Sponsorship switch irks tennis men

Press, 15 October 1976, Page 4

Sponsorship switch irks tennis men

Some Canterbury tennis administrators are concerned that a change in the control of the national junior invitation tournament has meant the abandoning of the original sponsor. The Bank of New Zealand sponsored the event since its inception four years ago, but the 1976 tournament will be held at Wilding Park this week-end under the sponsorship of Puma, a sportswear firm. The Canterbury association started the event, obtained national status for it, and negotiated sponsorship with the B.N.Z. this year, however, the New Zealand association took the tournament under its wing, and although it chose Christchurch as the venue, it brought in Puma as a new sponsor for junior activities.

“It has always been our policy locally to keep on with our original sponsors, even though we might have been able to obtain more money from another source along the way,” the president of the Canterbury association (Mr Horace Dillon) said yesterday. "I am disturbed that our sponsor for this tournament was left by the wayside. I feel that we owe loyalty to those who put up the money in the first instance.” The junior invitation tournament has traditionally provided the country’s top teenage players with strong competition early in the season. Wilding Park has always been the venue, but the change in control means that any association can now apply to hold the event which was Canterbury’s brainchild.