RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29247, 4 July 1960, Page 21

RANDOM REMINDER

STORMED AT BY SHOUT AND YELL

It may be that New Zealanders start playing their Rugby rather too early in ... L. , Ailife. So long as the competitive spirit is not emphasised unduly, there is probably no harm in little boys of five and six years running about, and they certainly present, in the very lowest grades, a diverting, spectacle on a Saturday morning. Although they are tiny tots, most of them are avid Rugby enthusiasts, and wear numbers on their jerseys, even, occasionally, done in chalk. Their views on Rugby are clear. They

all, from full-back to hooker, feel it is urgently required of them to get hold the ball and run with it or kick it. This results in play following a peculiar pattern with the 30 youngsters, swaying up and down and across the field in a tight bunch, like a swarm of bees in eager pursuit of a delectable but mobile flower. Most of the coaches and parents regard the whole business sensibly and light-heartedly, but there are some who do not. From time to time one finds a coach who addresses his troops loudly,

incessantly, and in quite unscholarly language. And when in such a team the parents alone the side-line include men with views just as well-defined, a command of language quite as startling, it is not difficult to see how problems beset the little player. Screamed at by the coach to kick, by father to run, by mother to pass, and by small sisters to look out, it is little wonder that the ball carrier falls over in an untidy heap, yards from anyone, But never mind. It all helps to fill the psychiatrists’ couches.