On the Track

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 82, 5 April 1924, Page 18

On the Track

FOR NEXT SEASON

VISIT FROM OVERSEAS •'; * SUGGESTED v

SYSTEM OF ELECTING.THE 'COUNCIL, i

COiIINCtBVBKTS.

'April-lft—Meeting-at"Eorirua._L...' ....... April 10—Country "Clubs' Championships,' ait '.Ma'stertonV'.'-' ■•-■ ••• —■■-»■ iApril\-2l—X.Z.'; University.Championship?,:.Ath-letic-Park. ... „ . ... 1

(By; "■ Sfbinteb."}

■ Apart'frohOhe:.New. Zealand Uniyer : .isity:•championships-to,.be .held at Ath: letic'Park-on Easter Monday,-■ and one or Jfcwo other /.Easter meetings in the country the..local amateur athletic season has closed. Generally speak-' ingj those Who have been responsible for the control of the sport in Wellington hasre good reason to feel satisfied with, the .results of. their efforts, and th^ athletes "as a body can mark the season down as one in which they have been catered for in an e?cellent mariner. The : support has not been all that could be desired, but, compared with the follow-' ■ ing; .which the " 'sport'I'has■•' received in ..otherplaccs, Wellington stands head and shoulders above the other centres, and ■its athletes occupy asimilar position. .The need for a sound financial position, , more so in other centres than in Wellington, for advancing the sport along •more progressive: lines has been stressed by,'the'Writer, arid it is td'be hoped that .iir'the off season the' New Zealand ■..Council -will give- full consideration to" ( ways aral means' of improving matters = for, the: various' centres. ■ The centres can .'.assist, in this.', respect, : and if" they give 'serious attention to the ■■matter and' offer suggestions to the ■ council there is'no reason why the sport . should not be made to claim greater . attention from the public next season. One 'matter' which' .the ,• council should coi^deX.F'ithbtit' .for.'a. lead from the-^ centres '.is. the question of another visit, from overseas" athletes. It is quite : likely, tbat JfeTcouncil has eyes on the Otympic'.Games ..for the,purpose of arranging with some other'country to send ■repieseniaiives to' New. Zealand,. Prom- '■ inerifc performers at', the Games would be a big-attraction; in New Zealand if they could.be induced to come to this country; bat to wait until the Games are over is leaving matters rather late." What about a visit from athletes of the Far "East? It was stated in this,column „.jft fesv montfis ago that the South China •Amateur Athletic Association , wonld probably be; agreeable to sending a team of students^ or that a Far' Eastern amateur, athletic team, including Chinese. Japanese; and' Filipinos,, 'might be ar-. :ranged for a' tour of ..New Zealand. .'. 4 team such .as'this would be a splendid i-atiraofSon, arid," as the Chinese. Soccer team is to visit New Zealand in the near future,-it -would be well for the council ' .to take the opportunity of ascertaining 'jwhat the "prospects 'are. of an athletic team.' coming;"to this, country. A;- Canadian;-' team-.jyoidd i "- | aW' i .'be- an attraction, and ..another" visit front America'or South'Africa',is well worthy of corisideraiion; particularly.as both those; countries/ will jiave strong teams at the .Olympic Games^. and "also 'because they -have" already' made themselves very po"pular .-with .the; New, Zealand. spprj,ing public. A vifii from* South Africa, with ex-New Zealander E. G. Sutherland included in the team, would create great, interest. An.. early start with negptia-. lions, for such 'a " visit' is. desirable. ■* It ivriir'/iniake good "business ""for the o'fii season. . .... '.• . '■' '■•"

