Oldest athletic club winds up this evening

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31987, 14 May 1969, Page 15

Oldest athletic club winds up this evening

VVHEN the assets and re- ■ cords of the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Club are handed over to the Canterbury centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association this evening, the oldest club in the history of the province will cease to exist The Canterbury club was formed in 1880, long before the Canterbury centre was established, and served athletes in a wide area of Canterbury before other clubs were formed. It ran two summer meetings, usually at Lancaster Park, and an autumn crosscountry. It went into recess in 1961 and now the trustees, Messrs C. S. Thomas, N. A. Smith and R. Gracie, think that it has served its function for Canterbury and the clubs serving smaller areas can provide a better service. The club has a fine record and can claim New Zealand representatives of the highest class such as R. Opie, a New Zealand sprint champion in 1911, and P. Wells, the New Zealand

high jump record holder for many years, whose record was broken only this year by W. Spiers. The club was founded by Messrs M. Lewin, F. W. Hunt and A. H. Anderson who were the first life members elected in 1894. At that time the club was strong and had a large membership. In 1893 there were 171 full members, 63 supernumerary and 24 honorary members. The standards set were remarkable for the little training that the athletes did then. The 75 yard standard was 8.2 sec, the 100 yards 10.2, the 440 yards 52sec, and the 880 yards 2min 2sec; and the standards were bettered several times in each season. The club was the first in any sport to use Lancaster Park. On one occasion its meeting clashed with a cricket club match. The athletics field events were held before the cricket started and the track races were run around the perimeter of the cricket boundary while the match was played.

The club invited entries from other sports to compete in its meetings before 1900 and competitors from Rugby, swimming, cricket, tennis, rowing, and cycling clubs entered. One event was to have a relay race between cricket wickets with each contestant fully equipped for cricket. The liaison between cricket and athletics has not been the same since. Even the Army was invited. An event was held for squads of 16 men from any volunteer corps under a non-commissioned officer to march one mile in drill order with leggings. Three volleys were to be fired at each quarter mile. The points were awarded for general efficiency, the quality of the volleys and the time occupied on the march. At the meeting tonight, the club will hand over 18 cups. The oldest is the Ladies Challenge Cup presented by the women of Canterbury in 1880, which was valued at £BO when it was first presented.