BAUBLES OF THE GAME

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 35, 10 August 1927, Page 10

BAUBLES OF THE GAME

ARE TROPHIES WORTH WHILE?

(By Telegraph.)

(Special to "The Evening Post.")

CHEISTCHUBCH, This Day. The question whether the influence of shields and trophies on football is good or otherwise-formed the subject of a discussion at last night's meeting of the Management Committee of the Canterbury Bugby Union. To cap the discussion, the committee decided to send a provisional challenge to Manawhenua for the Eanfurly Shield. The matter was introduced by Mr. J. \ . Gamble, who said that the committee controlling primary schoolboys' competitions had decided as an experiment to play these competitions without any trophies this year. They had very good reasons for their action. He did not say that the Eanfurly Shield trouble had anything to do with their .decision, though it might have. As far as they could see, the fact that there were no trophies had not affected the competitions adversely at all. The boys were just as keen to play as ever. They had had no teams defaulting, as was the case with some of the union's grade competitions, where teams had defaulted because they had no chance of winning a competition. Mr. W. Britten: "The schoolboys have to do as they are told." Mr. Gamble: "Our boys play the game for the game's sake." Mr. M'Phail: "I hope they will always retain that spirit." Mr. Gamble said that he understood that there were no shields or trophies in connection with the secondary schoolboys ' competitions.

Mr. A. E. Flower: "There never have been and there never will be as long as I have anything to do with it." Consideration of the trophy question was then dropped, but a little later, after a brief discussion, the union decided on a provisional challenge for the shield.