A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO SPORT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 81, 5 April 1941, Page 8 (Supplement)

A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO SPORT.

Dealing with the hietory of sport in peneral from the. time of the earliest records and touching on the many problems that confront sportsmen the world over, "Gleanings by the Highways," a book by Mr. S. G. Szekany, is something of a eportsman's compendium. A former international Soccer player, trainer and technical adviser in various countries of Europe, Mr. Szekany is well known in Auckland through his work as former honorary coach at the Seddon Memorial Technical College, the Mount Albert Grammar School and the Auckland Teachers' Training College, and his services as honorary adviser and trainer to the Auckland Football Association. In a brief foreword Mr. D. M. Rao, principal of the Teachers' Training College, points out that Mr. Szekany's book is a summary of a, life experience in sport and, though no conventional handbook on orthodox lines, fuses all the varied materials into a vigorous appeaJ for a more ecientific attitude to the body. Among the many subjects touched on in the 25 chapters that make up the book are diet, physical culture and general health principles, women's sports and the influence of athletics on football codes. Particularly interesting is his argument in favour of the development of sport in time of war and its

.assistance in developing -that- hicrh *tan'l«rd of fitness so necessary for militarv requirements. In an excellent chapter on school sports Mr. Szekanv points out that the schools and colleges are the developing grounds from which clubs receive their material. It is essential, he states, that the training received at school should l>e the best, and any country that is desirous of encouraging youth to develop physical fitness should not overlook this fact.