SPORT IN NEW ZEALAND

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 79, Issue 7146, 16 December 1949, Page 5

SPORT IN NEW ZEALAND

GIRLS’ TEAM MARCHING DOMINION FIRST IN THE FIELD The following article was released in London by the Prime Minister’s Department. It is made available to the Courier by the courtesy of Mr F. E, Waters, instructor to the Rochdale Team, and a member of the Waikato Executive which controls marching in this district:— New Zealand may well be the country to introduce to the world a new outdoor sport, for she is the first—and so far the only country—to develop girls’ team marching on a highly-organised, nation-wide basis. Marching in The New Zealand manner provides a colourful spectacle for the crowds which flock to public contests, and an excellent, healthy outdoor activity for thousands of girl participants. Sb rapid has been the growth of team marching as a summer sport that it has become one of the most popular—indeed almost the main team sport for girls and young women from October until April. The sport knows practically no age limits, and there are “midget” and junior teams of girls aged from 8 to 14 years, while at the other end of the scale in senior teams, women of all ages take part. One team last season included a mother and daughter. Rapid Rise To Prominence The origin of the sport is somewhat obscure. Girls’ marching teams were known in New Zealand as long ago as 1927, but in the districts where they were organised, their activities were hardly regarded as a sport, but rather as a colourful and Pleasant interlude during the more serious business of athletic or cycling meetings. The sport began more or less spontaneously in the early 1930’s in a number of widely separated districts. Progress was slow at first, and there were many scoffers. But then public interest and membership of marching organisations began snowballing, and by 1945 the need for co-ordination and standardisation of procedure became urgent, and to meet this need, the New Zealand Marching Association was formed. To-day it controls the activity of 19 district organisations known as centres, each having several Asosciations affiliated. Individual teams, each of ten girls, coming from business houses, factories, State Departmetns, and so on, or just any group of 10 enthusiasts, belong tO' these Associations. This year there are some 68 Associations spread from Kaitaia in the far north of N ew Zealand to Bluff, the Dominion’s southern-most port. There are over 200 teams, giving a total of close on 3000 participants and officials, a membership which is almost double that of four years ago, and one which is confidently regarded as capable of rapid and substantial expansion.

The New Zealand Marching Association has done sterling work in standardising procedures—it has fixed the number of members in a team at nine and a leader; it has laid down standards of drill and has defined the various movements; it has ensured a uniformity in judging methods and has generally co-ordinated the activities of centres. Patron of the Association, which has its headquarters at Wellington, is the Governor-General, Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C.; Vice-Patrons include the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. W. E. Parry, and the Leader of the Opposition, Mr S. G. Holland. Active support is given by physical welfare officers of the Internal Affairs Department. Highly Competitive Sport Team marching is a highly competitive sport, and its devotees claim it is the fairest of all—the element of luck just does not enter into it. Each yepr the New Zealand Association lays down what is called a Standard March Plan, which sets out in detail the drill movements teams perform during a set four-minute period, and this plan is the obligatory routine for all main championships. For each contest two judges are appointed for each of the three sections of the course stipulated in the March Plan, and there are four more judges for special purposes, making ten in all. Points are totalled and an average struck; and no one judge knows what points his associates have granted until the contest is over. In all marching contests glamour is at a discount, and over-elaborate uniforms 'are discouraged. Simple, but attractive home-made kits may win as many points as the more expensive outfits provided for' teams sponsored by the girls’ employers. Dress is only one of 25 headings under which points are awarded; others include skill in carrying out a variety of complicated drill movements, precision, bearing, alertnesss and general smartness. Local contests precede competitions against teams in other parts of the district, either “at home” or “away." Then |>adh year Ceniti|e championships are held, followed by a North and South Island Championship and National Championship at which the “crack team from each Centre compete.” Each team chooses its own uniform, frequently one which members can make themselves at home, but always colourful and neat. Training is often given by former army or air force drill sergeants and ser-geant-majors. The girls speedily gain an intensely keen team spirit which leads them to practice assiduously. This training is not over-exacting for the average girl, but it does demand concentration and alertness. Before championship meetings it is not uncommon for girls to practice two or three times during the week, sometimes for an hour before breakfast, and then again on Saturdays. Looking to the Future New Zealand’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Parry has described team marching as a “healthy, invigorating form of outdoor recreation requiring a high standard of fitness and training,” an activity which “brings to the sports grounds of the country a touch of colour and pageantry much needed to brighten the national life and lift people’s thoughts from machinery and routine.”

This new sport certainly deserves all that Mr Parry says of it, and if the New Zealand Marching Association has its way, the sport will be introduced to other y countries too. Already well over 2000 New Zealand girls, many of whom might not other-

wise take an active part in outdoor sport, are gaining a great deal of pleasure as well as mental and physical benefit from it. Teams travel from one end of the Dominion to the other for contests. Perhaps in the not too distant future, teams from many parts of the world will assemble on the grounds of some host nation for international events. The New Zealand Association hopes •30, and New Zealand would be tHe first to welcome such a colourful concourse.