SOCCER MATTERS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 31, 13 March 1914, Page 2

SOCCER MATTERS.

ENTHUSIASTIC, BUT UNBUSINESSLIKE. A more enthusiastic gathering than the annual meeting of the Canterbury Football Association on Tuesday evening could not be desired. The delegates seemed to be simply brimming over with enthusiasm, and optimism, and their confidence in those who are controlling for them the sport in Canterbury was very noticeable. There can be no doubt that the officers of the association are doing their work effectively and enthusiastically. So one feels somewhat reluctant to criticise their control of football matters; but still, it is only right to point out that the annual meeting was not conducted in the best manner —certainly not in a way that would enable the clubs to air their views on certain matters adequately.

PEOPEE PEOCEDUEE REQUIRED. Three things conduced to make the meeting rather unbusinesslike. One was that there seemed to be two men in the chair instead of one. Another was that the proper procedure at an annual meeting was not followed. The business was taken in any old way, and a sheaf of correspondence which was read out, in block, before the committee 's annual report was read,' was not dealt with until two hours later, when, owing to the lateness of the hour, it was simply referred to the incoming committee to deal with. But most of the waste of time was caused by amendments to the association's bylaws, which were suggested by the outgoing committee, being placed before the meeting without the clubs having had an opportunity of considering them beforehand, and in a manner which, did not allow their purport to be easily grasped. Instead of the amendments being clearJyThdicated on the printed sheets which were used at the meeting, they were merely run on to the old rules, so that some of the by-laws, as they appeared on the sheets, seemed contradictory. ' . So far as I can see, there is no provision that at least seven days' notice of proposed alterations of the association's by-laws shall be given to clubs before the proposals are considered at a general meeting. Such a rule, however, pertains in all other sports organisations that I can call to mind, and it certainly is a very necessary oiie. It is not fair to the clubs to ask their« delegates to consider suggested alterations to rules at a moment's notice. Further, the proposed amendments should be clearly set out. If this had been done Tuesday's meeting would not have got into such a tangle as it did occasionally. Provision is n ade for giving the clubs -notice of proposals to alter the competition rules. Why not so with the competition bylaws? WELL MEANT, BUT WRONG. One pretty drastic proposal by the outgoing committee was that no player ! should be raised to a higher grade to play in any semi-final or final. The meeting amended that by providing that the Managing Committee could allow such transfers if it thought fit. Even so,.the new rule is not likely to conduce to the best interests of the sport. Where, in the name of commonsense, is a team which has played its way to the semi-finals, and then has its strength reduced by accident, illness, or other causes, to get its substitutes from unless from its juniors? The expressed motive of the committee in bringing forward the proposal—to prevent juniors who have replaced senior players for semi-finals or finals by vir- - tue- of their playing ability returning Ito their junior team for the latter's semi-final or final matches—was a good one, but the best means to carry it out was not adopted. A proper system of grading is needed, not a restraint upon junior players winning their way into higher-grade teams. THE SENIOR TEAMS. The season in Christchurch probably will open on the first Saturday in April. There will be some changes, in the senior ranks this time. The Y.M.C.A. team seems absolutely dead, the I.C.S. team is dropping from senior rank to junior, and the Lyttelton team is, as one delegate put it on Tuesday evening, "up the pole." It was stated at the annual meeting that the Rangers may not be strong enough to go up to the senior competition, but they intended to hold a meeting later in the week to see what they could do. At the time these notes were written I had not heard how the Rangers' meeting had turned out. Burnham's prospects were reported to be doubtful, so the only clubs really assured are Sunnyside, Nomads, Linwood, Sydenham, and the new club, United. A GOOD SCHEME. The scheme which the Canterbury Football Association is putting into operation to secure the much-needed ground is a good one, and the association's secretary seems to be chiefly responsible for its organisation. The association is circulating amongst the clubs cards marked off into squares. Each square represents a foot of ground at 3d, and the most enthusiastic club members are asked to sell as many square feet at threepence a foot as they can. The most attractive point in the scheme/ is that it enables the collectors to collect money in instalments without much bother; many people would hesitate at paying several shillings or pounds, but would not mind paying out threepence, or a few threepences, at intervals. The scheme, in the way in which it has been organised, also enables the association's officials to note the progress of the movements at regular intervals without trouble. Association football will not take its proper place in Canterbury sports until it has

an adequate ground of its own. To pay the necessary deposit on a ground, the association needs to "sell," on the collecting cards, 174,240 square feet at threepence a foot. If the enthusiasm of the players and supporters of the game in Canterbury is really sincere it should not take long to "sell" that amount. A. L. C. >