LETTER BOX

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30553, 23 September 1964, Page 15

LETTER BOX

WEST COAST BASKETBALL

“I must correct the statement in the article by your men’s basketball correspondent published on Wednesday, September 16, that The general attitude of Canterbury men's basketball administrators in dismissing all thoughts of matching their top representative side against West Coast is a little inconsiderate.’ I personally, and I am sure the members of my executive also, have never adopted such an attitude, and I have always considered that West Coast sides are of sufficient calibre to match a Canterbury side. It is true that this season Canterbury and West Coast have not played each other but I do not regard this instance as evidence for the statement that ‘some revised thinking is called for.’ I, too, have; the highest regard for the capabilities and enthusiasm of Mr D. Moore, the president of the West Coast association, and I am sure that under his guidance men’s basketball will continue to flourish across the alps.”— A. W. BARRETT, Secretary, Canterbury Men’s Basketball Association.

Our men's basketball correspondent comments: It is a pity that Mr Barrett has taken this attitude, for the article was intended only to publicise the potential of the West Coast. In recent years there has been no real effort to obtain individual games against the West Coast on a home and away basis, either by Canterbury or the West Coast. Canterbury has met the West

Coast representatives only through necessity because both have been entered in the same tournaments and this season they did not meet at all. Being the major association, it is up to Canterbury to make the first move. There was never any inference that the West Coast side was equal to the Canterbury representative team; only that it had players of ability who would improve with strong competition such as this province could provide. It is particularly surprising to note Mr Barrett's opinions on the calibre of West Coast teams. Only a few weeks ago, when the Canterbury association was looking for home games, this writer distinctly remembers Mr Barrett saying: ‘There is the West Coast, but they are not strong enough.”