One of the gamest sports performances at the Olympics
Was put.on by Irene McDonald (above) who won a
bronze medal for Canada despite an attack of bursitis which

crippled one shoulder.

Gert Whyte's

SPORTLIGHT

OST readers have been

drenched by a spate of
sports history in the past fort-
night, and I have no intention
of boring you with further
memories of 1956. Groucho
Marx, when told he could
smoke if he didn’t: annoy the
lady airplane passengers, ex-
claimed, “You mean there’s a
choice! Then I'll annoy the
ladies.” I also have a choice, to
review the sports highlights of
last year or to march onward
and upward ‘into 1957 with
prognostications of things to
come. So, then, forward
march.

To begin with, equine fol-
lowers are looking ahead with
impatience to May 17, when
‘Little Saratoga” opens its
gates and the gee-gees start
running. Horse racing is eas-
ily the most popular sport in
B.C; and devotees are expect-
ed to pour some $12 million
through the pari-mutuels at

Exhibition, Lansdowne and
Sandown Parks.
Hockey, that fastest of

games, is in the public eye at
the moment, but Vancouver
Canucks aren’t doing too well
in the Western Hockey League
and could use an injection of
new blood. An antiquated barn
masquerading as a rink keeps
attendance figures down. When
are the hockey moguls going
to wake up and realize that
adequate, comfortable facili-
ties for the fans would double
the gate receipts? A freezing
tokus has a tendency to chil!
enthusiasm.

Soccer; the international
game, began to come into its
own last season, when it mov-
ed into Empire Stadium and
drew top crowds for exhibition
games featuring Soviet and
Old Country sides. Thousands
of spectators became acquaint-
ed with soccer for the first
time and found it one of the
most pleasing of all spectator
sports. This year the Football

Association of Canada is seek-
ing an English professional el-
even for a cross-country tour
(atest hope is Tottenham Hot-
spur) and in the upcoming
World Cup competition, Can-
ada will meet Mexico in Mexi-
co City June 30 and July 4.
All this should bolster interest
in local soccer.

In baseball, Vancouver
Mounties have nowhere to go
but up. Arrival of new manag-
er Charlie Metro has started
the publicity drums beating,
but lack of a sizeable bankroll
may cripple his efforts. Fans
aren't demanding a winner
this year, just a hustling ball
club.

Hustle won’t be enough to
satisfy Canadian football. fol-
lowers next fall. B.C. Lions
enter their fourth season under
the gun. The richest squad in
the WIFU, this year must pro-
duce or else.

*

As predicted in this column
some weeks ago, Gene Full-
mer got there fustest with the
mostest when he clashed with
Sugar Ray Robinson, and lift-
ed the middleweight crown
from Sugar’s brow. A return

‘match is being cooked up, but

strictly for money. No one ex-
pects Robinson, 36, to regain
the title.

*

Among the less athletically
inclined, elbow-bending con-
tinued to be the most popular
sport over the recent holiday
season. Best seller on the

hristmas book list was Mig-
uel de Unamuno’s_ Tragic
Sense of Life, in which he
proved that chemically pure
water is undrinkable. All my
friends read the book, I gath-
er, for everywhere I went
acqua pura was strictly ver-
boten.

A holiday crack overheard
on a BCER bus: “Driver, stop
this can — a sardine wants to
get off.”

Pint-sized golfer Marlene Stewart of Fonthill, Ontario, was named the most
newsworthy woman of 1956 in Canada, edging out swimmer Marilyn Bell 2-1 in the
voting. The 22-year-old “‘Little Miss Golf’? was chosen in a nationwide poll of
newspaper, radio and television editors, largely on the basis of her sensational triumph —
in the U.S. Women‘s Amateur Championship.

Miss Stewart won eight
tournaments during the past
year, including the Canadian
Women’s Open. Three years

ago, when only 19, she became

the first Canadian to win the
British_ Women’s Amateur.
Women athletes provided
some .of Canada’s. greatest
sports thrills in 1956, and (with
the exception of the UBC row-
ers) did better than our men
in international competition.
One of the gamest and most

heart-warming performances

was given by diver Irene Mc-
Donald of Hamilton, who won
a bronze medal at Melbourne

.though suffering from bursitis

in. her left arm. When she
could not complete a dive be-
cause she couldn’t lift her arm
above her head, judges had to
penalize her and the situation
looked hopeless. But after
getting her shoulder frozen
Irene came back and made two
sensational last dives to cop a
medal, the first ever won by
a Canadian girl in Olympic
swimming events.

Then there was Lucille
Wheeler of St. Jovite, Quebec,
who won a bronze medal for
Canada in Olympic skiing at
Cortina d’Ampezzo against
some 40 of the world’s greatest
skiers.

And, of course, there was
Marilyn Bell’s second try
triumph over;the cruel waters
of Juan de Fuca Strait last
summer.

* A young Ontario girl who didn’t lose a tournament

all season, Marlene Stewart (above) was named the
most newsworthy woman of 1956 in Canada by newspaper,
television and radio editors. Her greatest single achieve-
ment on the links was winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur

in September.

Canada should start preparations
now for 1960 Olympics in Rome

By GEORGE BARR,

TORONTO

* The once-exclusive ‘“Through-the-Barrier’’ club, founded by Roger Bannister,
the medical miler from England, has.a new candidate.

No, he’s not another miler.
He's none other than James Worrall, the general manager of our Olympic team. What |

barrier has he broken, you ask? Well, he was the first (and, I hope, not the last)

Canadian sports official to ignore the unwritten law
“Thou shall not ask for government aid.”

Having seen, at first hand,
the results of sponsored sports
programs at Melbourne, Wor-
rall was duly impressed, and
suggested that the Canadian
government shquld take a les-
son from the books of other
countries,

One reason for the reluctance
of our sports leaders to request
government support for our
athletes is the fear of “domin-
ation.” In my opinion, that
doesn’t have to be the case in
Canada. The Amateur Ath-
letic Union has a large enough
organization with plenty of
capable people to administrate

‘a Mass sports program.

All that is needed is some
money to build facilities, and
a government clearing-house
for latest information on train-
ing methods, coaching, etc. This
function could easily be car-
ried out by a reconstituted
Physical Fitness Division,
which Ottawa, in its wisdom,
closed down a couple of years
ago.

Another thing such a gov-
ernment department could do
is finance the travel of Cana-
dian athletes to international
meets, something which all
competitors need to develop
their abilities to world stand-
ards,

, the 11th Sports Commandment,

~ Pint-sized woman golfer —
_ top figure in athletics

You can have the best train- —

ing and coaching methods in

the world, but~that extra

“something” required to break

records comes only from com- —

petition with runners, or what
have you, of equal or greater
ability.
larly, it is almost impossible
to hold enough meets for this
purpose.
college set-up that serves that
purpose south of the border.)

We should start such a pro-
gram now to lay the basis for
a participation in 1960 at the
Rome Olympics that will do
justice to a country such as
ours,

JANUARY 11, 1957 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 14

%

In Canada, particu-

(We haven’t got the —