OLYMPIC GAMES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 13

OLYMPIC GAMES

NEW'"ZEALAND TEAM

EXPENSES OF ATHLETES RUGBY UNION MAKES GRANT - [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] CHRISTCHURCH, Thursday The question of making a grant toward the expenses of sending members of the New Zealand Olympic team to Berlin was discussed at a meeting of the management committee of the Canterbury llugby Union. The finance committee recommended that the union should grant £5 5s toward the fund being built up in Canterbury so that G. R. Giles and V. P. Boot could be sent.

Mr. W. A. Britten remarked that it was "firing" five guineas into the sea. Dr. D. McK. Dickson: Why? Mr. Britten: It is giving men a "buckshee trip." Dr. Dickson: I do not think the money will be wasted. In fact, there is a proposal to send a trainer as well. "Who pays for him?" asked another member.

Mr. H. Davis remarked that the Olympic team already included three boxers. As far as he recollected, most of the boxers who had represented New Zealand in the past had become professionals on their return.

* Mr. E. M. Todd, who is also president of the Canterbury Amateur Athletic Centre, explained the method of selecting teams by officials in Wellington, and what had happened in the present instance. As for men having a "buckshee" trip, there bad been a lot of that every year in other sports.

The president, Dr. W. S. Seed: IJow long do these men have in Berlin before the Olympic Games start? Mr. Todd: Six weeks.

Dr. Seed: It is not long enough. Dr. Dickson: We have tried a longer period before, and the men have gone stale. Six weeks is a happy medium. i A grant of £5 5s was approved without dissent.