ATHLETE FAREWELLED

Taranaki Daily News, 9 June 1932, Page 7

ATHLETE FAREWELLED

PRESENTATION TO S. A. BLACK. REPRESENTATIVE AT OLYMPIAD. There, was a large and representative gathering of citizens and athletes in the Devon Rooms, New Plymouth, last night to bid farewell to S. A. Black, the New Zealand amateur quarter-inile champion, who will leave for Wellington on Saturday morning to join the. ship en route to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles. The big attendance demonstrated not only the honour that the town felt in having an Olympic representative, but also the popularity of Mr. Black himself.

The Mayor, Mr. H. V. S. Griffiths, said Mr. Black had won his place by sheer merit, and was going to pit himself against the world’s best. He came of a real old Taranaki family, his greatgrandparents having arrived by the Amelia Thompson. Both his father and his grandfather had been athletes, and other members of the family had made their names on the field of sport. He ‘was sure that Mr. Black was going to prove a worthy representative, and he could assure him that he was carrying with him the best wishes of all his New Plymouth friends. They would watch his progress with interest. Mr. Griffiths was sure that by the time Mr. Black returned he would have added lustre to his already fine record. Dr. G. H. Thomson, speaking on behalf of the New Plymouth Amateur Athletic Club, stated that he had watched Mr. Black’s development with the keenest interest. Mr. Black’s performance oh the grass track at Auckland was a wonderful one and he would do better on the specially-prepared tracks in the United States. Mr. Black was modest and unassuming and always ready to help the younger athletes. He had seen Mr. Black grow up since he was a small boy, stated Mr. W. H. Moyes. Taranaki had produced some great athletes in the past in J. H. Hampton and L. B. Webster, but in Mr. Black they had one as good, if not better Mr. Black was a fine type of a clean-living young man who took his training seriously. He could assure him that the Boys’ High School was proud of him and joined in wishing him luck. On behalf of the Old Boys’ Association Mr. G. Fraser said their guest was one of the most popular' members of the association. He warned Mr. Black that when Greek chased Greek it was always well to be a yard in front. The Mayor presented Mr. Black with a suitcase.

Mr. Black, who was enthusiastically received, said he only hoped he would be able to justify what had been said of him. He thanked his friends for the assistar.de they had given him.

TARANAKI’S PROUD RECORD. REPRESENTATIVES OVERSEAS. The first New Zealand athletes to be sent abroad were J. .H, Hempton and Peter Wood, who were sent to the English championships in 1890. Despite the pioneers’ lack of success, G. W. Smith, a hurdler, and W. G. Simpson made the trip five years later. After this there was a lull in activities until the first Olympic Games in 1908, when Harry Kerr, a walker, and H. St. A. Murray, a hurdler, were sent to represent the Dominion. S. A. Lay was a competitor at the last games, and in company with A. J. Elliot and J. W. Savidan he was sent to the British Empire Games in Canada two years ago. The only other to be sent abroad was R. A. Rose, who after his sensational victories over the American Lloyd Hahn, went to the British championships. In this list Taranaki holds a proud record. No fewer than three—Hempton, Kerr and Lay—came from the province, and two of them are still residing within its boundaries. H. Kerr is farming at Tariki and 8. Lay is in business at] Stratford. !

It was only fitting that in the present team Taranaki should have a representative, and in S. A. Black the province is sending away one who is, in the opinion of experts, as good as any of those who have gone before. The task in front of him, however, is a hard one. So far few of New Zealand’s representatives have succeeded abroad, but the Los Angeles climate is not so very much different from . New Zealand’s summer, and this team should have a better chance.