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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 4 March 1909, Page 1

OLD BOYS' FOOTBALL CLUB. i The Nelson College Old. Boys' Football Club held its annual meeting last ) evening. Mr W. Devenish, p.esideni of t. tho club, presided. r Tht< annual report indicated that the ■"" 3 past season had bcen a successful one, , although no distinctive honours were i gained. i The main purpose of' . the ' foundation 1 of the club — the promotion ■ and inters change of feeling of goodfellowsfcip - among Nelsoii College Old Boys — has I been j realised :to the full,, aod the e_> Jjertenent has. proved an unqualified I SUCC6ES. . ; f Thp first 'yeAr of.-, an institution such j_ as this, the report; went on to. explain, ivas often one of anxiety, .for vvhonj the main bond of pinion amonit members is xho.e or less one of s£__i- , ment; there is a danger of the crithu- '■ siasrri waning as rapidly. -aa it fired, '■ unless a firm undercurrent of esprit . ' de norps exists. "Fortunately such a spirii is amongst us, and*. yo_r cominitt tee trust that always 'it 'Will be 'the ' essence of the club's existence, for then its continued existence is. aisured. Aa ' nn example of the enthusiasm which ** animates members of the' .drib, we need- ■ onlv ! instance." the loyalty* of E. FfeM and M. Sogers, who, at -great pereonal I inconvenience, travelled ■ long distances . to assist the blub in its. matches. Then, too, rwhenevfcr the teim was shortI handed, some of the oldest members of the club were only too • willing, to 1 fill lip some of the gaps, and to these the thanks of th'e club are due. The spirit of self-sacrifice thus shown among the older members *_! proof con- - elusive of the enthusiastic nature of their support. We are proud to possess such members as these, and fully appreciate their unselfishness and devoted loyalty to the club. "The membership of the club last . season reached a total of 56, and two fifteens were placed in thei field. A large increase in the membership is .expected 'during the coming season, and it is anticipated that there will bb no difficulty in plaoirig another fifteen in the field. [ "The thanks of the club are due to ' the Principal of the College for placing the College gymnasium at the club's disposal for practice purposes — an offer of which the club gladly availed itself. The saving of the expense of hiring a hall for training purposes was m * itself no small item, and the gymua--1 sium served a useful purpose of bring-_„ , ing member;, together during the week."" ' 1 Mr Fowler also kindly placed a, room 1 at the disposal of the ClubTfor holding its committee meetings." '■The first fifteen competed in the ' 6enior competition, playing 10 matches — winning S, losing 4,- and drawing 1. The second fifteen entered for tha second junior competition,; winning one' an.l losing four matches. . . "Representative honours- were gained by P. C. Edmond-on, W, C. Hurley , Cf. A. Richmond, and A. Sandel, and the two last-named also 'played lor the Nekon-Marlborough team again_t the Anglo- Welsh team. '/Last year saw the inception of the , Old Boys' inter-club football oompeti- .. tion for the shield presented, by your President (Mr W. Devenish). The ' matches were played at TVellingiton,when three teams .including, our own, . . entered, the shield being won by the Christchurch High School Old Boys' team. The. thanks of the club aro due to those Nekon College. Old Boys resident in Wellington who played for our club, and without whose assistance it would have been impossible , to be represented in the initial 10m■potition. The-^competition this year will be held in Christchurch about the •24th May, and as the management will be in the hands of the Christchur-h High School Old Boys' Club it is bound to be a great success. It is to be hoped that the club will be strongly represented, and that every ! jmembe**} selected will endeavour to make the trip. \ "During the season a very successful | dance was given by the c'ub and the thanks of the club are due to those members and lady supporters of the club who went to sach trouble to cnj sure its success. !"A conference of representatives from the Rugby Unions of the. DomU nion was held in Wellington last year K . and important alterations were suggest- . cd in the rules of the game, .which are likely to improve the game mate-, rially. An attempt to relax the laws relating to professionalism in the dfrection of legalising 'cash payments failed. In connection with the latter the club had passed a resolution protesting against any altera-.ion of the laws impairing the amateur status of the game. "Your committee regret the departure from Nelson of B. Beauchamp, M. Kempthorne, and R. Millard, alt keen players, whose loss will be felt during tho coming .eaion. "Last year also saw the inception of our sister institution — the Nelson College Old Boys' Cricket Club, and your comittcn was pleased to be able to assist it by a loan of £5. "your committeo have much pleasure in calling the attention of members to the very satisfactory financial position of the club, as shown by the balance-sheet presented !bjf" the hon. treasurer. "In conclusion, your committe. are confident that if the present interest and enthusiasm continues to prevail, the clnb can look forward to a prosperous future.' " ■■• The election cf officers resulted »» follows : — President, Mr "/TV. Devenisti (reflected); vice-presid&iti, Messrs H. X. Fowler, C. H.,-Bro_a> J.Houlker, and Dr Andrew* (all* 're-elected); hon. secretary, Mr K. 'C. Akers (reelected) ; hon .treasurer, 'Mr 0. A. iliehmond (re-elected); auditor, Mr i\ A. Waters ; eommitt*?., Messrs Bisley. Edmondson, Emerson, Harley anr£ Moyes. 'A credit balance of £8 was shown on the balance-sheet. Mr G. Richmond kindly, offered to present a gold medal to the best senior forward. A vote was to be taken of the members of the • team. The Deans Memorial subscription list was handed round, and it was agreed to leave tho matter in the hands of the committee. Tteference was made to the sterling qualities of the late Mr Deans, and the movement to erect a memorial was warmly approved. t A vote of thanks to the chair terminated the meeting. I