LAWN TENNIS

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 117, 13 November 1926, Page 22

LAWN TENNIS

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CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING WILL A VISITOR WIN? NON-AFFILIATED CLUBS EVEBY-' WHEBE. COMING EVENTS. :. New Zealand Championships, at Auckland, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st December. North Otago Championships, at Oamaru, 25th 2"th, and 28tli December. Southland Championships, at Invercatgill. 2otb, 27th, and 28th December Maryborough Championships, at Blenheim, 25th, 27th, and 28th December. . . Rotortisi Championships, at Kotorua, 25th, 2Tth, and 28th December. Wellington Christmas Tournament, at Miramar, 25th, 27th, 28th, and'29th December. Hawera Championships, at Hawera, 25th, 27th, 28th, and 20tu December. Hawkes Bay Championships, at Hastings, 27Mi 28th, and 2Cth December. Maryborough Championships, at Martinborough, 27th. 28th, 29th, and 30th December. South Canterbury Championship*, at Timariij Ist, 3rd, and 4th January. Wanganui Championships, at Wangauui, Ist, 3rd, and Ith January Pahiatua Championships, at Pahiatua, l«t, 3rd, and 4th January. j . Dannevirke Championships, at Dannevirke, Ist 3rd, and 4th January. Auckland Championships, at Auckland, 3rd, 4th, sth, and 6th January. Taranaki Championships, at New Plymouth. 4th sth. 6ili 7th and Bth January Palmerston North Championships, at Palmerston North, 11th. 12th, 13th, Hth January. Rotorua Juvenile Championships; at Kotorua, 13th and 14th January. . ■ ~ Waipukurau Ch-.impionships, »t Waipukurau, 13th and 15th January. Canterbury Championships, at Christchurch, '20th, 21st, atd 22nd January. Wairarapa Championships (locality not decided), 21st, 22nd, 24th. and 25th January. Wellington Championships, at Miramar, 21st, 22nd, 24th, and 25th January. Waipawa Championships, at Waipawa, 25th to 28th Januury. EASTEK TOURNAMENTS. South Island Championships, »t Christchurch, April Maori Championships, at Wanganui, April. North Auckland Championship* »t Wnangarei, April. Otaso Championships, at Dunedin, April. Waikato Champion ships, at Hamilton. April. North Island Championships, at Miramar, April. Hawkes Bay Club Championships, at Napier: April. (Good Friday falls on,lsth April next year.) Alrady the New Zealand champion ship meeting, which is to be held at Auckland this year, is attracting tho attention of tennis players generally. The tournament starts on Monday, 27th December; and according to the programme, the finals, or most of them, will be played on Friday, 31st December. The fact that Australian players will be competing will add considerably to the, attractiveness of the gathering, both from the competitors as well as the spectators' point of view. The coming meeting will be the thirty seventh anual championship tournament of the' Dominion, and there is just tho possibility that, for the first time since the thirty-first annual championship meeting, there is a danger of the men's championship singles being lifted by a player who is not a New Zealander. It was at Auckland in what is known as the 1920 championship meeting, although it was played during the first.." week in January of 1921, that the New Zealandera had as opponents some of the beat players in the world, for did not W. T. Tilden, W. M. Johnston, and W. Washburn, of the United States Davis Cup team, and Gerald Pattersop and P. Oj'Hara Wood, of the Australian Davis Cup team, as well as a number of other prominent players from Aus tralia, appear as competitors in tha^ noted competition. Washburn defeated Wood, and Tilden did likewise with Norman Peach in the semi-finals. The final was won by Tilden. This year Auckland will have the pleasure of again witnessing a great battle in the men's singles, but out of all the noted invaders of 1920, the Peach brothers are the only pair to visit New Zealand this year. In the 1920 meeting Norman Peach had to meet his brother Prank in the third round, but the latter defaulted. Norman Peach had the distinction of being the only player, except Washburn, to take a set from Tilden. That in itself shows that Norman Peach was at that period, at least a first-class player, and as he won the championship of New South Wales last year, he must stand a very good chance in the New Zealand singles this year But it would appear that the invaders from Sydney have something even better than Peach in Kalms, the present champion of New South Wales. The other Australians are all good singles players, and it is quite clear that New Zealand's players have a tough fight ahead of them. Nevertheless the material is here to stand off the best of the invading team, and provided that the Dominion's foremost players go on to the court thoroughly fit and well, then the 1926 championship singles iiave an excellent chance of being won for New Zealand. New Zealand has four players who should be capable of playing an even match with Kalms or Peach, and quite six-more who should be able to fully extend both of the Australians. Although the meeting may not be quite such a notable one as when Tilden won the championship, it is almost certain that there will be such a gathering of talent that will rank as the next best to the 1920 championship meeting. Intending competitors will be well advised to get in touch with the accommodation e'ommittee of the Auckland Association, P.O. Box 733, as Auckland is always full to overflowing at Christmas time, and accommodation should be booked at once. Wellington Tournament. Visitors to Wellington as well as local players are being catered for with an open championship and handicap tournament at Miramar during Christmas week. Play is scheduled to start on 25th December, and will extend to 29th December. Hundreds of players do not travel at Christmas time, and«the meeting is sure to attract large entries. Although championship events are on the programme, they are not classified as the "Wellington championships," the competition for these honours being held later in the season. The Management Committee is to be congratulated upon putting on this Christmas championship and handicap meeting, as players generally are always eager to play in a tournament at home d-irinx the festive season. With an early dis^ tribution of entry forms, players from other centres are likely to bo» induced to enter. Present indications are that tho management is assured of a largo entry. The Sport Grows. In looking through the annual report of the Victoria Association many interesting facts catch the eye. Ono that may puzzle readers is that the asso-

