MARCHING TEAM AT SUMNER

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27192, 9 November 1953, Page 3

MARCHING TEAM AT SUMNER

GIRLS FROM SCHOOL FOR DEAF DISPLAY GIVEN YESTERDAY Deafness is sometimes considered an insurmountable barrier for those persons so afflicted who wish to take part in some organised sports. It was once thought that marching, a popular sport in New Zealand that requires perfect timing and obedience to the rhythm of the music and the whistle of the ledder, came in this category. Yesterday at the School for the Deaf. Sumner, however, nine girls, some of whom . are stone deaf, proved this tneory wrong. Before an • attendance that included several members ’of the Canterbury Marching Association, the girls gave a demonstration of precision marching. The main difficulty they had to overcome was the change from one evolution to another. This, for members of marching teams possessing all their senses, is simple, for the team has only to follow the leader’s whistle signals and listen to the band for the timing of the step. This, however, the girls at the School for Deaf could not do. But after constant practice, at which they were taught to remember the number of steps to each evolution, some semblance of order began to emerge. A system of hand signals was invented, and these were given at the times steps or '''evolutions were changed. A feature of marching displays is the fairly high knee action of the participants. Because this had tended to throw members of the team out of rhythm, however, a step was found that suited the girls, and this is now used with outstanding success.

The girls have marched in their school uniforms, but it is planned to have a suitable marching uniform for the team soon.