“Softball” in New Zealand.

Cricket, never the biggest drawcard in New Zealand sport unless overseas stars were in action, has a rival sport in Wellington—a rival which threatens to take a strong root and develop into New Zealand's national summer sport. The sport is called “softball,” and is a modified form of baseball, that glorified game of rounders so popular in America and Canada.

Softball has already attracted more than 1,000 spectators to special matches held in Wellington, and no less than 32 teams have been formed to play in the four grades in the Capital City.

Although the origin of baseball may be shrouded in mystery, there is no need to go back many years to discover the origin of its offspring, “softball.” As mentioned in an earlier issue of the “Railways Magazine,” the school playgrounds in Canada are open the year round and the school children are encouraged to make use of the sports facilities in these grounds during holiday times. But the danger of baseball being played, without adult supervision, brought about the introduction of a soft ball instead of the hard one, and before long the sport had grown into a major summer activity, rivalling baseball for popularity.

Less than two years ago, an American, down on his luck, rented a vacant section near Los Angeles and announced that he was going to introduce Canada's latest sport into Los Angeles. He coached up two teams of young girls, who entered into the sport with enthusiasm—because they were going to show the men how to play! Within two weeks of his opening night this hard-up promoter was “in the money,” to use the vernacular. Any day in the summer you may pick up a Los Angeles sports paper and see softball action photographs on the front page. And, when any sport hits the front pages of American papers— and stays there—it has arrived with a vengeance!

It is claimed for softball that it is one of the few summer sports in which the spectators are not only allowed to audibly criticise the umpires—but are invited to do so!