HOCKEY.
i ? lr C; T , OUr - writer of hockey notes had some ■ valuable suggestions. in <a' recent issue, as to moans of popularising the game. It' is hoped the local association has taken them to heart for.there'is inuch'iroom for improvement, both •in -their methods and policy. In. Auckland hockey, is scarcely .six years old,, while here ;rt was. played, about I*' years ago; arid ■ yet the game' canv.command the attendanco-of thousands • ? OTt S,i wl "l8 llcre i 4 >s fare to 'see hundreds. The blamo. for the condition of things here-must,' !• think, be laid at the doors of 'the local association. '-First of all, thev have -mnrie- : thn. game .the most expensive of our *u nt " S ames - To run a'club, here costs just a bout,two. and a quarter times as ranch as-it does in Auckland. What is the result? Large ,iinrobers ;of-our. youth go over every year'to Association. Here is a case in po'int. St. : Davids, Tetone,-formed a hockoy club this season, and actually bought'theirsticks', but' when ; they found hon exorbitant., were the fees demanded, thej.wppt over in a body to the.Association game. But where docs the monev guh To.Day's Bay! Would you believe it,'sir!;that every'club, irrespective of grade, or number ot teams,' is charged £7 for the' Day's Bay grounds-grounds whjch many, of, the teams :uever see? Such a*oharge is enough to kill any gamej.and tln.t it has not extinguished' hockey only proves the worth of the game. (I understand that £i a week are paid for working, etc., tho.six grounds at, Day's Bay. tip; north, this.work-is done by • the playing teams'in] tarn, and costs nothing.) It.seems to me that •ii aJ 'i s 'i 7 ls tno n ""stoho'around the.neck of 'local.hockey;,and so long as tllo best:matches are played-there, so'long will the ■• spectators be, numbered by scores, and the gamo in gen- ■.?!*•'.. b< l . ko Pt hack. Then the inequality'of that j£7, imposition is obvious in the fact, that all clubs, whether senior or junior, whether they, run one- or- three team's, pay the' same amount. Surely tyie association should now be ! ; ablo tosecure-sufficient grounds .this side -bf the Harbour—if only: it moves'soon enough'' And if grounds cannot, he found in suffibient : nnmbcr.. m Wellingtons it is a marvel-to - mo that the association has not followed the example '<>f^be. rival football bodies in, exploitling.the Hutt Valley. ■■; There you. Have a big population on tho spot-an important consid- : oration—and. easy meansof access., The' surfgestion of your writer that tho association should apply, for, a ground "oh the: Petoue Recreation Ground should be : acted on at once .Li S; ?-° •?? 6 -™ t £nß .until .all grounds.-have been seized; and then frantically rushing hero and .there.. Then,,, as ;to method-tho ossociation seems to-bo most'unbusinesslike, ■■ Letter's are seldom, answered promptly, and some not at. all. Again, no tables-have appeared show. :ing the relahve. positions of the-junior and third grade teams, with tho'result that, the .Petoneolub does.not yet. know how its two teams have fared in tho ,recent competitions, inen, -why, .were the: competitions closed • before all - games wore played? TJp iiorth, a tournament is an annual fixture. Some of iis hoped one was to-be held'here, but the suggestion has fazzlcd out. And so one might go on. But enough. 1 Let tho.powers tlmt be wake up, reduce the charges, and use'tho shield a<= a lever for popularising the game, and the'! { assured.—l., a.m, ..etc.,,/: '.-•.'■ -T.--a;--Williams'."'
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 626, 4 October 1909, Page 5
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563HOCKEY. Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 626, 4 October 1909, Page 5
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