FOUR MEETINGS, LAST IN CHCH Major dress rehearsals for Games athletes

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33094, 8 December 1972, Page 24

FOUR MEETINGS, LAST IN CHCH Major dress rehearsals for Games athletes

An international pre-Commonwealth Games track and field meeting —sponsored for an undisclosed “four-figure sum” by the Bank of New Zealand—will be held at Queen Elizabeth II Park on January 20,1974.

The largest of four meetings planned, it will be the final dress rehearsal for the Games track and field events which will begin at the same venue five days later.

The other meetings will be at Dunedin, Timaru, and Wellington. "We were offered the opportunity to take part in this and we were very happy and proud to do so,” the Canterbury district manager of the Bank of New Zealand (Mr S. H. Hinton) said yesterday, when announcing plans for the meeting. Pre-Games flavour He hoped that it would provide a fitting preliminary meeting for the overseas athletes who would be coming to Christchurch and would also add to the flavour of the Games. The promotion of the meeting had been in the hands of the Toe H club but control is to be given to an organising committee under the chairmanship of Mr K. J. Ryall.

This committee will become an incorporated society. Other key officials on the organising committee, which has been set up on similar lines to that which is organising the Commonwealth Games athletics, are Mr S. McLean (vice-chairman), Mesdames J. M. Ryall (secretary), S. McLean (assistant secretary), Messrs R. Samuels (treasurer), L. G. Jones (programmes), W. McLean (tickets), C. Wishart (medals and ceremonies), L. Trimble (social) and A. Mahan (officials). Restricted entries Entries for the meeting would have to be restricted because it would not be possible to cater for all the 550 athletes expected to participate in the Games, Mr Ryall said.

Although there were other meetings planned, most of

the athletes would want to have a trial run on the Chevron 440 surface at Queen Elizabeth II Park and this would be a problem.

“We do not want to be flooded with athletes,” said Mr Ryall. “A possible method of selection might be to ask each country to supply a limited number of competitors.” Planned events Invitations are to be sent to Commonwealth countries in January next year and a schedule of events will be drawn up before the end of February. This would be a tentative programme, requiring the acceptance of the competing countries. It is envisaged that there will be five track events, one relay and four field events for men; three track events, two relays and three field events for women. The chairman of the Commonwealth Games athletics control committee (Mr B. H. Kerr) praised the initiative of the Toe H club in promoting the meeting. “I see this as a very important project. Most athletes will be coming from winter to summer and the first thing they will want to do will be to try to get the winter chills out of their systems. It is very important that pre-Games competition is provided for them.” Need in Edinburgh Mr Kerr, who was manager of the New Zealand athletic team at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games, said that there had been a considerable demand for this type of competition in 1970. The meeting will probably be held in the late afternoon and early evening. It is expected to be televised live in colour.