7th TITLE SOUGHT

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31864, 17 December 1968, Page 23

7th TITLE SOUGHT

(By Our Athletics Reporter) The reigning New Zealand javelin champion, R. G. Ball (Old Boys), did not compete in the triangular track and field contest between Canterbury. Otago and Southland at Dunedin recently but he has recovered from a back injury. The injury completely upsetl his winter training, and he! does not consider himself fit enough yet to represent Canterbury. However, Ball, now 32 and one of the outstanding evergreens of Canterbury athletics, is far from finished. He was hoping to get somewhere near M. J. Speden’s national javelin record of 235 ft lljin this season and perhaps win a place in the team for the Pacific Conference games, to be held in Tokyo next September. His injury, received while lifting weights in training, put an end to this and now his main target for the season is to win the New Zealand championship for the seventh time in nine years. If his impressive throw of 212 ft 6in in his first serious outing of the season a few weeks ago was any indication, his personal target is a very modest one Indeed.

“1 was very silly,” Ball said when referring to the injury. “I wasn’t warmed up properly and slipped a disc. It doesn't hurt now but 1 can still feel it” The most frustrating thing was that his current performances were so much worse than his performances in the middle of winter. “I was in the best form I have ever been in and now 1 am right back where I started,” Ball said. Decathlon Attempt Before his injury, he had ialso been considering making a serious attempt at the decathlon. He won the New Zealand title in this event in 1964 and considered he could improve on his previous best performance with suitable preparation. “I was going to go flat out for the decathlon this year but after the age of 30 you have got to train really hard. After I injured myself I couldn’t even go out and run. I am afraid it is now going to be an all-out effort aimed at this javelin championship.” At 6ft 3in in height and weighing more than 14 stone, Ball has the physique to stand a very testing training schedule. At present he has three weight-training sessions a week of up to an hour a time. On the other days he does repetition sprints over 100yds as well as “a little” javelin throwing. “I never throw long in training. “I am not fit yet but I am working hard,” he said. Long Drive Ball now lives at Little River and every Saturday he travels to Rugby Park with his family, collecting young athletes along the way. Before he even gets to the throwing area he has a tiresome drive of 35 miles. But driving is nothing new to him. A teacher at Lincoln High School, he drives the school bus from Little River to Lincoln and back every day. At Lincoln he teaches physical education, the work he likes best. He is not a qualified instructor but it is a job to which he is admirably suited. He has a university degree in agricultural science and also takes classes in this. Ball’s best official performance in the javelin is 225 ft

7Jin, set in the 1966 Dorrie Leslie contest at Rugby Park. The greatest distance achieved by anybody in national championship competition is 221 ft lljin, Ball’s winning distance when he first won the title in 1960. No Target He has not set himself a target mark for the season. “Everything depends so much on the conditions,” he said. His 215 ft throw in the national championship at Dunedin last season had probably been the equivalent of a 225 ft throw in normal conditions. “I had no sleep the night before and there was a back wind. Nothing was right.” Ball thinks his chances of winning a place in bis team for the Pacific games have disappeared, in spite of the recommendation from the annual meeting of the national body that the selectors endeavour to take at least the title-winner in each event to the games. “I would have to get close to the New Zealand record before 1 would stand a chance and this does not now seem possible. I might throw between 210 and 215 ft at the nationals. That is not good enough,” he said. Main Rivals

Ball’s strongest rivals on the national front will be R. Patterson (Auckland), who beat him for the title in 1967, and the Canterbury throwers, M. G. Stewart, D. C. Leary (Toe H) and possibly D. Wightman (Ashburton), who has yet to appear at Rugby Park.

All are capable of exceeding 200 ft. Patterson has already thrown 216 ft this season and appears to be Ball’s greatest threat. If Ball can overcome the challenges from these athletes at the New Zealand championships next March he should be sent to the Pacific games, regardless of his performance.

Japan is footing the bill and although he would obviously have no chance of winning, the world class competition could easily draw him out to a new New Zealand record. He has served New Zealand athletics well over a long period and selection would be a just reward for his efforts.