Sports Federation ‘wrongly accused’

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33653, 1 October 1974, Page 30

Sports Federation ‘wrongly accused’

The New Zealand Federation of Sports had been wrongly accused in recent newspaper reports of condemning Saturday school sport, said a member of the federation’s executive (Mr G. S. Brockett) yesterday. He said the president of the federation (Mr J. R.

Buckingham) was also a member of the Government’s council of sport and it was this body which was proposing to investigate the subject of Saturday sport for schoolchildren with national sports bodies. “The council is concerned that the drop out rate from organised sport when a child leaves school is as high as 70 per cent.” Mr Brockett said the federation was now taking up the matter with its members and from the facts gathered planned to present a balanced view. Concern “What has concerned several executive members, including myself, is that the council, on its first major investigation, has by-passed the federation and is seeking to go direct to the national sports bodies,” said Mr Brockett.

He said a meeting of the full federation executive was scheduled for early next month and it was hoped that by then the preliminary investigation would "be advanced sufficiently for the federation to’ confer with the council and ensure that satisfactory’ terms of re ference for an inquiry were established. At the same meeting, said Mr Brockett, approval would be sought for the federation to hold a conference on youth and sport in Wellington in March next year. “Such a conference relating to New Zealand conditions and New Zealand youth will be of great benefit to this country We hope the proposed conference will receive support from the Minister of Sport and his advisory council, thereby allowing i tto be wide in scope and far-reaching in effect.” he said.