THE HOCKEY GIRLS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 295, 7 September 1908, Page 5

THE HOCKEY GIRLS.

_ In spite of the dismal skies a great crowd journeyed over to Day's Bay on Saturday for tho hockey tournament, a crowd as sad in oolour as the skies, so completely was it enveloped in waterproofs , or tweed • coats, and motor caps. But only in colour was it sombre. Its spirits, were very high, 'and even when it returned, tired, and one would have thought exhausted, it persisted in enjoying itself so much that one could not distinguish between victors and vanquished. On tho grounds it was difficult for the uninitiated to find their way to any particular match. Peoplo wandered up an'd down, asking: "Havo you seen Nelson; whero is Hawke's Bay?" as if it were possible'for a whole province to be. lost, and one stood still to. applaud the skill of Wairarapa for quite a long time before discovering that this was another team, and that Wairarapa was playing in a distant part. 1 Tho match that attracted most spectators was tho Canterbury-Wellington one, and this was as pretty a game as one could wish to see. The Wellington girls ran about liko deer, but tho Christchurch girls wero liko mc-teors, meteors with littlo crooks to gather up everything that camo their .way. Seen in the street tho yellow blouses of Wellington are almost too bright and startling, but seen against a green grass background tlioy are exceedingly _ pretty and effective. " Go it canaries," cried a masculino voico when Wellington seemed in need of cheer, but tho crowd did not tako up the word, and "Go it Yellow" continued to conflict with "Go it Red." From an aesthetic point of view tho sight of a cricket match on a sunny day rivals. that of a girl's hockey match, but the cricketers can show nothing so charming as tho flight of twenty-two slim girls down tho long field,- nor anything.so interesting as the sight of those vigorous young Atalantas during the interval hairpinning up their straying locks. The girls with their hair down probably get a good deal of sympathy from the crowd on tho scoro of their exceeding youth, and every brilliant stroko made by them is worth just a little more than ono mado by an elder girl. For this reason, and becausej it is a much prettier fashion, one would liko to see

all tho hockey playors wearing . their hair clown during tho gamo. Why not? .When , all the games were over tho teams flocked to tho Pavilion, whero afternoon tea ,had been provided by Dr. Izard in a room rtlado gay with flags and foliage. It was perhaps "tho speediest afternoon tea on record. Tho boat was to lcavo at half-past five, and tho girls were anxious to mako sure of obtaining seats, so tlioy. scurried off to tho wharf as soon as tlioy had had tho refreshment that was so grateful after all their toil. Dr. Izard, who had his littlo niece with him as lady of tho occasion, mado a brief speech welcoming tho teams to Wellington, and ho was followed by tho Mayor, Mr. Hislop, who expressed his pleasuro at seeing them there.