The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY, JANUARY 6. 1938. MAKING A FIT NATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 4, 6 January 1938, Page 6

The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 6. 1938. MAKING A FIT NATION.

i m For th-e cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong thai needs resistance, For the future in the distance, [ And the good that we can do.

Announcement of the personnel of the ,Co tn'-ii fif Sport, which, under the guidance ) ! 'if th<- Min:-ter « .±' Internal Affairs, the Hon. s, W. E. Parry, i = to undertake the task of !improving the average of the physical fitne&s ;i'i Sow Zi-alander.-. i» to be made within the next week or two, according to statements 1 made by the Minister before the holiday [seas'in. Ail round the world the need for ■ some form of organisation for physical fitness ji- being emphasised, and in establishing the t 1 Council of Sport this Dominion is falling into line with what has already been accomplished in many countries. In setting up the Council, men of wide vision and of organising ability should be chosen, those qualifications being of far more importance than connection, however intimate, with any particular branch of .-port. The greatly increased time which recent " i legislation has put at the disposal of the ■javerage worker demands some better form of .education for leisure if it is to be of any advantage at all, either to the individual or the nation, and the sooner the Council is set to work the better. The experience of other nations will form . a basis upon which a useful scheme can. be : I built, but very great modifications must be Ijmade to any Old World system before it could J be made useful to the more independent spirit • of the average New Zealander, and that is one ; reason for choosing a Council of far-sighted [ and practical men and women. The King's J physician has strongly attacked the British Government's physical fitness campaign, declaring that exercises under cover are far less valuable than a moving ball game played in the open where ever-changing surroundings give the opportunity for the exercise of initiative and quickness of hand, eye and mind. Many will agree with him, but it is a misfortune that in every country there is a very high proportion of the physically inert who prefer to look on rather than to participate in sport. Some will not even put themselves to the trouble of looking on, and it is these that are most in need" of some definite organisation of their leisure which will equip them mentally and physically for the battle of life. Organisation for fitness must have its beginning in the schools, but it is doubtful if the measure of organised games whieh has been applied in the primary schools since it was first systematised in 1912 is effecting more than a very small proportion of its purpose. Competent observers who have had facilities for adequate observation state that not 50 , per cent of the pupils play any of the organised games of their own volition, however heartily they may enter into them at the teacher's command. In the morning and , luncheon intervals the majority of the children fly to the first seat, and stay there till the call comes to return to the classroom. There is something wrong with the games or with the organisation, or both, when this is a , | common experience. While a start in building up a physically fit nation must of necessity be made in the school ground, the task is a much greater one than that, involving the teaching of adolescence and manhood in the use of leisure as well as of working hours. The task is a great one; the time for talking about it has passed, and it is to be hoped that the first practical steps will be taken without delay.