SUMMER SPORT IS HERE

Southland Times, Issue 23946, 12 October 1939, Page 10

SUMMER SPORT IS HERE

Full Calendar In Southland With the advent of summer, thoughts once more turn to seasonal sport and recreation. The longer hours of daylight provide more leisure for the enjoyment of relaxation from indoor routine, and there are few Southlanders—natural lovers of the great outdoors —who will not take advantage of the change. Summer days may mean days of laziness for. some, but for the great majority of the people of Southland it means days when outdoor recreation can be enjoyed to the full. To the sports lover the province offers every facility. Invercargill, with its abundance of parks and playgrounds, caters for every form of sport. Few townships in Southland are without cricket fields, bowling greens and tennis courts, and the games enthusiasts are coming into their own. The climax to long weeks of preparation has been reached, and already organized summer sport has established itself. Bowling greens have been top-dressed, rolled and brought to that state of perfection upon which every keen bowler insists; turf cricket pitches are receiving expert attention and tennis courts have been repaired and marked. Sportsmen and sportswomen are eager with that spirit of optimism which only summer can give to prove that they can rise to greater heights than last season. The same impulse to excel is present. Athletes, swimmers, and rowers all are training with zest; croquet players are patting determined balls on greens in many partsof the city, hikers are limbering up their muscles in contemplation of long forays into the back country of the province, and anglers are whipping the streams. Summer truly is here ! MANY FIXTURES DURING HOLIDAYS Southland will not take a very prominent part in national events in conjunction with the celebration of New Zealand’s centennial, but a full calendar of fixtures in all sports has been arranged, and during the holiday period there will be competition for all. The most outstanding fixture on the calendar will be the South Island bowls championships, the first to be held, which have been entrusted to the Southland Bowling Centre. Many prominent bowlers from all parts of New Zealand are expected to compete at the tournament. Athletics and bushcraft events will claim many followers. Long recognized as the Mecca of the professional athlete Southland has gone from success to success with its sports meetings, and this year, in spite of the international situation there is every promise that this branch of recreation will flourish more than ever. Well organized and patronized by athletes and bushcraftsmen from all parts of the Dominion and some parts of Australia southern sports carnivals are comparable with any in the world. They are a direct survival of the old and colourful Caledonian Games and exert as strong an appeal to the public. The Otautau meeting, on Labour Day, will mark the opening . of the southern circuit; then follow Edendale, on Christmas Day, Limehills, on Boxing Day, Tuatapere, on New Year’s Day, Orepuki, Browns, and many others. The revival of the Invercargill Caledonian Games, in January each year, must not be forgotten in the welter of sports gatherings. Held at the Invercargill showgrounds, this event now rivals the greatest meetings of the kind in New Zealand in popularity. POPULAR AQUATIC EVENTS Aquatics also have a prominent place in southern sport, and here again good provision on the sporting calendar is made for the devotees of swimming, rowing and yachting. The annual regattas at Bluff and Riverton are most popular holiday events, and the Invercargill regatta, re-established on the New River last season will undoubtedly be a special attraction this season. Swimmers will again have a wide choice of venue for their activities. The city baths, the beaches, rivers and Bluff waterfront provide splendid facilities for competitive swimming and life-saving. Invercargill swimmers have reacted to the closing of the baths for three of the winter months, and daily they have been seen taking advantage of the warm weather and cool pool to get ready for the many championships which will be decided later in the season. Tennis players, summer golfers, cricketers and croquet players, too, all will have standards to play to. The annual Christmas tournament of the Southland Tennis Association is the main event for tennis players, and younger cricketers will probably get their opportunities in interprovincial fixtures later in the season. A record sporting season is in sight.’