EMPIRE RECORDS PROPOSED

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28099, 15 October 1956, Page 3

EMPIRE RECORDS PROPOSED

‘ CANTERBBURY CENTRE MEETING ' Mr A. Urquhart has been nominated 5 for life membership of the New Zealand ’ Amateur Athletic Association by the 3 Canterbury Centre. This was approved at a recent meeting of the centre. Mr Urquhart was one of the Can- ; terbury resident delegates to the ; New Zealand association in Wellington ; and has been on the association for 30 ; years. He has been largely responsible ■ for drafting and revising the association's rules. The New Zealand association will be asked to give consideration to the possii bility of having British Empire records . instituted. » Frequent reference was made to Empire records, said Mr M. R. Craighead, but they did not officially exist. If they could be recognised they would provide a stepping stone between national and world records. It would be a simple matter to set them up, he said. All Empire countries could submit their national records at a certain date and the best performances would automatically bet come the records. He suggested the n English Amateur Athletics Association _ as the controlling body. The triangular meeting with Canter- _ bury and Southland should be deferred this year, said the Otago Centre in a L letter. Many athletics and officials would - be at the Olympic Games and the centre was also having difficulty in obtaining a

I suitable ground as the Caledonian ground was not available. Southland wrote that it was in favour of holding the meeting and every effort should be made to retain the continuity of the meetings. Canterbury has decided to inform both Otago and Southland that it wishes the meeting to be held, suggesting December 8 as the date Jamaicans’ Tour Canterbury has been included in the proposed tour by a Jamaican team after the Olympics, which would also take in Otago and Southland, said advice from the New Zealand Association. The The Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association had advised that the Jamaican Olympic Association would forward information if the visit was found possible. No reply had been received from the United States whether its team would be available for a tour. Auckland and Waikato were grouped for a tour by a German team. The national coaching school would be held from December 28 to January 8, said the letter from the New Zealand Association. The Internal Affairs Department had made a grant of £350 towards the cost of the school which will be held at Scott’s College, Wellington. The secretary of International Amateur Athletic Federation. Mr D. T Pain, will visit New Zealand from November 4 to 8 Otago has confirmed March 1 and 2 as the dates for the national junior and women’s championships. The senior championships will be held at Napier on March 8 and 9. Support for Waikato Canterbury will support Waikato ‘ in its claims for the New Zealand Association on the Olympic Games Association to pay the expenses of the manager of the New Zealand athletic team to the

Olympics. This was decided when a letter from the Waikato centre asking for support was considered. A further request that Canterbury should assist financially was refused. The expense of a manager of a national team should be the responsibility of the New Zealand Association or the Olympic Association said the letter, and not that of the unfortunate centre that happened to have such a competent official as Mr C. J. Thompson. For future Olympics, such as Rome in 1960, a centre would be responsible for raising as much as £lOOO. Waikato was a new centre said the letter and if it had to raise the amount asked—£2lB—it would be almost bankrupt. There was also little prospect of raising the money by public appeal as the Waikato people considered that Waikato had had a "raw deal” from the Olympic selectors.