HLL LHI SMAI P * TEU AT | Mass participation. will produce champions Demand for sports plan spreading across Canada By STAN LINKOVICH : : What with the Soviet hockey team beating Canada at its own game in the Winter Olympics, and with the Summer Games coming up this year, more and more people are . Putting forward the idea of a mass sports program in Canada. Sports editors of eeny Can adian papers have begun to open fire at the government, insisting on immediate action to make sure Canada is well represented at Melbourne in November. Four months ago the National such as yours for a recreational their members of parliament and Federation of Labor Youth laun-_| op the minister of health and wel- ched a campaign for federalj The Winnipeg Labor Council] fare. 0vernment financial aid to sport (CCL) agreed to pass on to its} Champion has interviewed this year — to the tune of $10! Recreational Committee a letter| sports figures, trade union of- Million. This would be part of| from Floyd Williston, NFLY'ficials and others on the idea. @ longer-term, federal govern-| ment $100 million national sports program. _Champion, Canada’s only na- tional youth newspaper, has taken up this campaign. In Winnipeg, the NFLY circu- lated a questionnaire to sports Organizations and individuals. In| answer to this questionnaire, Howard Paulley, president * of the Politics Club of the Univer- Sity of Manitoba said: “I favor your proposal, but feel that because of the need for federal aid for education, $50 Million (instead of $100 million) Would be a more suitable amount.” He felt the arms bud- Set should be cut by about $300 | . Million, using the money to pro- Vide the needed facilities, coaches and so on. He added: “‘The money Should be spent to help all groups, leading to the physical, moral and mental growth of Manitoba’s and Canada’s young people.” € program director of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Winnipeg said: “Personally, I &vor such a proposal and feel t the money should come from the general taxation fund. It Could be used for direct aid to recreational groups and for the Taining of leaders. It would also Make possible the construction Now, of the much needed gym- nasiums, pools, community cen- tres and so on.” CCF MP Stanley Knowles also said he favored the idea ‘hat money now being spent on defense” should be spent on €alth, housing and “programs Will Soviet accor champs visit Canada? . Manitoba secretary, suggesting a | $100 million plan for mass sports land recreation, to “strengthen Canada’s Olympic team for 1956. In Toronto, the NFLY visited | the parks committee in support of the proposals of the parks commissioner to build 11 new recreation centres, eight swim- ming pools and five artificial ice rinks in 1956. The parks committee was ask- ed to endorse this program and to seek senior government as- | sistance in carrying it through this year. Pending such assis- tance, the NFLY proposed that the city begin five projects immedi- ly. aoe Vancouver, Mayor Fred Hume was asked to call a con- ference of youth leaders to dis- cuss the juvenile delinquency problem, He acknowledged the letter but set no date. : And in Montreal, a question- naire is being circulated asking for opinions on its proposals of a $25 million plan for a provin- cial government sports program. First reports indicate a favorable response. ne What exactly is the NFLY asking for in this Olympic year ? Specifically, that the govern- ment provide the sports coaching and recreation facilities to help send our best 125 athletes to the 1956 Olympics, and to aid ama- teur sport groups. The money could come from a cut in the arms budget—which is what many interested in sup- porting such a plan are telling, Support has come from such people as swimming Coach Gus Ryder, Jim Vipond, sports editor of the Globe and Mail; Hec Crigh- ton, dean of Canada’s rugby ref- erees; Sheila Gawley, YMCA physical and health department director, and others. At a recent meeting of the Canadian Amateur Sports Ad- visory Council, M. Rogers, presi- dent of the group, declared: “It is difficult to assess our ‘Car ol wins wor Id title Canadian sports picture. There is evidence of occasional great- ness, as for example, Marilyn Bell, and there is evidence of a gradual awakening of inter- est and understanding of what ean be done. In my opinion, there is too much emphasis on making sport a spectacle only, where crowds sit and very few perform ... to me, it is more our business, as sport govern- ing bodies, to support and