THE DEATH OF SATOH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 83, 9 April 1934, Page 6

THE DEATH OF SATOH

dramatic death of Mr. Satoh, the champion tennis player of Japan, and captain of the Davis Cup team, has caused widespread regret. The Japanese tennis players have been well regarded throughout the world for their sportsmanship and for the thoroughness with which they have attacked the problem of gaining a front-rank position for their country in the tennis world. The young Japanese who shows promise in this, now the most international of games, is encouraged to devote his lime to the sport. He is aided in his career, and frequently he is found a position in the London office of a Japanese bank or some other similar institution. This intensity of interest acts both as spur and prize 1o the young sportsman; but it must not be overlooked that the athlete wiio is driven too hard feels the demands of the public upon him and comes to be burdened with a feeling of tremendous responsibility. This burden is possibly greater where national prestige is considered 1o be involved in a sporting contest, and this applies to Rugby as well as to tennis. The unhappy end which has come to Satoh should be a reminder Io those who would impress unduly upon young athletes the responsibility which rests upon them, (lames still are games, and the amateur code should be more strictly interpreted to treat them as such. It is when games are not played in the amateur spirit —that is, not for the love of the game itself, but for other considerations—that the goodness and virtue go out of so much of modem sports.