THE EMPIRE GAMES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23333, 27 October 1937, Page 8

THE EMPIRE GAMES

TRIALS TO SELECT TEAM CANTERBURY CENTRE OPPfISED (Special to Daily Times) CHRISTCHURCH, Oct. 29. Strong opposition to the proposal to hold a New Zealand trial meeting in Wellington on December 11, to decide the choice of athletes to represent New Zealand at the British \ Empire Games in Sydney, was -expressed by several members at a meeting of the Canterbury branch of the Amateur Athletic Association to-night, Dr J. J. Brownlee was in the chair. Mr E. M. Todd complained that If a national trial meeting was to be held in Wellington in December it would usurp the rightful place of the Dominion championships, to be held in Christchurch in March: Mr Beattie said that the trials were ' necessary, and there seemed no more central place than Wellington to hold them. Much of the discussion centred on whether it was absolutely definite that entries for the Empire Games closed on December 17, or whether, in compliance with advice received earlier from Sydney, late entries could be taken as late as the middle of January. If entries could be put in later than December members said it might .be possible to hold the Dominion championships earlier so that the Empire Games representatives could w be accredited New Zealand champions of this season. . Several of the speakers said that athletes who were at the peak of their form in December when the trials were to be held could not be expected to maintain that form in March for the national or provincial championships. It might thus happen, it was stated, that an athlete who represented the Dominion at the Empire Games might be defeated by other runners at the Dominion championships, which, Mr Todd said, might be a failure through coming right at the seasons end. Other members deprecated any suggestion that the Dominion championships might be a failure, but said that they failed to see the reason for national trials at Wellington. It was finally decided to enter a protest to the National Council of the association about its decision to hold national trials in Wellington, and to inquire about the receipt of late entries for the Games in Sydney.