Among other 'matters which shonld en- ■ gage, the attention, of the various centres .'Hufibg th'e'off season" fs'the .amend-, merrli.of '.the,'.ruks.:goyeriiing.;.jthe. constiT. .tntion. of the New Zealand Amateur 'Athletic Association.-. Thq Wellington Ceniie has put forward certain proposals, and.,-tiiß.conference h,eld recently,.at Due-. edm.'iecpmmen'ded that-they be referred .to the centres for- discussion. The desire of the ■Wellington Centre is to'put the annual meeting^ on the same footing as ,the annual meeting.of the New Zealand 'Rugby Union and the New Zealand Boxing .-Association.. The idea of fixing the: meeting for; the time and place .of the ■ championships is.' that • there ■ ;wili .be a" reasonable, • certainty-, of'- the meeting,' be'-. ing attended,, for the most!.part by.the actual members of. centres, or, failing that, by members of the clubs within the centre districts. Another advantage: in. holding the meeting at that time- is that athletic interest '. will .be..,at its height. The experience of a.good portion of the season will suggest matters for. discuseion /while. they, .are fresh. One: of the.proposals ■ put forward is to make, the .council-a \body composed ofrepresentatives of 'the ■ sport- generally and-not .of: appointees .of,individual, centres.- ..At .the, present time the members of „jthe council are resident in 'Wellington -;v(the- headquarters), but it is'considered that if .there are .enthusiasts, m other,,places who. are ..willing., to .attend the: council meetings there is no reason .why- they, should-.nbt be. elected members o£ the council. The management. committee of .the - .JTety; .. Zealand. Rugby Union, for instance, has one member .who resides in the Wairarapa and .'another whoso .home is .in" the. Rangitikei district. It may be objected ; that' centres will, be .voting.in the dark in that they will; have .to; rely on Wellington advice regarding ,'th<Jse"'to nominate or -those to.iVo.te .for. . The answers given by Wellington'^are.:■(!) That if Vibe centres a.t"present'ean, find "Wellington; residents to appoint to, the-council they can still find.,them. to nominate"" for election by the "annual" "meeting'; (2) that Wellington advice will be valuable, as the claims of such persons to election or objections to their' being elected can be discussed before the election. Under the suggested method it is hardly likely that, the council will ever include a large proportion of men who have ■ never eitKer' taken" ;atiy., active interest in the - sport or., have, for,'years..ceased, to take interest. . ' ''-."'

Regarding; the Wellington proposals, the .Christchurch ."Star" makes the following comment; "It is undoubtedly a step,.in the,right..direction.'. Clubs will, novy have the opportunity to; scrap an obsolete- system -and replaco' it. by oiia in keeping,with,.'the,tinies., When.the Athletj.q „Assoc.iatipii, somo twenty years ago,;'-after much strenuous opposition by the diohards of.the.old school agreed to abolish club representation in favour of .tbe'inore'/'-vvorkable and superior system | of centre government and representation,. tHe time" was i'ip'e'for.,a chaiige. The';new.method of representation, was quite, satisfactory, generally speaking, arid worked smoothly enough, but of recent years it 'has been" evident that ;with,..the ..-development,, of, the sport a change was sure to be demanded." . CONFERENCE; DECISIONS.

Space last week did not permit of giving a complete .record of the business transacted at the Now Zealand Conference.t.; One important matter is set but in .'the following motion, which' was moved by Mr. Kitto:—-" That a competitor bom any other centre or from

any other country shall be entitled to compete in any New Zealand championship, but that points for the challenge shield shall be allotted as if he were not'a competitor, and in the event of his winning the race or other contest, he shall not' be recorded as winner of the championship, nor shall he bej entitled to receive a certificate or trophy awarded to■ a champion, nor shall receive a special trophy of such value as the centre executive may determine. The championship certificate or trophy shall be awarded, and the title o£ New Zealand champion conferred, as if he had not been a competitor." Mr. O'Sullivan said at the present time. visitors could, come here and take away the championships. Mr. M'Holm said; an athlete had to have a month's residence-in Australia before he could compete.—The motion was carried unanimously. . Other items were as follow:—

Mr. O'Sullivan moved : ''That, all New Zealand teams competing .under the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association be .insured against accident." This was carried unanimously. Mr. O'Sullivan further moved : "That the members of the New Zealand teams competing overseas under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Amateur Ath-: letic Association be medically examined before leaving their province for the port of departure." Members were of the opinion that this was very necessary, and the motion was carried^ •, The motion of Mr. List—"That the place, and date of the New Zealand championship fixture be fixed earlier in the season, before the end of February" —was carried' with little discussion.

