LAWN TENNIS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 32, 9 February 1929, Page 18

LAWN TENNIS

8r ' MUK*~

WILDING SHIELD

WELLINGTON'S CHANCES

ASSOCIATION BUSINESS TOURNAMENT FIXTURES. Maori Championships—Marco 19 to 23 (at Hamilton) and all F.lnals at Nsaruawahla EASTER DATES. , V Otago—South Island Championships (at Dunediii). " VVel!lnKton~Hard Court Championships and Handicaps (at Miramar). Nelson -Championships, and Handicaps lat Nelson); . . ' , ■ Canterbury--Open and Handicaps (at Wilding . Park) . ...» Hawkes Bay -Championships and Handicaps (at Napier). , : North/ Auckland—Championships and Handicaps (at Whangarei). Walkato—Championships and Handicaps' (at Hamilton). Thames Valley—Championships and Handicaps i (at Te Aroha). ' . - St John's Club--Champlonshlps and Handicaps (at Wanganul) • ' Blrkenlienii and N'ortlicote Club—Championships and Handiraps (at Northcote). New Zealand University Championships (at :. Christchurch). '

■, A quarterly meeting of the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association was held on Monday night, and there was a good attendance of delegates. . The meeting decided that '' each .affiliated club shall be entitled to the following number of delegates on the council: For every 75 members, there shall be one delegate; for between 76 and 12J>, two; and for over 125, three." The change.will give Thorndon' Club three delegates; KhanSallah, Brougham Hill, Lower Hutt, Newtown, Pet One, Victoria, and Wei- 1 lington Clubs will bo entitled to two delegates each, and, in the near future several other clubs who have memberships, of close upon 70 may be able to increase their roll over the 75 mark, thus entitling them to two 'delegates each. The/ Miramar' Grounds members, ordinary and associate, jyill possibly bo entitled to three delegates. The life members arc quite,distinct, from. . the other members, and^ are entitled to two delegates. The increase of delegates is good business, as it gives a larger selection as far as the personnel is concerned •for the management committee or subcommittees. The voting power of clubs will remain as before, each club haying one vote for every member belonging to it. ; , ',''.'''.

It was pleasing to see the quiet confidence of the delegates'regarding the future of the.jsport ; in_'<the Wellington district, and also in the advancement of the association's grounds-at .Miramar. Delegates were satisfied that these grounds must be further improved by having more hard courts, and that it was also absolutely essential that grandstands should be erected, in the very near future. A very careful eye is being kept on all expenditure," and 'thero is every ■ reason to" believe-that the-Miramar grounds will every year give increasing revenue. There is still much to be done before the ..whole scheme is complete, but much has already boen done, and with each year the task becomes, easier..'.The council is composed of enthusiasts,- as well as the .management committee, .every .man being eager and anxious ' for the advaricemont and betterment of the asso--' eiation and of the ■sport in" the Wei-; lington district.. '■ .■ ■: Anthony Wilding Shield. •■■■.-" By the time these notes are published the Anthony Wilding Memorial Shield; will be. won and.lost, .that is, provided the weather has-been kind, in Chmt- 1 church. At the 'time of writing the Canterbury Association holds the'shield,having won it from ■ Wellington last year. - The Wellington team, composed ■ of, Don France, Cam. Malfroy, Len. France, and Rhodes-Williams, left on Thursday night for Christehureh as the challenging side, and the contest was; set down, for yesterday and this afternoon. • Four singles and two . doubles wore played on the .first .day,- and a.like number of matches on the. second-day. Canterbury's team is-not as strong as it: was last year, G. Ollivier hot being eligible'to represent his association this time. For all that, Canterbury has a good: team in C: Angas/I. A. Seay, D. SI Glenyille, and T. W. Patterson. Wellington is slightly stronger .than ' last year, although .Noel Wilson, ' had ho been. available, would- have - made the challenging side one of the. best. Len France was missing last year, and as he is always a tower of, strength when it comes to match-winning under any conditions, it can be said that our team has "an excellent chance of regaining 1 the shield. Don France and'Malfroy should: be 1 able to win their matches' -against Angas and Seay.- .The latter can hardly' be at his best in sihgles play, this sea-" son, as ho has been . away ■ from- the. game owing to a serious illness, and it is/somewhat of a surprise,■■■ but let, it bo said a pleasant one, to see that he is tackling strenuous singles: matches so soon. Len France, on form and performances, should beat both Glanville and Patterson. Rhodes-Williams, on his performances this season, should bo able to very nearly do the same, but to be conservative in summing up, the results may be that Wellington■• will' win. five singles' and three ; doubles, leaving the Canterbury team -with three wins in the singles and- one in the doubles. It must be rememberod, however, that tho matches are the best of three, sets, and that may suit the Canterbury team better than' if. they were the best of five sets. Still, the : best trained players have an advantage when it comes to the third sot, and unless the' opposing, player is vastly .superior in torm, it is usually the best-trained man that wins in the/end, unless, of course, experience and tactics are brought into action to such an extent that what ap-' peared a lost match-may be.turned into a surprise victory; Looking at the two teams as a whole on paper, and not knowing exactly, what.'^rmßeay. is in, but giving. the Canterbury., team the benefit being at jfe very, best, the forecast as given appears right. Wolhngton should bring the shield back by winning eight matches to Canterbury's four, Should this happen, on lßt MarchWellington will no t on] y hM th Anthony Witting Memorial' Shield, 'but [will also bo in possession of thoKathleon .Nunneley Casket, as that valuable trophy is to be handed over to the Wei lington, Association as holders before the. end, of this month., .provided there is no slip betwixt the cup and the lip it is quite evident that before these two trophies are taken from Wellington some very fine contests for their possession will be soen at Miramar, and as both; trophies . are of great historic value, the winning of them should be the aim of all associations. The- Now Zealand Association may, in tho near

