WOMEN’S HOCKEY

Southland Times, Issue 23227, 16 June 1937, Page 14

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

K CUP TOURNAMENT IN SOUTHLAND (By FULL-BACK) Once again the New Zealand women’s hockey tournament will be held in Southland, the last occasion being in 1930 when Eastern Southland A and Wellington drew for the K Cup, Otago winning the Holden cup. In accordance with the rules governing the tournament ;it was thought that it would be held in the North Island this season, as Marlborough conducted it last year, but as no application was received from the North Island, the New Zealand council had no alternative but to waive the rule and grant the tournament to the South Island. The decision, which was made at last week’s meeting of the New Zealand Women’s Hockey Association, was the subject of much comment by players in the seven-a-side tournament at Wellington on the King’s birthday, states a writer in The Dominion, Wellington, but those who found cause to criticize the action of the Dominion association obviously knew little of what transpired to cause the council to allot the tournament'to Southland. Why Wairarapa was not given the tourney is simply explained, the reason being that the Wairarapa Association did not apply for it. The only application received came from Southland and the council had no option but to grant it. This was fortunate for Southland, but it must be remembered that the home team has had to travel considerable distances for the last three years, to Christchurch in 1934, Gisborne in 1935 and Blenheim last year, and so this year Southland will be able to prepare for the expenses of next year’s tournament. Also it is about time that Southland had a turn, as seven years is quite long enough for the tournament to be held away from here. The last occasion on which Southland won the tournament was in 1929 and it should be possible to select a team from the material available which will be able to win the tournament. The date of the tournament, which has not yet been decided, will probably be late in August. It is to be hoped that a big number of entries will be received from northern centres, as it will give the game here a great fillip. ■

THE SELECTORS’ TASK A difficult task awaits the selectors, as there are some good player's among the teams in Southland. Several newcomers deserve attention. A new player, E. Tuffery, who has joined the Collegiate Club, made a good showing last Saturday and shows distinct promise. She played for Technical last year and the game last Saturday was her first this season. A noticeable fault in both games last Saturday was the tactics adopted by the forwards in the losing teams. The fault was that they played a defensive, instead of an offensive, type of game, forgetting that' the best method of defence is attack. If a team is consistently on defence, the opposition is sure to find the net. It is well for teams to remember that defence is unproductive, and a team with the majority of its members guarding the goal-mouth will never produce goals and will never approach a good standard. The fault can be remedied by showing confidence in the backs and leaving them plenty of room to manoeuvre. An Anglo-Scottish women’s hockey team is to honour Australia with a visit next month, the latest information being to the effect that the party left London last Saturday for Sydney. The visit emanated from a suggestion from the Queensland Association, which is organizing the All-Australia carnival in Brisbane next month. Mrs F. J. Davy was granted permission by the Australian council to negotiate with the English officials while attending the recent conference in Philadelphia, the result being the long-looked-for tour. In calling for applications for the tour in March, the AJI-England Women’s Hockey Association stipulated that the players wishing to make the trip should be of county status, so as to assure a high standard of play while on tour. The team will be known as an AngloScottish combination, and British officials have expressed the wish that this team should be of a standard to maintain the record of English touring teams. All the years in which English teams have been sent abroad they have suffered only one defeat, which is credited to Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1914. It is 10 years ago since an English team visited Australia, and, being aware of the great improvement in Australian hockey in that period, the English officials have taken no risk with the team now on its way to Australia. The match between England and Australia at Philadelphia was close, and reports state that the English officials were perturbed when the scores were level at the interval, and were amazed at the stamina of the Australian team. With the prospects of all the players available this year, Australia should be able to field an even stronger team than was at Philadelphia. The tour should be a great stimulus to Australian women’s hockey, and be the means of improving the standard of the game there still further. There is every prospect of a team of English players of international standard visiting Sydney next year for the hockey tournament, which is to be arranged in conjunction with the 150th anniversary celebrations. Canada, New Zealand, and possibly Suva, are among the teams which are expected to compete. So it will be seen that hockey enthusiasts and players in Australia have a few boom seasons ahead of them. As

the result of the experience to be gained in Australia against visiting teams this and next season, it is likely that if Australia sends a team to England in 1939 for the international tournament, that team will achieve even greater distinction than the 1936 team. At the conclusion of the tour the Anglo-Scottish team intended visiting Fiji, but this arrangement has now been cancelled.