IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN ATHLETICS PROGRAMME

Press, Volume C, Issue 29415, 18 January 1961, Page 9

IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN ATHLETICS PROGRAMME

, DECENT criticism by spec--1 tators and athletes of the inter-club athletic meetings at i Rugby Park indicates that perhaps the time is ripe for the 1 executive of the Canterbury ' Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association ’ to seek improvements in the I weekly programme. i A few years ago the centre adopted a virtually standard- • ised programme with the ; graded scratch events split into two sections so that two Satur- > days were needed to complete , the full programme. At one time nearly all of these meet- , ings counted towards the interIclub points competitions but more recently only six meetings have been set aside for this purpose. Club Positions Club positions in the various grades are determined on the aggregate points gained by its members in the individual events with five for a first, ; three for a second, and one for , a third. It is questionable ’ whether these points meetings are serving any great purpose ■ for under the present system it ' is most doubtful if the pos--1 sibility of gaining extra club i , points has spurred athletes to greater achievement. But it ' may haive encouraged some 1 l competitors to seek out those ' events in which, because of a • lack of entries, they may have , a greater chance of gaining a ’ place. , ’ The majority of athletes , 1 appear little interested in the ! points series and few, includ- ' ing club officials,, have any 1 , idea of the progress position

during the season. The first indication many have of the result is when the annual report of the centre is distributed.

Some competitions, both In this country and overseas, have been conducted on a dualmatch basis, with Club A meeting Club B and so on in each round. In this type of competition the club gaining most points for the various events is the winner and is allotted championship points similar to those in Rugby or cricket competitions. This dual match has its drawbacks too. principally in the fact that the strongest competitors in the various events may meet only a few times during the season. It does, however, have this advantage. With three representatives to each event and with points given for all six placings, those back in the field will try to improve their position to gain that extra point, which may well affect the outcome at the end of the day. This type of competition with progress points results can be most stimulating. Combination

If points competitions In Canterbury are to be retained perhaps a combination of the two systems could be adopted. The combined meetings with all clubs competing on the one ground at present could be retained with each club gaining points for the season’s inter - club championships according to its position in each of the Saturday competi-

tions, rather than retain the total points gained for individual placings. The present system of standardised programmes has some advantages. It does ease the administration burden of the centre’s executive committee, but it does not inspire great spectator appeal. While it may be claimed that sport should be organised for competitors rather than spectators the two aspects are almost inseparable and ultimately the success of a sport and its scope of activities depends to a large degree on the funds it derives from the public. Practical

A practical scheme that could infuse athletic meetings in Christchurch with fresh appeal, has been suggested recently. It was that individual clubs be made responsible for the detailed organisation of each ordinary inter-club meeting. Before the start of the season the centre would call for applications from clubs for meeting dates. A percentage of the gate would be retained by the centre and the balance given to the club.

Clubs would be keen to make a success of the meetings because of the prospect of the extra finance; and many innovations would probably result because of greater incentive.