On the motion of Mr. Eeynolds it was decided : "That1 when records for New Zealand are held by competitors from overseas,. the best performance by New Zealanders shall also -be. shown . under records." 1

. Mr. ;Kitto moved : "That a challenge trophy, to be called the G. P.' Keddell Memorial, be allotted to the"winner of tile ,120 yards New Zealand championship hurdles." He spoke highly of the deceased, -ajho had been a splendid athlete, • and a man of the highest ideals. Members endorsed the views ofHhe last speaker, and the motion was carried. "That it be' a strong recommendation to the New Zealand Council to deal with all reinstatements without delay " was moved by, Mr. Kitto and carried without discussion. * . ' NOTES. /: The local 'Varsity Club was most unfortunate in the choice of ifs day for ttfe mterfaculty sports meeting, - conditions at. Athletic Park last Saturday being against the success which the meeting deserved. In spite of the wet weather, and the spongy nature of the ground, some good performances were recorded. The" outstanding performers were L. A. Tracy and D. Priestley, who each won three events. Tracy. was in excellent form, and, although his performance in the furlong event was splendid, it is i doubtful whether the watches were set in motion at the moment the field left the mark... The time—22 4-ssec—seemed to be too good under prevailing conditions. But Tracy is a crack over 220 yards. _ Priestley ran with good judgment .in the .880 yards, one mile and j I three' mile events, and more iV jbound [to be heard of him later on. Other distance runners of promise seen at the meeting were Allan and Yates. Landei's form in the hurdle events was good i enough to.suggest that there will be few', better than him next season. " '

' One noticeable thing about the 'Varsity meeting was the small'number of officials on tho ground. It was quite a change, and it went to show that other meetings might also be run without the need of a big band of 'officials. In this connection a touch of humour was added to the proceedings last Saturday. During the three-mile race rain, fell heavily, and of those officials on the ground only one stuck to his post. The megaphouist even took to the stand, and from there i-.e raised a hearty laugh by making tho oft-repeated call: " Will tlie officials on ithe ground kindly- sit down?" ' ' Among tho competitors at" the Manavatu Club's Meeting to-day were C. H. Jenkins and A. C. Dufresne, New Zealand champions. The club was hoping that Tracy would also lie a competitor. The country club championships are to be held at Mastertoa on Easter Saturday. : ■ .. ■■-, ■ ■

In making his report. to the Canterbury Centre, C. H. Taylor, one of the delegates to the New' Zealand Conference,. recommended that a remit should be forwarded to the N.Z.A.A.A. to the effect that walking championships should be eliminated.

The Canterbury -Centre has approved of the proposal-to- establish an • annual event-as,a, memorial to the late Gerard .P. Keddell.... . . ■ ' „ The recommendation of the New -Zealand Conference that the New Zealand Championship Meeting be held in1 Auckland nest season has .been endorsed by the Canterbury Centre.' . .-' Among those ..people who saw thatjH. -E: Wilson was well cared for while detained in Hobart on' account of the injury"; to his leg' were two ex-New Zealanders, Alderman. Martin and Mr. M''Lerinan. Both took a great interest in the New. .Zealand athlete, and did -all that was . possible ' for him. The same ■remark applies to the doctor and staff of the .hospital to- which Wilson 'was admitted. Mr. M'Lennan formerly resided' in Wellington. . While in Sydney the New Zealand athlete also received much, hospitality. s ■ This is. what one enthusiast had to say ot the recent'meeting in. honour of H. E... Wilson.: "I have seen'many athletes retire in my time, but never have I seen anyone whose sun set in such a sea of glory as Harry Wilson's did on Saturday week." . '

"That the New Zealand Council be asked to find some better method of officially reporting its, meetings than by newspaper cuttings."—A motion moved by C. H. Taylor (Canterbury) and passed at the recent conference in Dunedin.

In \view o£ the coming harrier season a decision of the New Zealand Conference is worthy of early consideration by the council. .. The decision was to. tho effect' that for. cross-country championships each team consist of six, the first four only to be: considered. in the award of points,'and that a centre be entitled to have two> additional competitors outside the team. The "Wellington delegates did not agree to the following proposal which was submitted to- the conference: -•-"That an,alteration be made to Rulo 14 regarding cross-country championships, limiting the number of competitors," and recommending that only five competitors from each centre be permitted to compete whether as a team or as individuals." This proposal was not adopted, j J. A. Cooksley, the well-known amateur cyclist, who has often appeared on the,local track, is to retire after competing at one or two end-of-the-season meetings-. He lias been a competitor .it amateur meetings for about twenty years, and he has met with considerable success, though good fortune has nDt been much in his way this season.. He had a fine record last season—tvyelvo .firsts, seven seconds, and eight thirds. The need for an early notification from the New Zealand Council regarding the date of New Zealand championship meetings Was urged at the conference in Dunedin, and it was thought that the date should be announced about June or July of each year, in order to give centres every.possible chanca of makiiig preparations for the meeting,