HAPPY AMATEURS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17182, 27 October 1923, Page 9 (Supplement)

HAPPY AMATEURS.

THE REAL SPORTSWOMAN. Lots of women deny themselves physical pursuits because they have a temperamental urge to do everything superlatively well or not at all. I There is some form of outdoor sport suitable for every woman who is not an invalid or abnormally below par. Rut she shuts herself off from enjoyable exercise in the good open air simply because she cannot shine on golf course, tennis court, or on horseback. She looks at the young Dianas who have been playing games for years; whose muscles have become automatically obedient ; and declares pettishly that she doesn’t intend to make a fool of What a childish attitude it is! One cannot have all the gifts, and the woman who is brilliantly intellectual, or has some outstanding creative talent, is not often the born games-player. But she can, at least, be a sportswoman, and enter the lists of happy amateurs who are out for good healthy exercise. And she may rest assured that the good plaj-ers—who incidentally are very kind to beginners— art? much too keen on the game t > play the role of critic. It is only her own acute self-consciousness that translates every smile, every inaudible remark, into a personal affront or humiliation. The only humiliation is the display of illtemper that cannot bear to acknowledge superior prowess in an unfamiliar field. The happy amateur who goes £ smilin’ thru' is just as good as a sportswoman, in the best sense of the word, as ant' Lenglen who ever acknowledged the plaudits of a cheering crowd. HELEN SEYREZ.