Harrier Sport.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 194, 17 August 1931, Page 8

Harrier Sport.

To thte Editor. Dear Sir, —As a close follower of the harrier sport and one who has seen the sport conducted in other centres 1 wish to endorse the remarks made by “ On the Bank ” in Saturday’s issue of the “ Star.” For the past few years Canterbury have gained no great distinction in the New Zealand Championships, and those interested in the sport are interested to know the reason for the comparatively low position of the Canterbury team. Healthy competition will fail to flourish if certain conditions are absent. It is detrimental to the sport to extol one particularly strong club and give no encouragement to the “ minor ” clubs. Promising young runners belonging to the latter clubs can easily be disheartened and thus the chances of a stronger team in the future are considerably lessened. I would also like to mention that the present starting place of the Canterbury Championships is not of the best. Under ordinary winter conditions, there is a closely connected series of mud-pools from the road to the starting place, and this is not conducive to the increased popularity of the sport. I have heard visiting runners express disgust at the unsatisfactory place of starting. If those responsible would adopt a better attitude towards the sport and encourage weaker clubs, and if they would seek to abolish those conditions that are unsatisfactory, then we could expect to see the sport grow in popularity, and our provincial team ranked as first grade quality. —I am, etc., INTERESTED.