southland. In the League football g» me Auckland held its premier place, and tie players of the code did VBlU U1 T their P erfor mances againet the a.5.W. University team, and an Australian demonstration team, to rehabilitate the playinjr repute of the game in the ..country. Probably the biggest advance was- made by the" sxjccer. j'.eode, in which an Australian team was in tie teste, that drew crowds B. never previously. experienced in' the £ : ; Dominion tor this style of - football.- ---£ Auckland retained the Brown. Shield, 8 ■whiehMe thei chief soccer trophy in Xew' il Zealand. P The hockey season w*e generally a ;Jgopd one sg, : far aa wae .concerned. Auc4da,nd. lost the- chfwn- ■£ pionship shield to Man&w-atu. In the • patter of maintenance of atand*Td, and ■ 'increase of interest among both perr i formers and public the chief advance of ■: the-year was made by amateur boxfng, j. a sport in which it is anticipated 'New Zealand will be represented at the next Olympic games. Four New Zealanders ■won the honours in their classes at the Australian championships.

STASTDARDS MAINTAINED. The'story of the summer sports ie i Qbaott a matter of ancient history, for the standards on which form is judged ' Tun.back to early in the year, and quite a different tale may be spun from the Tecords of the competitions to be de- •" tided within the nest two months. So • f«r ac public and playing interest are ■ concerned cricket, tennis, athletics and aquatics have shared and profited with' the others. The advance in swimming has been so marked that the Xew Zealand lady champions are now vicing • in their times with those of America, Britain and Australia, and a similar jump to the front by our male swimmers 'Iβ expected at an early date. Canterbury and Auckland will be the two chief Contenders for honours at the forthcoming championships. At the moment the provinces are teeting their quality ; *gainst an English amateur cricket team, while on~Auckland team is on tour to defend its title to the Plunket Shield. Tennis votaries 'heve enormously increased in number, and in Auckland facilities for match play have been improved by the association acquiring a eet of nine new courte, while several new clubs have been started. There » more vitality in the rowing sheds this season . than for many years past, and local oars- . men are predicting that with a njain- ' tenanee of the improvement in standard of oaremanship shown in the pasfi year" the Auckland clubs will soon rival the . Prowess of the clubs on the Wanganui fci'er, and on Queen Charlotte Sound. The loss of the world's professional • title during the rear by HadfieJd to ■Paddtm is expected to be retrieved by ', the former within the next twelve V months. Golf and bowls are stated io be obsessions rather than games, but they are ~ admitted to be healthful forms of in**tuati<jn, and , as such 'they also claim a growing clientele. The visits of Kirk- ! **°d have shown that the Dominion standard of golf is a good one. while it • *** teen proved by many excursions of the sociable bowler that even in Scotland he i s looked on as a worthy foeman.