Petrol crisis forces curbs on basketball

Press, 28 March 1979, Page 38

Petrol crisis forces curbs on basketball

An appeal by the Government to reduce petrol consumption has forced the New Zealand Basketball Federation to greatly curb several tournaments this season.

The national club championships qualifying tournaments for both men and women have been axed and one international event has been cancelled in response to a plea from the Minister of Energy (Mr Bill Birch), the federation announced yesterday. The club championships finals will now be extended fromeight to 16 teams, who will be selected by the federation.

The national men’s side will now play only two internationals against an American team from South Dakota, with the third game, scheduled for Tauranga on June 17, cut from the series. The other games, in Auckland and Hamilton, have been retained because of the possibility of good gates, according to the executive officer of the N.Z.B.F. (Mr Joe McLeod). “Auckland and Hamilton can attract a sizeable gate from their immediate vicinity, but Tauranga would have to rely on support from the whole Bay of Plenty area which will mean

a lot of travelling. In the light of the Minister’s appeal, we have decided to drop this fixture,” he said

Mr McLeod said the Hanes women’s club and Old Crow men’s club qualifying tournaments which had been scheduled for Hamilton. Tauranga, Nelson and Christchurch had been cancelled because of the restrictions on the sale of petrol. “Most teams travelling to these tournaments would have had to travel a day earlier and leave a day later to get around the restrictions. Because of the extra costs involved to the teams, and the fact that moves of this tvpe are not in line with the Government’s policy. they have been cancelled,” said Mr McLeod. The N.Z.B.F. will now invite applications for the club finals, scheduled for Christchurch for the men and Napier for the women, dispensing with the qualifying series that have been running since the tournaments began in 1973. The finals will be extended from eight to 16 teams, clubs presenting submissions on team personnel, game results and previous national club records. Some elimination games between teams in the same areas may be needed, said Mr McLeod.