Canterbury team marches to acme of success

Press, 29 March 1980, Page 21

Canterbury team marches to acme of success

By

JOHN COFFEY

Intensive preparation, concentration 6'h eliminating even the most minute error, and a finely-tuned psychological readiness all contributed to the triumphant march of the Canterbury team, Acme Pioneers, ...at the national championships in Timaru last week-end.

It was most appropriate that Mrs Trish Flanagan, who . masterminded the first • title victory by a squad . from the . Canterbury centre, should complement that over-all suc-

cess by winning The -cham-: pion instructor, . champion, leader and champion lead-: er on march-awards.

Still glowing with pride from Acme Pioneers’ achievement,-, if not quite rid of a bout of influenza brought on from training in the rain before leaving for Timaru, Mrs Flanagan understandably described the result as the highlight of her marching career.

She ■; had her introduction to this precision sport 20 years ago, when only eight years old,

and there is no doubt that she has been the guiding factor behind the team’s rise to prominence. At its first attempt, in 1977, it was fifth; the advance has been steady since then — fourth in 1978, third in 1979, undisputed champion a week ago. Even the most grizzled veterans of the football codes would balk at the hard, sometimes' monotonous, work which contributed to a truly pioneering victory. The regular twice-weekly three-hour training stints were stepped up to 15 hours — spread over four evenings and the morning of the contest proper — leading up to the national event.

If any incentive was required to have the girls keep to their task, there was the friendly rivalry between Acme Pioneers and the Marist-Western Suburbs premier rugby league side coached by Mrs Flanagan’s husband, John.

“We would already be practising on the sealed area at the Bishopdale shopping centre when the footballers wo'uld run onto the adjacent park; when they ran off again, we would still be training,” Mrs Flanagan said.

There was more than a hint of challenge in her

tenor. It would be an unusual husband-and-wife accomplishment if Marist should also break through for its first championship win this year. Its recent history parallels that, until last week, of Acme Pio-: neers — a string of tantalisingly near-misses in quest of top honours. Once Mrs Flanagan was convinced that the traditional North Island dominance of national marching titles could be broken, she set about bringing some psychological ploys into action. Or, rather, non-action.

The biggest threat to the Canterbury team’s prospects was the reigning inter-Dominion title-hold-er, Tawhai (Wellington), but Mrs Flanagan felt that her rival, and particularly its leader, Carol Woods, had the burden of living up to reputation already made.

While Tawhai marched, Acme Pioneers sat in their mini-bus. It was a case of out of sight, out of mind. “I felt that if my girls saw another team do a beautiful march, their confidence might be jolted. On the other hand if Tawhai and the others had faltered, we could have gone

out there too relaxed,” Mrs Flanagan said. Tension was high,, to such an extent that Mrs Flanagan was nick-named “Hitler” for the remainder of the day.

“One of the girls said that if I had pulled out all of her finger nails one by one it would not have been worse torture than not being able to watch the other teams march. But it was all in good fun,” she said.

Naturally, Mrs Flanagan had bountiful praise for the support given by her 11 club-mates Marie Sharland, Chrissie Sincock, Jill Raines, Kathryn Kennedy, Sharyn McDonald, Jillian Curry, Sharon Laing, Michelle Hardie, JoAnne Taylor-Hayhurst, Karen Phair and Karen Reed.

In a sport such as marching it is imperative that a thoroughly united effort is made, and it was a tribute to all that there was a. full attendance at every practice. That in itself was quite a feat, for the competitors’ ages range from 15 to 29, from married women to schoolgirls. Mrs Flanagan is already looking ahead, and not only towards Acme Pio-

neers’ bid to add the 198081 inter-Dominion championship in Melbourne to its list, of credits. That in itself is a awesome task, for fund-raising must continue throughout the winter months.

She has a genuine concern for the future of the sport, especially in the Canterbury area. It is something of an ironic situation that the province should have its first natioal title-holder at a time when marching, numerically, is at a low ebb. From 36 teams a few years ago, the total has dwindled to about 20. Mrs

Flanagan has moved to attempt to arrest the decline. She has had the satisfaction of forming a junior team that has won the South Island title and next season intends to extend her interests to the

midget grade. “The problem is a lack of qualified instructors,” she said. “Girls might start as midgets and progress through to senior teams, but when .they leave the sport they follow their htftbands’ or boyfriends’ pursuits. I have enough girls to fill four teams, but there, is

no way could find four instructors. “A lot of parents help out_ as instructors and they are much appreciated. However, experience in competitive marching is the best grounding for an instructor and classes will be held in the winter in the hope that some will be attracted back.

“Marching can be rather expensive, in raising money for trips and uniforms. It also has the disadvantage of not being regarded as a spectator sport by those w r ho do not understand it,” Mrs Flanagan said. What, then, is the lure of marching?

“First, it is a team sport, and there is far more satisfaction in what is achieved. The discipline and strictness of the routine even has its attraction. Then there is the travelling, which > has taken me to Australia three times, and to every city and about half the’ towns .in New Zealand,” Mrs Flanagan said. Perhaps it has been a long trek, but at Timaru it all proved more than worth while.