ON PARADE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 10

ON PARADE.

ATHLETIC DISPLAY.

CITY GIRL ATHLETES.

COLOURFUL SCENE AT DOMAIN

Girls . . . and girls . . . and girls. I here seemed to be hundreds of them at the Domain this morning. Dressed in coloured shorts and attractive jerseys, they gave themselves up with abandon to physical exercises, ball games and drill under the keen eyes of their instructors. They were not Amazons, cither. Kanging from 14 years upwards, they possessed the charm inseparable from youth, and, more especially, from Auckland girls. "W ho are they?" was the general question put bv pedestrians taking a short cut through the Domain. The answer, of course, was simple. These girls, divided up into different sections, each intent on its particular brand of athletics, were members of the Auckland Girls' Athletic Association, the members of which will strive for the honour of the title of "Miss A.G.A.A.," which will be awarded at the grand contest to be held on October lj at C'arlaw Park. The Auckland Girls' Athletic Asso- j cation, it may be explained, is the organisation which lias been functioning for many years in the interests of the health and beauty of business girls of the city. Its component parts, as seen at the Domain to-day, are teams entered from 24 business firms in Auckland. There are many facets to the athletic programme that leads to the coveted honour of "Miss A.G.A.A." The girls are trained in single events, team games and drill and marching. The Tovdl. the 100 yds, the 50yds sack race and the flag relay race, in which six girls are entered by each team, hold no terrors for these feminine athletes. And as for the intricacies of circle ball, "squarespry," "bob and sit" and the obstacle race—a. mere nothing. The drill and marching, of course, call for a display of cohesive rhythm that is difficult to attain, but has "been mastered by these young women with little difficulty. They have been practising at the Domain for the last three or four weeks and the vagaries of the Auckland winter climate cannot daunt them. That cup for drill marching is too attractive, and then there is the practice necessarv for the display of folk dancing which is usually part of the programme. The girls are divided into two sections—A and B—the new girls and those not quite so good being entered in the lower section. Each year the two top teams in the B section are elevated to the A and t>he two lower teams in the A section go down into the B. The competition is keen. A full dress rehearsal in the single events will eliminate all those except the first, second and third in the single events in each team a week before the big contest on October 1.1. And then will come the judges' problem at Carlaw Park. The girls are not nidged merely on their athletic prowess Drill, marching, posture.' beauty and charm all play their respective parts. The attractions of the pirls seen at the Domain this morning reveal how difficult the choice will be.