Roller skating officials' service rewarded

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32569, 31 March 1971, Page 18

Roller skating officials' service rewarded

r k LIFE-TIME of devoted " service to roller skating was rewarded when Messrs G. S. Bright (Auckland) and F. G. Pycroft (Christchurch) were presented with the first life memberships of the New Zealand Roller Skating Federation by its patron, Mr M. A. Connelly. Mr Pycroft termed it “a nice honour—one which makes you feel that your years of labour have not gone unrecognised.” To Mr Bright, it was the pinnacle of a long association with the sport. Indeed, it was a fitting tribute to two men who, between them, have contributed more than 70 years of loyal support to the sport and have been the driving forces behind the advancement and improvement of roller skating in the country. It must give them great pleasure to have seen New Zealand emerge as one of the world's leading countries in both men’s and women’s speed skating in recent years. By coincidence, both men attended the same secondary school in Palmerston North. At school, Mr Pycroft became a dedicated follower: “I did a bit of everything—speed, hockey and artistic skating, but without much success,” he said. Mr Bright was also involved in roller skating at school. “I was asked to play for our school roller hockey side,” • he recalled. *T accepted willingly, then discovered that my position was goalie." A chance visit to a rink in June, 1930, sealed Mr Bright’s fate in roller skating. He became its owner and the following year shifted to Vivian Street, Wellington, where a garage, converted into a,rink with ive wooden floors, provided New Zealand with

one of its first roller skating buildings. Having been an officer in three New Zealand associations—the Olympic and British Commonwealth Games, athletics and rowing —a sport in which he established a name for himself by gaining a second and a third in the single sculls event at the national championships Mr Bright’s active mind was soon thinking of ways to organise competition. In 1937 the breakthrough came. A meeting of enthusiasts formed the New Zealand Roller Skating Association, and soon after the first championships were held in Wellington. Several prominent skating personalities emerged as the sport continued to prosper, and one in particular that Mr Bright remembered well was Mr Pycroft’s granddaughter, Mrs Valerie McAulay (nee Whye), who was the outstanding New Zealand artistic skater of her time; winning the intermediate and senior grades and representing New Zealand abroad in international competition. Her daughter, Tracey, revealed that she had in-

herited some of her mother’s ability by performing creditably at this year’s championships. In 1957, after an enormous amount of preparatory work, Mr Bright managed a team of nine skaters that attended the United States championships. At this meeting a World Congress was formed, and he was elected its first vice-president. Two years later, Christchurch was the venue for a world congress championship and Mr Bright, now the president, welcomed a 25strong American party and skaters from Australia and Japan. This meeting was a tremendous success and created an upsurge of interest in roller skating, especially in Christchurch. Today, the tragedy of present day skating, as Mr , Bright sees it, is that top i skaters stop all too soon. “At the age of 27 one should be at the very top of his form, but today we are lucky to see a champion who is past 20,” he said. Asked why New Zealand skaters shine in speed skating and not in the artistic field, he said: “Be-

MR G. S. BRIGHT

cause they are natural athletes. It all depends on the country’s environment;

speed skating concentrates on the athletic side, Whereas artistic skating is more a matter of temperament, and , for this reason, perhaps, foreign nations are better suited to it.” Still active in the administration of skating affairs, Mr Bright has .served on the New Zealand Roller Skating Association for 10 years as secretary-treasurer and for 19 years as president. Mr Pycroft was connected with roller skating from its beginnings. Elected as chairman of the Napier Roller Skating Club in 1938, he was chosen as first president of the club when it became an incorporated body soon afterwards. He retained this position for 15 consecutive years.. The Napier club honoured him with a life membership and he has also earned this distinction from the New Zealand Roller Skating Association, an honorary membership from the Rollerdrome Club; Christchurch, and the New Zealand Federation. Two developments that Mr Pycroft feels will be to the benefit of roller skating were the amalgamation in 1968 of the two rival skating associations under the one banner and the increase in the popularity of roller hockey. The players have benefited from overseas competition, and have developed a more scientific outlook, he said. He is pleased with New Zealand’s progress in the world of skating, but considers that the artistic standard is still several years behind that of the foreign countries. Although remaining enthusiastic about roller skating, Mr Pycroft has had to forego his administrative responsibilities because of difficulty in hearing. Words cannot describe the substantial contributions the two men have made to the sport, but the ovation they received after the life membership presentations indicated that their services had not gone unheeded.