CKUlon nas lOi^i muuiueis, uj. wmuu auu only are playing members. It .is-Wflll to explain that these figures represent the number of members who have joined up with the association.for the purpose of playing -on the association^ ground, or to have the right possibly of reserved seats when any, big matches are staged there. The association has^ fine grounds at Kooyong, "with an up-" i to-dato pavilion, and now a new rein--1 forced concrete stadium is being built j around three sides of the championship I courts. The stand will seat about 4000, and there will be standing room for a further 1000. Permanently; reserved seats, of which there are a limited number, are to be sold at £25: The association has financed the ground by the issue of debentures, and already, over £18,000 has been secured. Membership fees must be pretty heavy, as an ordinary member has to pay this year an entrance fee of £10 10s. Last year the association gathered in over £400 as capitation fees from the competitors in open tournaments, and] very naturally last year'B increase in the number of tournaments held was very satisfactory to the governing body...Since the association has had its own ground in working order very solid '^progress has been made, and this year the number of affiliated associations has increased from fifteen to eighteen, and of .clubs from seventy-three to eighty-three. Associations in New Zealand who have 'largo grounds under formation will be pleased to hear such news, and the Wellington Association in particular can rest assured that its splendid ground at Miramar will be a great asset in the near future. It is a well known fact that Victoria has hundreds of clubs, and thousands of players,'outside the association, and the question is why' are they not affiliated to the -Victoria Association? Is it a case of only the big fish being catered for, gnd the smaller fry allowed to drift' to such an, extent that they now cannot be brought into the net? . Just imagine Victoria with eighteen associations, eighty-three clubs, half of which are country clubs, and the 1642 special members. Whereas little New Zealand has the same number of associations, but has over 400 clubs, and a membership that will this year be close to 24,000. Tho writer does not contend that the Dominion has more te.nnis players than Victoria has, but it is a fact from this "affiliated player" point of view that New Zealand is bettor organised than Victoria is. In New South Wales there are more players outside the . association than affiliated : to~ it, and those who govern the sport in New Zealand should dwell upon this statement, and seek the why and wherefore. The sport requires careful' fostering, and itmust be remembered that the small fry in tennis, even those who are never likely to compete at a New Zealand meeting,* or even win a club, championship, are called. upon to pay. just as much as the best players are, to keep tho pot boiling. It is therefore well that their interests should be as carefully watched as the more-promin-ent players are. The small fry do not get their playing material cheaper than the big fellow; in fact,' in many cases not as cheap, and they pay the: same levy to the sport. The question arises as to what they really want. These players contend' that, their chibs should: see to it that sufficient grades of interclub are run by the respective • associations, so that a reasonable number of lower grade players have a chance of playing in Buch matches. It is contended that in Eugby football competitions are provided for all the teams offering,' and: that.is the proper and correct method of fostering the sport. It is a pretty, tall order; but if one sport can get ■ the necessary grounds, there is no reason why another should fail, provided the players are prepared to actively support the movement. Players in Wellington. hay nothing to growl about. They have \;he ground,land .could have courts in plenty, and even an'up-to-date pavilion immediately if only half of them became members at Miramar. There is no doubt that the Dominion' organisers of the sport should see to it that the affiliated associations are recommended to work wholeheartedly in encouraging all the clubs in their respective, districts'to affiliate. Big as the membership of the New Zealand Association is, there are 'ndications that far too many clubs are in existence that are not * affiliated, and if the movement is allowed to grow it will, soon be beyond handling; ' At the present time . the Canterbury and Auckland Associations each have over 70 clubs affiliated. *'Side-line," in th.c '' New Zealand Herald,'' notwithstanding these figures, writes as follow:— "There must be numbers of clubs in the city and suburbs...which,, are:, not affiliated to the Auckland Association. It is time the association ;awoke to this fact and made some effort to place these clubs under its jurisdiction. This would benefit both parties and -help to advance further the games in Auckland. It is no use waiting for such clubs'to join of their own accord. They probably have not the least idea of the benefits secured by affiliating. What is wanted is an attractive circular setting out these benefitSv In some cases this could be followed up by a personal interview.'' Auckland- and Canterbury Associations cater well for their players with interclub matches^ yet it appears that both have clubs outside the: fold, and it is beyond doubt that the sport is growing to such an extent that an extra watchfulness is necessary to encourage the ever-increasing new clubs to join up. It may be said that is the duty of the respective associations, but as it is one of the objects of the govern-, .ing body to foster the sport, throughout the Dominion it should ""see to it that the sport is not allowed to ■go back in any of its districts. There may be difficulties to get over, but now. is the time to tackle this particular job. It is only small at present, and can pos j sibly be solved, but if allowed to run on for any length of time it will be found that tlie infant has outgrifcvn the parent, and is beyond control. Singer and Sportsman. • John M'Cormack, famed tenor of the concert stage, believes that he missed his vocation when he did not become a tennis player, instead of a noted singer. M'Cormack is very adept with the rac.r quet and has played with the world's leading net stars. M'Cormack recent ly surprised New York net devotees by playing a fine game against the Griffin brothers. The singer is the proud pos sessor of the racquet that Maurice M'Lauchlan won in the Davis Cup singles at Wimbledon. He.^also has among his collection of relics 'a pair of boxing gloves given him by: James J. Corbett, which the latter used.when he fought Jim Jeffries at Coney Island.