SPORT IN WARTIME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 241, 13 October 1942, Page 4

SPORT IN WARTIME

HAILEY’S denunciation of the 74,000 people who attended the Randwick race meeting on Saturday, arises out of a misconception. His own association with sport is that of a firstclass cricketer who, to keep his place in the front rank, was compelled to devote the major portion of his time to practice and performance. The spectator of cricket and racing is not in the same circumstances as the professional performer. The spectator is seeking relaxation from the ardours of the, week, and a man who has been engaged in strenuous labours doesn’t need strenuous occupation in his leisure hours, nor does the man who is past his prime. Because man is not a machine he cannot keep on doing the same thing over and over again. Even the exciting work of the aviator cannot be continued over a long period, and the senior officers watch their men for any “browning off.” The, industrial worker and the office employee, too, can suffer from browning off, and it is to guard against, this condition of exhaustion that a measure of sport, and of organised sport, both for the participant ind for the onlooker, is to be encouraged. “All work and no 'lay makes Jack a dull boy,” is sound psychology in,wartime, as n peacetime, although conversely, too much sport makes Jack a moilt boy. A large crowd at any sporting event is not to be deplored so long as the number of sporting occasions does not, get in he way of war production. Where a due sense of proportion •prevails the war effort is added to by the recreation of human strength and nervous energy.