Hockey POLO GROUNDS DISCUSSED Alternatives To Be Sought

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28541, 21 March 1958, Page 6

Hockey POLO GROUNDS DISCUSSED Alternatives To Be Sought

“If it is our alm to improve tne standard of hockey, then we must first have good _ grounds. The Christchurch City Council did sport a disservice when it lowered the Polo Ground and made it a sump for Hagley Park," said Mr W. H. Down, secretary of the New Zealand Hockey Association. Mr Down was speaking at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Hockey Association when it discussed the possibility of gaining more grounds.

“Hockey players can no longer be expected to hit a ball around in mud,” said Mr Down. He suggested that the incoming committee make efforts to gain grounds in New Brighton, where the playing surfaces were drier in winter. The New Brighton delegate (Mr B. Wadman) said' it was possible that the association could have the use of at least one ground, in New Brighton. “You will have to move quickly though, or else it will be snapped up by the Rugby or soccer people," he said. The meeting unanimously carried a recommendation that the new committee investigate the chances of acquiring grounds at New Brighton.

Williamson Park When the meeting discussed the improvements made at Williamson Hockey Park during the last season, Mr R. Armstrong said it was time that “a lot of the dead wood is removed from the Williamson Park committee.” To get the park up to top standard, a live-wire committee was needed, he said.

Mr M. R. Good: Does Mr Armstrong realise he is a member of that committee?

Mr Armstrong: I am not aware that I am.

Mr Good: Well how do you know how it functions? “It is a very good time for this matter to be discussed. The committee has not functioned for two years, and some action should be made immediately to get it reorganised,” said Mr Good. The Williamson Park sub-com-mittee is elected annually from members of the management committee.

A notice of motion in the name of the association’s registerkeeper (Mr B. Taylor), sought several amendments to the association’s rules on result cards. “Last season the cards were in a terrible mess, and this is some attempt to get an orderly system,” said Mr Taylor. The matter was left over to the incoming executive. The meeting recommended that a secondary schools’ grade be inaugurated in the Saturday com-

petitions. It also recommended that opening day for the season be April 26.

Association’s Officers

A member of the association's management committee for several years as delegate for the Harewood club, Mr R. Armstrong was elected president at the annual meeting of the Canterbury Hockey Association Mr Armstrong will succeed Mr G. G. Graham, who will leave New Zealand later this year.

The meeting expressed its appreciation to Mr Graham during his term of office. "He began playing hockey in 1914 and was still playing up to two years ago,’* said Mr Armstrong.

Patron, Sir Sidney Holland; president, Mr R. Armstrong; immediate past president, Mr G. G. GrMham; vice-presidents, Messrs R. A. Milne, B. Lloyd, M. Hocking, and B. McCrorie; treasurer, Mr F. P. Gay; management committee, Messrs M. Abrams, B. Taylor, R. Duncan, G. Reid, E. Sansom, I. Mansell, M. Berkley, D. Coulter, and B. Wadman; delegates to the New Zealand Hockey Council, Messrs M. R. Good, J- G. Leggat, A. L. Graham, and E. Wickes.