ATHLETICS TESTS WITH AUSTRALIA NEEDED

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27860, 7 January 1956, Page 3

ATHLETICS TESTS WITH AUSTRALIA NEEDED

protracted negotiations and disappointments New Zealand, has had its visit by a team of American athletes—and a fine trio it was. Successive overtures over 1 a number of years for . another visit had fallen through, sometimes when arrangements seemed settled.

It was largely through the direct personal representations of Mr H. I. Austad, the chairman of the council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association, who visited America during an overseas business trio, that the recent tour took place. Even so it seemed that the trip might fall through at almost the last minute, and the American authorities found it necessary to three replacements in the last couple of weeks to a team with a total complement of three. The final selection—Bob Morrow, Lon Spurrier, and Parry O’Brien—was a first-class one. But was it all worth while? The short tour will have rather limited benefits. Apart from Auckland New Zealand had few to match the Americans. Most jof the appearances by the Americans were exhibitions. Particularly was this so with O’Brien, who was far above the shotputting standard of this country. The world record holder at the halfmile, Spurrier showed excellent improvement ip each of his three appearances over this distance, culminating with a' New Zealand record of Imin 49.35ec at Napier. At Auckland where he would have met thb three fastest ha If-milers—apart from D. M. Harris —developed in this country. Spurrier sportingly sacrificed his chance of beating this time by agreeing to provide opposition to Halberg and Baillie in an attempt on the national mile record. In what was his first competitive mile race. Spurrier acquitted himself very well by running 4min Bsec.

As a northern writer said before the race, ‘'No matter how helpful Spurrier intended to "be, Halberg and his rivals would surely prefer a possible beating by the world champion over his distance to a reasonably certain victory over Spurrier in a race which is unfamiliar to him.” If the purpose of these visits by overseas athletes is to boost the standard here, perhaps New Zealand should look closer to home for its competition. An annual test with Australia is a possible solution. This has many advantages over visits by American or European athletes. Transport takes but a matter of hours—and at a fraction of the cost. Most important, however, is that competition would.be fully representative and international. There is nothing like a selection of a large national team to step up competitive interest among sportsmen—and

seldom do athletes get that here. The last occasion was in 1950 for the Auckland Empire Games—and in that season there was an unprecedented rise in the general level of athletic attainment throughout the country. At one time Canterbury had four men capable of bettering 50sec for the quarter-mile. It could be done again if the athletes had the necessary incentive. Admittedly, competitors are selected for international competition in the Olympic and Empire Games, but the standards are usually so rigid that many promising youngsters must feel that the SpaYtan adherence to a demanding training schedule is scarcely worth the trying. Athletics is one of the least rewarding of sports in New Zealand. With a small population, top-line competition is a rarity. Inter-provincial fixtures are few. and with few exceptions New Zealand's best athletes assemble once a year at the national championships. The slightly more liberal standards of selection that would apply in choosing a New Zealand team for a test with Australia would spur many to intensify their efforts, and perhaps act as a stepping stone to greater things. In the days of the Australasian championships. New Zealand took part in 15 contests in the 34 years between 1893 and 1927. It was another 22 years before the pext fixture, the first truly international contest, when the Australians won at Wellington by eight events to five. The onus is on New Zealand to contest in Australia if any move to renew the fixtures is made.

Now is the time for efforts to be made to break the athletic reserve that appears to have grown up between the two countries in recent years, so that the exchange of visits could re renewed after the.. Melbourne Olympic Games.