en- courage the participation of the many. Out of the many will come a few greats—given a chance, you can’t stop them and the greater the number, the more ‘naturals’ will be dis- covered ... “A considerable increase in | facilities and _ instructors in) physical recreation and sport is| very seriously needed. Our sport: governing bodies, both collec- | tively and individually, can do a great deal themselves and in influencing our government to take an active part. The situa- tion can be corrected. Let us not | waste time.” Earlier this year there was talk that Moscow Dy Y soccer fans are hoping th ; Won the USSR cup finals in Moscow recently, will also ‘S One of the most popular sports in Breve, namos would visit Canada this year, but 5] House of the Soviet Army (shown above) who a Fie a be invited to. show their wares here. Soccer the Soviet Union, as the packed stands in this picture clearly Carol Heiss, a 16-year-old blonde from New York, upset Olympic champion Tenley Albright of Newton, Massachusets to win the women’s world figure skating championship. The two girls, keen rivals for the past two years, met twice this year, first at the Olympics at Cortina and last week at the world tournament in Germany. Gert Whyte's SPORTLIGHT TENDSHIP and love” prevailed at Cortina, “brotherly with one notable exception. There was no trouble between nations, but inside the USS. team a bitter feud raged be- tween ice skating stars Tenley Albright ‘and Carol Heiss, with the girls’ mothers adding fuel to the flames. : Leggy Tenley, the belle of Boston and darling of the social set, took top honors at the Olym- pics, and runner-up Carol was so upset that she at first refus- ed to pose with the champion. The bitterness became even more intense last week in Ger- many, when the two U.S. skat- ing queens met again in the world championships. But this time it was Carol Heiss, who has been skating seriously for the past 10 years (she’s just 16 now) who finished in front. Why the hard feelings? Well, it takes a lot of money to de- velop a figure skating star — something in the neighborhood of $20,000 — and both girls hope to recover this investment, plus many thousands more, by turn- ing professional and topping the bill in one of the ice extrava- ganzas which tour the U.S. and Canada each winter. But skaters are a dime a doz- en, and to get her name in lights a girl has to win either an Olympic or world ice skating title. Hence the grim deter- mination of Tenley and Carol and their ever-lovin’ mammas. Perhaps, having split honors, they'll both be happy now, though somehow I doubt it.. * * * In one way it’s too bad that Wes Santee, the big wind from Kansas, has been suspended for life by the U.S. Amateur Ath- letic Union for taking too much “expense” money from track and field meet promoters. Santee is a good miler, the best in the U.S., and also the FEBRUARY 24, 1956 — biggest boaster. Over and over again he has promised to run a four-minute mile, and not only that, but he confidently predicted that he could make bums out of such as Landy, Ban- nister, Chataway and Tabori. I’m truly sorry that he won't get the opportunity to live up to his boast, or at least eat his words, at Melbourne next No- vember. I’d dearly love to be there and see Santee run against elharos, Tabori, and Landy m the Olympic mile. For my guess is that he would finish far back in the pack. But now we'll never know. x * * Some surprise, that unherald- ed soccer team from Turkey heating the fabulous Humgar- ians 3-1 at Istanbul Sunday this week. * * * Reader Stan Lowe writes that he’s disappointed by my “jus- tification of the so-called wrest- ling fiasco as practised today in this country” and surmises that Doug Hepburn may have quit the game because he “sees through the sham of present day wrestling and would rather work toward a more positive contribution in the field of Can- adian sports.” I have no quarrel with you Stan. Many a time and oft Pve exposed modern professional wrestling for what it is — a fake and a fiasco as a sport, but. acceptable if labelled “en- tertainment only.” ‘As for Hepburn, he enmee wanted to open a gymuasium here, but found he cowldn’t . make any big money as a weightlifter, so turned te the grunt-and-groan game te piek up some easy money. I see mo reason why he shouldn't con- tinue long enough to get the stake he started out to make — then retire and open a gym. Latest reports indicate that Doug may “unretire” fer jast that purpose. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE li .