STAN LEVENSON » Politics out of sport” his was the reaction of NY people to Alexi Me- , Protest against apar- |, "Ng the Wimbledon ten- fament, also the slogan behind Teactionary politicians €ir efforts to introduce War and racialism into ing world. ‘ Metreveli explained, it Uth African government Mtroducing “racial dis- °n instead of sporting the test in selecting its ard, too USty point was made four a by famous cricketer ie Sheppard, when he Play against the South uring team. Nately the first funda- Mciple of the Olympic it Continually being di Says that there shall ‘Scrimination “against 'y or persons on ™ Yace, religion or poli- © International Olympic and many _ interna- ts federations are not Xtision to bar South “S taken only after con- Pressure and then they N three “last” chances Partheid, ch do hesitation was seen Nesia was summarily ; from membership of Pic movement for re- S$ to the Formosa and 4.8 to the Asian Games ih 1962. b has since been re- ut only after the new yations had threatened ay. National sports lead- always so determined Fon to support the al. the position of sports- © German Democratic arred by the politi- GDR athlets)s swimmers, cyclists, footballers, table tennis players have been invited to Bri- tain for years only for the invita- tions to be torn up in Whitehall. The most recent example was the refusal of visas for the GDR team to the international youth soccer tournament in Bri- tain last year. Banned Unlike Indonesia, Britain was not suspended. _ At the end of 1962 the Ameri- can-supported Philippines goy- ernment refused visas to the Russians: and Yugoslavs coming to the world basketball cham- pionships. The Philippines was not suspended. In 1961 Portugal refused visas to several East European youth soccer teams due to compete in an Official tournament in Lisbon. The competition carried on without them, but no action was taken against the Portuguese. . World weightlifting, skiing and other competitions have been marred by the ban on GDR. Competitors and countries erecting the bans have got off scot-free. The Americans continually use Formosa’s membership of the In- ternational Olympic Committee as a means of excluding People’s China. The pattern is obvious. Indo- nesia, not aligned with any Wes- tern war groupings, is disciplined for acting against two American satellites—Formosa and Israel. But countries supporting NATO and SEATO can get away with violations of the Olympic ideal—provided they are against the socialist world. Washington, London, Paris and Bonn hinder sports contacts because it helps to keep the cold war going. They don’t like the true pa- triotism, friendship and under- -Tennts is not cricket | then discrimination ts test the . standing that helps to create an atmosphere of peace. This is what they mean by keeping politics out of sport. Fortunately the sportsmen are getting fed up with the situa- tion, although too few have voiced their opinions. An appeal But several presidents of in- ternational sports federations have issued a joint-appeal for the governments to stop interfering. And last year the International Olympic Committee at last moved itself to demand an end to government-erected barriers in world sport. This is a very important move. reluctant as it is, and it is now up to peacelovers and the sports world to make sure that this de- mand is won. : By JOHN HARVEY HE WAS standing at a bus stop with two of her girl friends. She had a beehive hairdo, eye shadow, lipstick and nail polish. She carried a transis- tor radio that said, “Ya, Ya, Ya.” - “Pm going steady,” she told her friends. She was, I would. judge, 12 years old. She was no bigger than a pint of cider. “Going steady’—what ironic mockery of society is life mak- ing in this. child? Is it taking revenge of society that declares that fathers who © are 40 are occupationally “too old” to get a good job? In the help wanted ads the accent is ‘on youth: read them, In the ads that sell everything in the magazines, youth is idoliz- ed. Be young and beautiful. And if you can’t be beautiful, be. young. Soap makes you young, cars make you young, soft drinks make you young. The only job a man over 40 can qualify for in Canada is that of prime minister. You can . ing: be prime minister even if yo are 80. : a In a series of articles on teen- age gangs the Toronto Telegram quoted gang members as say- “There’s lots of girls around who are available any- time to anybody. They’re nice enough, but most of the fellows th*-k they are kind of sick. It used to be that they were 16 or 17-year olds. Now they’re 13 and 14. Kind of terrible isn’t it?” “Jail is a Status Symbol in the City’s Gangland,” said the head- line over the article. It contain- ed one explosively significant statement. about gangs: ‘The gangs are one thing you can’t buy. Money doesn’t help at all.” Money won’t buy membership in a gang. Is it youth’s only re- treat from being bought and sold, from being sold by the “hard sell”, the “soft sell’; the soap sell, the car sell, the per- fume sell, the status sell... ‘Jail is a status symbol”... . so- ciety has even penetrated the the gang. Where will yuvuth retreat to next? =: “I’m going steady,” she said. She was 12 years old. — The gangs extend from the city’s centre to the richest sub- urban plaza. Loneliness knows no social and economic barriers. Cynicism? Cynicism is the cal- lous that hurt grows to protect itself just as your feet grow cal- louses to protect them from the rocky road. One c_. that even the touch of affection hurts. It happens to young peo- ple. Father’s too old to work at 40. Mother isn’t beautiful. She doesn’t drink the “those who think young.” Life is taking, its revenge among the young because society denies maturity, disparages the age of parents, Across Canada we are build- ing great “cultural centres’. In fact someone said we are deve- loping an “edifice complex”. To me, we are developing a lot of downtown real estate: Millions sustain such hurts— drink for ~ July 24, 1964—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 7 lronic mockery of ‘going steady’ at 12 years old for brick and mortar add up to ticket prices that are for the monkey suit and mink set. No community cultural and sports centres for youth? No money for musical instruments? No money for hockey, baseball and football equipment? Put the big dough in the city centres. The commercial areas need a “shot in the arm’, Like the big hotels and restaurants that. cater to after-theatre crowds. Like the big stores where you can shop after a ma- tinee. Sure, it is easy to save Ea- tons, .Simpsons, Morgans, and the Hudson Bay. They have no souls. Monéy makes them hap- py. It is harder to save youth. It has a:soul. “Money doesn’t help at all.” “I’m going steady.” Father is too old. He’s on the social scrap heap. Beauty is for “those who . think young.” “Sometimes I feel like @ fatherless child” is what that child was saying. :