Basketball Tournament Entries Smaller

Southland Times, Issue 24132, 22 May 1940, Page 10

Basketball Tournament Entries Smaller

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ATTACK

Fifty-two entries have been received by the Southland Basketball Union for the King’s Birthday tournament to be held in Invercargill on June 3. This total shows a decrease of 30 compared with the figure for last season. It is possible that some late entries will be received, but these will probably be few in number. It was anticipated that the entries would be smaller this year because of the petrol restrictions, which have been the cause of decreased entries in sub-association competitions. At the same time the decrease is perhaps larger than expected. No entries have been received from the Awarua and Menzies Sub-Associa-tions. The Awarua Sub-Association is not functioning this year because of transport difficulties arising out of the restrictions on petrol. The union has received a letter from the Menzies SubAssociation asking for advice about relief from the petrol restrictions and it is presumed that this is also the reason foi this body failing to enter any teams. Normally about 18 teams are entered by these sub-associations. The representation of town clubs is not quite as goodas in past seasons; It is understood that McKenzie’s and the St. Mary’s first grade team will not participate. In the past town officials have had to do a considerable amount of work at the tournament and country associations are asked to endeavour to provide some referees and scorers. Because of the reduced entries it is unlikely that there will be any play in the Drill Hall.

There were no surprise results on Saturday. St. Mary’s and Collegiate contested a drawn game in the senior grade. Taking the match as a whole, the standard of play was good, although there were times when play ' was patchy. Had the Collegiate attacks been scoring consistently it is probable that the team would have been successful. W. Sadlier was not playing up to form, but this was probably due to the fact that she has not had a game for some time. G. Maley showed promise in the attack third. Her shooting is fairly consistent and once she is able to combine smoothly with the other players she should be very valuable. E. Neame was always dependable in Collegiate’s centre third and C. Smith also showed enterprise. The three defences, L. Barrett, M. Jensen and N. Bulman, put in some good work. N. Bulman is a girl who should develop into a very dependable defence. M. McGrath was the mainstay of the St. Mary’s team. She shot some remarkably good goals—in fact this player seems to shoot more accurately in the Drill Hall than on the Duke street courts —and her other work was also sound. M. Lynch provided solid support. As was only to be expected Rata A did not experience much difficulty in accounting for Makarewa. The latter team’s attacks did not find it easy to penetrate Rata’s defence and more often than not had no option but to shoot from a position well out from the goal. The Rata team combined well, V. Fraser and A. Pittaway being responsible for some good work in the centre third. Technical, which was playing one

short in the centre third, did well to hold Rata B to a one-goal win. The Technical girls infused plenty of dash into their play and in fact both teams gave bright performances. A word or two about side centres. The rules state that every player is free to move immediately the whistle blows. Some side-centres, however, have been inclined to move before the whistle is blown, and thus have gained an advantage over their opponents. At the beginning of a match the referees some-

times wait a few seconds before blowing the whistle and the offenders should then realize very quickly what is wrong. This is usually given merely as a warning at the beginning of the match, if it is necessary. If the offence is repeated, however, the usual penalty is a free pass to the opponent of the offender.

Clubs are reminded that they are supposed to appoint a member to inquire when the weather is doubtful where the matches are being played. The other club members can then inquire from this girl and avoid a lot of unnecessary telephone rings to members of the executive. A notice is also posted at a sports depot in Dee street about 11.30 or a little later on Saturday mornings when the weather seems doubtful and girls working in the city could easily make a point of looking at this notice. The trouble may lie in the fact that a number of clubs has new secretaries and they are perhaps not aware that it is necessary for someone to be appointed to make an inquiry. The following points about regrades should be kept in mind Regrades should not be applied for until necessary—most clubs alter their teams during the first few games of the season, and regrades should be left until it is certain in which grade the girl is to play, or until she has played two games out of grade. If a girl has played one or two matches in a higher grade than she is registered there is no need to apply for a regrade for her. A girl must play three matches in the higher grade before it alters her status.