futitro, evolve some scheme that may onedlirage ! associations to challengo more frequently for both trophies thaii has/been the case in thepast—at least so far the Anthony Wilding Memorial ShieM'.-is concerned.; MThese-^ matches should produce the cream of New Zealand tennis, andit;is confidently ■ expected that the Wellington public will turn up in large numbers whenever any such future contests arc staged at the Miramar grounds. New Zealand Association. A quarterly meeting of the Council of the New Zealand Association will bo held in the Chamber of Commerco Boom,. "Dominion" Buildings, Mercer, street, on .Thursday, 28th February, at' ,7.45 p.m. Two motions are on" the order paper. The first' applies to tho national championships, which have since 1886 been held during the Chisfcmas and Now Year holidays. It has been suggested that the leading players are not at their best when the New Zealand championships are held, owing to want of practice, and a motion will bo tabled to have the championships held not earlier, than mid-January in each year, on dates to bo.fixed by the Management Committee. There is no doubt that, many players do not get fit or in form by. the end of December, oven though the tennis season -does start in September. It is contended by many enthusiasts in tho North as Well ' as tho South Island, that the invariably unfavourable weather does riot permit them to get sufficient practice so as to be at their best by Christinas time. That may be true in many cases, but;, the bigger factor is that many do not train at all unless by .playing on different courts, and as there are no tournaments until the Christmas time they are lacking in the competitive playing spirit during the earlier months of the season at least. If the players of the championship standard can arrange holiday leave at another time of tho , year in place'of the usual period at the end of December, then'possibly the best time for the national championships to be held would be sohie timo in February. Most of the different association tournaments would be over by that time, and no player could claim that he or she had not had sufficient time to get fit for the February national events. The change is hardly a matter for tho association, as it really concerns the individual players, and provided they can see their way clear to attend the championship meeting, say, in February, there,can surely be no reason for objecting to the alteration. Big tennis will always attract a "gate," when and wherever it is held, consequently the bogey about poor attendances because of the , dates not j being holiday ones 'heed not be taken into account. The last week in January! might be just as good as the first week in February were it not for the fact that the January date might clash with ■' some tournament dates of associations. February appears to bo tho slack month for tournaments, according "to the fixtures of recent'years, and con- ! sequently may be favoured by assoeia-; tions as the most.suitable time to hold the national, championships. There would be no harm in giving the change a try-out, but if a change is. made tho dates should be fixed. at once so that players will have ample time to make satisfactory arrangements for. their holiday leave next tennis season.,

■' Another motion on the order paper is in connection with a national scheme, for the betterment of junior, tennis. Associations.throughout t;he world \have for many years beelj trying to solve., the most ■ satisfactory method of, how to encourage junior tennis from mauy points of view. The governing tfbdies are mostly satisfied that the' clubs, and the associations affiliated to the governing body, must, in the 'first .instance, show a live interest in the junior players for any scheme launched by any governing body to bo a success. It is to be hoped that for the sake of the sport that not only associations and clubs, but senior players, who have done little or nothing for juniors in the: past, will wake up to their. responsibilities and, when asfced/to give up some little, time for the'sake of helping junior tennis in New. Zealand) will not get out by the back door saying, "let someone else take it on." If associations and clubs are to prosper and be represented by players of a high standard of play, fhe clubs must look-to their juniors for successes in future years. If the juniors are neglected now, so will the'representative team be of poor standard in the future. The motion gives a first-class opening for' all delegates ,to speak'their minds, ' and, provided delegates enter into the discussipn without any reservations, there ,is every-prospect of something of a solid nature being laid before the associa-. tions and clubs. Players must carry _out this obligation in a true sporting spirit, and their action must in the end improve.the standard of play, not only among the juniors, but through the various stages right up to the national champions of the future. ,