Our Sports Summary

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 8, 21 February 1924, Page 33

Our Sports Summary

ATHLETIC AND CYCLING SPORTS. ■, » The Otago Athletic and Cycling Club, which i? holding its Ljfitial sports meeting on February 23, haff all arrangements in hand, and everything points to a successful gathering. The meeting will take place on the Caledonian Ground. Among the competitors will be Phil O’Shea, the Australian cycling champion. The prize money for the, meeting totals £125. '■■■■. THE ALL BLACKS TEAM TO VISIT ENGLAND. Following the appointment of a sub-committee to report on the proposed series of trial games from which the All Black team to tour England is to be selected, the recommendations set forth below were adopted by the New Zealand Rugby Union last week. These were that a series of matches should be played in both islands as follows: Saturday, May 10 —Auckland, North Auckland, Thames Valley, Waikato v. Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty, East Coast, and Poverty Bay, at Auckland; Saturday, May Wellington, Wairarapa," Horowhenua, Bush v. Taranaki, Wanganui, Manawatu, and King Country, at Wellington; Wednesday, May 21Possibles v. Probables (North Island), picked from the above teams, at Wellington; Saturday, May 24 —Canterbury, Otago, and Southland v. South Canterbury, West Coast, Buller, Nelson, Golden Bay, and Marlborough, at Christchurch; Wednesday, May 28 —Possibles and Probables (South Island), to ha. picked from the above teams, at Christchurch ; Saturday, May 31 —North v. South Island,'at Wellington; Tuesday, June 3—Possibles v. Probables, at Wellington. AONACH TAILTEANN. Mr. O’Hanlon, organiser for Aonach Tailteann, has had a most enthusiastic reception in America, and has met with influential support in every city he has visited. Mr. Doheny, oil magnate, has been appointed treasurer of the American Executive. Trophies are already guaranteed by different Irish societies in America. A fund of £2OOO has been guaranteed by some wealthy Irishmen to organise and equip the teams from England. A cable message last week to the daily press, states; —■ Trinity College, Dublin, will place the college and grounds at -1 the disposal of the Australian and New Zealand competitors at the Tailteann games in August. ST. PATRICK’S SPORTS ASSOCIATION, CHRISTCHURCH. The monthly meeting of the St. Patrick’s Sports Association was held last week; Mr. B. J. McKenna presided. Messrs. E. Samuels and F. O’Connell were elected vicepresidents of the association. Three new members of the association were elected. The following officials were elected to act at the sports meeting to be held on March 14 and 15; —Superintendent of sports, Mr. B. J. McKenna; deputy-superintendent, Mr. C. H. Taylor, sen.; chief consul, Mr. W. J. Walter; referee, Mr. J. Kennedy; handicapper of amateur events, Mr. R. Beattie; handicapper of professional events, Mr. S. Cox; clerk of course, Mr. J. S. 'Bulloch; handicappers, cycling, Messrs.' W. J. Walter and P. C. Lucas; judges, amateur running, Messrs. C. S. Thomas (supervisor), W. Flcwellyu, Moss Ballin, J. Guthrie, A. L. Chappell and J. K. Maloney; judges professional running, J. M. Coffey (supervisor), J. F. Wilson, R. Nash, W. Hayward, H. St. A. Murray, G. Ryan, Rev. Father Stewart; judges field events, J. Anderson (supervisor), W. Robins, J. Cunningham, F. Stevenson, P. Ryan and Rev. Father O’Connor; judges jumping, Messrs. D. Kelleher, W. J. McKenzie, G. Goldstone’ E. M. McKenna; judges cycling, A. B. L. Smith (supervisor), T. H. James, J. A. Healings, P. C. Crooke, G. Hayward, G. Sutherland; starter, Mr. W. Walden; as-sistant-starter, Mr. S. Cox; timekeepers, Messrs. W. E. Simes (supervisor), W. Johnson, A. E. Byrne, J. Buchanan,

