PLAINS AFFAIRS.

Thames Star, Volume LIX, Issue 16627, 24 October 1925, Page 5

PLAINS AFFAIRS.

GROWTH OF TENNIS. AID TO SOCIAL LIFE. INCREASING POPULARITY. A more striking instance of the growing popularity of lawn tennis in the would be hard to find than on the Hauraki Plains. The lot of the Plains farmer has never been an absolute of roses, and the whole-hearted and enthusiastic manner in which this splendid game has been taken up on the Plains makes very good reading for enthusiasts and all people interested in improving the social life of the man on* the land. More Courts than Goal-posts. Within the past four years no less than nine clubs have been formed, until to-day every settlement, small or large, has its asphalt or sand courts, all freely used by farmers and their families. As a matter of fact, there are now many more tennis courts than Rugby goal-posts. As the game increased in popular-

ity, club tournaments were promoted, and an associatiirVi wag formed -to promoted a competition to decide which club had the right to call itself the champion club of the district. A “B” grade championship was also formed, and competitions and games are played regulorly throughout the season. The affiliated clubs are Hopai, Ngatea, Netherton, Waitakaruru, Kerepeelii, Turua, Kopuarahi, Patetonga, and Kaihere. Last year the championship was annexed by the Turua Club. Value of the Game. The season about to commence already promises to be as successful as that of last year, most of the clubs haying held their opening days. The players are frequently strengthened by members of the teaching profession and other Government Departments, and last year a representative team defeated Paeroa. The value of the game in promoting the social life of the settlement cannot be too strongly emphasised, and it will occasion no surprise to learn of t,he necessity -of increasing the number of courts in the near future.