Salient. The Newspaper of Victoria University College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 19, No. 3. March 24, 1955
Sports Page — Editorial
Sports Page
Editorial
At this time of the year the thoughts of sporting people are turning from the green turf and blue skies of the summer to the mud and slush of the winter playing field, from cricket and tennis to rugby and fencing. For this reason the Sports Page of this issue is chiefly occupied by reports from the Annual Meetings of several of the winter sports clubs. By reading all the annual reports one is able to pick out several very significant points which seem to be common to all and I would therefore like to mention some of these in this, my first editorial.
The first, and most disturbing feature of the reports was the ever recurring mention of the difficulty clubs had last year in regularly fielding lower-grade teams. As mentioned elsewhere on this page, "good, strong and keen teams in the lower grades are the backbones of any sporting club." A survey of the reasons why many students do not take a fuller advantage of the sporting opportunities open to them at this University appears elsewhere on this page, so I will not comment at present.
The second point, and one which appears to be the direct opposite of the first, is that last season Victoria College teams enjoyed (collectively) their best season in the past decade. The success of both the Rugby and Harrier Clubs was almost overwhelming, while all of the other clubs had their fair measure of success also, and the season concluded with the magnificent climax of winning the University Winter Tournament here in Wellington last August.
Yes, it was a great season but last year has passed and we have to look forward to this season and the next and the one after that. It is when considering the future that it is necessary to stop and think—what can be done to make our clubs and sports teams attractive enough to draw and retain their members?
The answer to that question lies in the hands of Club Committees, and I would urge them to consider the matter carefully; to think less about the Senior teams and more about the lower-grade player, so that real club spirit may be fostered and we will have less comments like this one, heard at an AGM last week as a contribution to a discussion on why younger players did not attend some of the club's social functions; "Oh, many of the chaps understood that it was for Senior players only."