S. Whale, D. J. Dennehy, and Free Holmes; marksmen and observation stewards, Messrs. T. P. Fogarty (supervisor), Brother Phelan, T. P. O’Rourke, H. Sloan, J. Flan nelly, E. Riley, J. E. Bowers, J. Foley, E.. Fitzgerald, D. McCormick, H. O’Connor, H. Upjohn, B. McCleary, S. Ryan, J. Rodgers, G. Henderson, Brother Marcellan, J. Ormandy, G. Getson; press stewards, Messrs. M. Mannix, L. Lascellos, B. Turner, E. Crooke, and AY. Shaw; result board, Messrs, H. McSwiggan, P." Pearce, J. Jacques, J. J. Hendren, AY. Crossen, J Haughey, and J. Docherty; judicial committee, Messrs. G. Ryan, M. Grimes, J. Jacques, J. S. Tulloch, T. P. O’Rourke, Rev. Brother Phelan, P. P. J. Araodeo, J. M. Coffey, and H. J. Fraser; dressing-room stewards, Messrs. F. Smyth, T. E. Madden, S. Ryan, J. B. McCormickj H. Kennedy; number*'stewards, Messrs. J. Cinningham, and J. Rodgers; committee room stewards. Messrs. M. Wall and L. J. Power ; gate stewards, Messrs. F. Kingdom and H. O’Connor; ground committee, Messrs. J. Anderson, S. Ryan' 0. J. Taylor, J„ Cunningham, J. Rodgers, G. Getson; social committee, Mess/s. H. O’Connor, R. Nash, J. hlanqelly, J. Rodgers, P. Ryan, P. Pearce, E. FitzgerHd, T. P. O’Rourke (convener).

? ATHLETICS A RELIGIOUS AID. From time to time (states the Baltimore Catholic Be-, vif’ir), it receives requests for the elimination of its sports’ page. The Review has declined to accede to such requests. It regrets that because of the size of the paper it cannot give more space to athletics. Apropos of some of these requests and the statements made by certain parties that a Catholic paper should have no room for such “trivial stuff” as snorts, the Review would suggest-a reading of an article in the Queen’s Work for November, entitled: “A Word on Athletics.” The article is written by the Rev. Francis J. Finn, S.J., whose books for boys have been read by hundreds of thousands of American youngsters in the last twenty years and more. In his article Father Finn emphasises the value of athletics in keeping boys pure and clean-minded. He says that the boy who is intensely fond of athletics lias little time or inclination for bad thoughts or impure conversations. He quotes a Spanish Jesuit as saying that the conversation of the average American boy who is interested in athletics is far more edifying, far more gentlemanly and Christian than the conversation of boys of the same age in Eflrope, who are not quite so absorbed in sports. The Spanish priest says that while many boys and young men in Europe are guilty of the most indecent language in their conversations, the American boys give themselves up to a discussion of baseball and football, of hatting and fielding averages and the deeds of gridiron heroes. Father Finn says that an American detective who has travelled in Europe also spoke to him upon this same difference. Father Finn in his travels has found that members of his Order,a the Society of Jesus, are taken more into the confidence of their pupils in the United States, England and Ireland than in the other countries iii which they teach. This confidence is engendered by their participation in the games in which the students of the three counti ics play. He, has found that the average of religious vocations among boys who are enthusiastic athletes is remarkably high . • „ The Notre Dame football eleven which has made such a gloiious record in the last few years, goes to Communion before every important game. The number of communicants at Notre Dame among the students is most edifying. Sound bodies and clean minds seem to go together. Since the formation of the baseball and basketball leagues by the Review, this paper has received many reports from priests that the boys on the various teams offer up special prayers for victories they*,go to Communion frequently, offering up their Communions for victory. In , one case, at least, a non-Catholic boy was converted to the Faith ■by reason of the good example, set; him by his companions who played in one of the leagues conducted' by the Review. i