Summer Sports—Then And Now

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 297, 14 December 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

Summer Sports—Then And Now

Appropriately the ber of the Centennial Pictorial Surveys that deals with summer sports appeared in the last month of spring. In interest it is similar to the number dealing with recreation, of which I had something to say a few weeks ago. It throws light on social conditions as well as on the march of games.

By Cyrano

One sees hprp. as elsewhere. how orgam-at inn develops as communit ir-s. "r"*. Li curly days initiative ami independence find creator s/.-ope. and improvisation is necessary. For instance, "hen an Auckland team went to Wellington in 1 «00 to play the first representative match in our cricket history, they arrived unannounced. When, io years later, a Xclson football team visited Wellington, the teams had to drive round to find a field. I wonder, however, if those games were any less enjoyable than the elaborately organised contests of to-day. Working for Pleasure One notices, too, what trouble men took to get their sport in those old days. Tt was paralleled by the distances men and women travelled, by slow and often uncomfortable means," to get to dances. I may have mentioned before the old whaleboat hand, still active, who rowed miles to a dance, rowed home early next morning, and went straight out after a whale. Two extraordinary examples are given in the section of this centennial survey dealing with competitive rowing. An Auckland whaleboat crew rowed from the Waitemata, through about 30 miles of open water, to Mahurangi Heads to compete in a regatta, and rowed back again. The Christ church "Black Ea~le" four of ]Btts rowed their b'vit from the town to Sumner, carried it a mile along the beach, rowed it, round to Lyttelton, and next day, after winning the fours and pairs, carried the boat over the Bridle Track to Heathcotc. Long rides to crieket and football matches must have been common. There is mention here of an early cricket match in Southland, which for one side meant a ride of 52 miles. Perhaps because of the long ride they scored only 19, but, after all, an Australian eleven was dismissed for one less than thi* total at Lord's. One may entertain oneself by following and reflecting on the changes in methods nnd popular appeal that have marked games in Xe.w Zealand. Cricket is much older that Kugby football, and for many years was the national game, if there was such a thing. Fifteen thousand people watched Lilly whit' 1 s AllEngland eleven pl«v Canterbury in 1877, and Mr. .T. G. McLean, the author of this survey, probably underrates the significance of this when he says that in relation to population this interest has never been surpassed. As time went on cricket had to meet much more competition. 1" my young days in Auckland lovers of the game used to shako their hoods sadly over the popularity of boating. Probably tennis is cricket's most for- : midahle competitor, and this survey contains another reminder of the very re- < markable growth of the game and the hardening of its technique. Tennis was ] once a decorous business; volleying was thought to be unsportsmanlike. In this i and other games changes in dress are j

noticeable. Even the und-featable Miss Xunneley, who won the championship l-'i times in succession, is seen wearing a skirt down to her ankles, a blouse with long sleeves and a high collar, and a hard straw hat. Strict uniformity in dress is now the rule. One of the strangest sights I ever saw on a sports ground was a bat-man in a representative match wearing braces. To-dav strong men would almost faint at such, a sight. There have been changes in standards, alisolute and relative. When a Xew Zealand tennis team crossed the Tasman in 1896 it beat Xew South Wales easily. • lonn;s, by the way, had some connection with archery, the vogue of which is attested by the name given to part of the Public Gardens in Chris tchurch— the -Archery lawn. Apparently archery is still practised, for I handled, arrows recently, and I was surprised when I was told what their penetrative power was. In athletics, we had Hempton running the 100 yards in 9 4-5s some 50 years ago, and in 1870 a professional named Hewitt ran a half mile in 1 A. On the othe.r hand, the mile at the first national championship meeting, in ISSB. was won in 5.1, and the high jump with sft, "which to-day would not win many schoolboy events." Mr. McLean says Maoris used to be fond of foot-racing, usually over long distances; ELsdon Best recorded a race of 50 miles. Of later years, however, the Maori has shown "no great aptitude, for organised athletics.'' I wonder why? The old-time Maori had great powers of endurance; even in middle age he could keep up a jog trot for hours. The Toughest Sport What sport makes the greatest demand on the body? I should have said rowing, because unless you are by yourself in a boat there can l>e no let-up. I notice, however, that Mr. McLean describes the axeman's attack on a log as '"the toughest of all sports."' It doesn't last long, but the expenditure of energy is terrific. Lowing, by the way, is one of the sports in which we have won a reputation abroad. In thU respect Mr. McLoan sets it next to Rugby. This is not surprising, for £>ur conditions of life make for handiness on the -water. I should say we could hold our own with any other people in the building and handling of boats and small yachts. In swimming, improvement of technique has counted lor more, ]x?rhaj)s, than in any other sport. In IStK). using the single, over-arm stroke, H. J. Bailev won the 100 yards championship in 1.24, whereas in lD.'iS X. Crump swam the distance in 545. Two minutes have been taken off the quarter mile and more than eight minutes off the mile. Here impio\e.ment in technique has been a public benefit, for it must have saved a irood many lives. When I taught myself to swim there was no one to put me on the right lines of strokes and breathing. The present generation j* much bettor off, but despite the nation-wide efforts of authority our drowning rate is still deplorably and discreditably high. It would be interesting to know how many men and women in this count i v aie regular playe.rs and not mere watchers. The production of a number of /iist-class athletes does not mean that the general health and fitness of the people are what they should be. When we. read a survey like this we should not forget the percentage of men rejected for military service.