Smaller Crowds

Southland Times, Issue 21662, 26 March 1932, Page 15

Smaller Crowds

The remaining prominent feature of the professional season now closed was that in many cases the attendances of the public were smaller, due to no lack of interest in the sports but rather to financial stringency occasioned by the prevailing economic depression. This was not unexpected and, as a matter of fact, most of the societies catered for the public by making reductions in their admission charges. All things taken into consideration, the sports generally were of a successful nature and where the receipts did not quite come up to lost year’s total due allowance was made for the state of the times. Southland is fortunate in the number of energetic sports societies it possesses and during Christmas and New Year their annual fixtures prove popular holiday attractions. This season saw them all to the forefront again, with the exception of three —Mataura, Dipton and Winton. Rather than suffer financial loss the officials of these societies decided to postpone their annual gatherings for the current season. Whether this was a wise decision is an open question, revealing as it did a lack of confidence in the Southland sporting public, but it is an ill wind which blows no one any good. The defection of these three societies resulted in a reduction in the number of counter-attractions on

the dates of other sports meetings and in one case enabled another society to obtain a more suitable day for its annual fixture. Southland enjoys considerable fame as a stronghold of professional sport and every year northern athletes, attracted by the good prize-money, come south to try themselves out in competition with local talent. This season there was an even

greater inducement for to make the trip down —the fact that New Zealand championship events were held, four in all. Edendale and Tuatapere were the societies enterprising enough to secure two championships each. While one could have wished for larger and more representative fields, there was sufficient competition in evidence to make the titles won welldeserved. It is pleasing, therefore, to record that of the four championships three were won by Southland runners. The obtaining of New Zealand championship events has given a big fillip to the sport locally and the responsible societies are deserving of hearty congratulation. It is ,to be hoped that the venue next season is not so fur distant as to preclude the present holders from defending their titles. The visiting athletes came from a variety of places, the most distant being Dannevirke. Christchurch, Ashburton, Rakaia and Dunedin were also represented, while the quota of athletes from the various country centres in Southland was fully maintained.