The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1924. TENNIS AND JOURNALISM.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1924, Page 6

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1924. TENNIS AND JOURNALISM.

The controversy which arose in America relative to the question of the amateur status of players involved a principle which it iS certainly necessary to maintain if sport of all kind is to be kept free from the taint of professionalism. The report of the special amateur rule committee of the American Lawn Tennis Association, the appointment of which was the outcome of the playerwriting controversy consequent on the action of Tilden and Richards in writing articles on tennis tournaments in some of which they had taken part, defines in plain terms what an amateur may and may not do if he is to retain his amateur status. Whether the definition will be accepted and endorsed by the members of the association will not be decided until early in the coming year, so that ample time is given to permit of the details of the report being thoroughly, considered in all their bearings before the verdict is delivered. The distinction between an amateur or professional is, in the general way, very simple, namely, that an amateur plays for the love of the game, while the professional follows the sport for what he can make out of it, directly or indirectly. That is, of course, only an abstract definition and does not cover/ the case of a player in the front rank of any particular game who, as in the case of Tilden, contributed press articles on tennis contests, by reason of his being considered an expert of the game, and received payments therefor. Had Tilden earned his living either as a literary free lance or as a member of a newspaper staff and written on tennis matters in the ordinary course of his avocation, without disclosing his identity, there could not possibly have been any question as to his being an amateur, but it will be gleaned from the committee’s report under what circumstances an amateur loses his status and becomes a professional. In the committee’s opinion the amateur status is forfeited by any individual “who plays for a money prize or gate receipt, enters any competition open only to professionals, accepts money for using a manufacturer, permits himself to be advertised as a user of such goods, or permits his name or initials to be used on such goods.” Dealing with the matter of the player-writer, the committee considers that any person is ineligible as an amateur who uses or sanctions, after January 7, 1925, the use of his titles or a statement of his tennis reputation in connection with books, journalistic articles, cinemas, lectures or radio talks for which hereceives compensation. Lastly, that a player forfeits his amateur status who receives pay for writing newspaper articles covering tournaments in which he is a competitor. Most of the unbilassed portion of a community will probably consider ' that the list of disqualifications is fairly

comprehensive, and it is likely they will stress the wisdom of penalising any competitor who writes for pay upon any tournament in which he is a competitor. However expert a player may be, he is manifestly not the proper person to give the public a purely independent report of a contest in which he takes part, although he may be swayed with the best of intentions, for there is always that weak spot in human nature which blurs attempts to do full justice to a personal matter in respect of which I ayment and self-advertisement are important factors. It -will be seen there is nothing to prevent Tilden or any other amateur to continue writing on tennis matters, and receiving payment therefor, provided their identity is not made public. All enterprising newspaper managements have recourse to experts as paid contributors, and the public get the benefit from that practice, but it is in the best interests of amateur sport that it shall not lend itself to the leading exponents as a medium of self-adver-tisement or professionalism as defined by the tennis committee;