RUGBY FOOTBALL

Taranaki Daily News, 22 March 1929, Page 4

RUGBY FOOTBALL

CLIFTON CLUB’S' MEETING

THE ANNUAL REPORT PRESENTED.

FUND TO BUILD TRAINING SHED.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

The annual general meeting .of the Clifton Football Club was held in the Clifton Hall on Wednesday evening. Mr. H. Spurdie, who was voted to the chair, presided over about 50 members. Before dealing with’ the business, the chairman feelingly referred to the great loss to the club through the death of Mr. Robert Tate, who was a life member. A motion of sympathy was passed to the relatives.

The secretary read the report and bal-ance-sheet, which wer. adopted. The report read as follows: —

<; Tho club for the past two years has been suffering from a dearth of players, the managers at times finding it difficult to keep their teams up to full strength. The senior was a young and virile team, but seemed to lack a general. Things, however, look very promising this year, with Pat Ward in the van, and with his South African experience the team should be several rungs higher up the ladder ‘at the end of the season.

“The first juniors were again successful in getting into the division finals, but Lad to lower their colours to Toko. “After having. won. three matches at the start of the season, the junior fixture committee, owing to a team or teams pulling out of. the competition, found it necessary to re-arrange and restart the fixtures. . It is to be hoped that this will be Avoided in the future. It was not much encouragement to a team, especially as they were out of pocket by the extra travelling, besides prolonging the competition to too late in the season. The manager found some difficulty in keeping the team together on account of the re-starting of fixtures, “The thirds, after a few matches, were lacking in numbers after having been drawn on by the juniors, and were unable to fulfil the balance of the matches. The lack there cf young players is extraordinary. The club for years ran four teams, but it is now difficult to field three teams successfully. “It fell to the Clifton club to have the honour of providing Taranaki’s sole representative with the All Blacks on their African tour. We offer our congratulations to Pat Ward on the honour conferred upon him and his club, and on his prowess on the field. “The general account suffered somewhat through a smaller income from gates and extra expenditure which will not be recurring. Although the account shows a credit balance of £lO 7s 7d, there are liabilities to be met of £23 3s.

“The sports club account, which has been in the keeping of trustees, is in a very healthy state. During the year the committee, with some»outside help, were successful-in running a “fun o’ the fair” carnival, and an amount of £7l 13s 5d was netted. This account is earmarked for a training shed, and it is hoped that this building will be erected in the near future. With the funds already in hand, and an addition of revenue which wc he ,ic to obtain from the Easter sports, there is no reason why the shed should not be under'way.. very soon. “The insurance. account to our mind is dangerous, arid should be scrapped. No member taking part in it can receive any guarantee of payment, as the.fund in its present state could not meet any large percentage of claims. “At the request of the Rugby Union, incorporation of the club was considered at a special meeting during the year, at which it was decided to register the club under the Incorporated Societies Act. Draft rules were gone into by the committee and were accepted. We have just recently received notice that the rules have been registered and the club is now an incorpoorated body, .which of course gives the club some standing.’’ The election of officers resulted asfollows:—President, Mr. Les. Birdling; vice-presidents, twelve elected; secretary and treasurer, Mr. Geo. Bird; auditor, Mr. A. J. Arras; executive, Messrs. V. Tate, M. Fahy, E. Tate, J. Shea, A. Lash, T. Taylor, G.’ Stimpson; union delegates, H. Spurdie (senior), E. Tate (junior); selectors, E. Tate (seniors), C. Brown (first juniors), W. Hawke (second juniors).; delegate to junior selection committee, Mr, A. S. McGregor. Opening day was fixed for April 6. Mr.' Les. Whitmore qualified for Mr. C. Gribbon’s medal donated for the best improved player in the first juniors for the season. The chairman presented the medal at the meeting.

Tho delegate was instructed to urge at the annual meeting that the High School be compelled to fulfil all their engagements or otherwise forfeit.. The club captain is Mr. M. Cain and the coach Mr. C. Browning. The executive held a meeting afterwards and Mr. V. Tate was re-elected chairman. THE OKAIAWA CLUB NEED FOR TRAINING SHED. MEMBERS’ ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Okaiawa Football Club (Inc.) was held, on Wednesday night, Mr. A. Lees presiding over an attendance of about 50. The bal-ance-sheet showed a credit of £4O at the beginning of the year, and £33 at the end. The revenue for the year amounted to £l3O, senior, gates returning nearly £5O and junior gates £O. The chairman said that the ‘‘gates” had shown a decrease. He could not say whether the people were getting too much football or whether the standard of play was not high enough. Various speakers spoke strongly against the way the junior competitions were run.

Mr. Guy mentioned that several teams had pulled out, and, instead of rucining two divisions, the competitions had to be run in one division. Mr. E. G. Betts asked for details of the smoke concert; He noticed that no mention of it was made in the bal-ance-sheet. Was there any profit? Mr. Birchall replied that the concert had been run by the committee, who paid for it out of their own pockets. He noticed that when there was a charge of 5a their supporters were conspicuous by their absence and socially the concert was a failure. The previous year, when it was free, the place was crowded. Nineteen new members were elected.

The annual subscription for playing members was fixed at 12s 6d seniors, 7s 6d juniors, thirds and fourths ss. The fees included all travelling. Honorary members’ subscriptions were fixed at 5s or over.

Officers were elected as follows: Patron, Mr. W. A. Guy; president, Mr. A. Lees; senior vice-president, Mr. J. O’Sullivan; vice-presidents, Messrs. J. Johnston, D. Roberts, Toro and A. J. Mack; secretary and. treasurer, Mr. A. G. Robertson; auditor, Mr. C. E. Evetts; executive committee, Messrs. A. Birchall, J. Cran, W. Johnston, O. Crawford, G. Hurley, P. Linn and R. Guy; delegates to Taranaki Rugby Union, Messrs. A. Birchall, W. A. Guy and A. Lees; senior selector, Mr. A. Lees; junior selector, Mr. W. Johnston; third grade selector, Toro; chib captain, Mr. D. Johnston; coaches, Messrs. J. O’Sullivan, D. Robertson-, J. Johnston and A. Birchall.

The opening practice will be held on Saturday, April 6. The executive’s notice of motion to be submitted to the Taranaki Rugby Union to confine the fourths to those under 16 on June 15.

Mr. Birchall, in support, pointed out that players of 18 were almost fully o-rown men. He understood that a weight limit was under consideration, but he was opposed to this method. The remit was approved. A further remit that referees shall have no seat on the management committee of any football under the jurisdiction of the Taranaki Rugby Union was also discussed, as was a proposal that delegates of senior and primary schools shall have voting powers only in the grade they represent. The matter of support was left in the hands of the delegates. The proposal that three eelectors be appointed, one from, the north, one from the south, and a chairman, all to be appointed at tin annual meeting of club delegates, did not meet with favour, and it was recommended that one delegate be appointed. The delegates were instructed to support the present boundary system at the annual meeting.

A vote of thanks was accorded ’ to Messrs. Guy and Kendall for medals donated last year. Mr. Guy and Mr. Lccs intimated that they would each donate a medal this year.

A vote of thanks was accorded to the late secretary, Mr. Houlahan. It was resolved to donate footballs to the schools at Okaiawa, Matapu and Normanby. Mr. D. Johnston mentioned the need for a shed to train in, and said that there were supporters who would assist in the matter. Mr. Birchall suggested that the district be canvassed for donations. He believed that a suitable place wotrld cost about £lBO. If they could get the necessary support they could go on with it; if not they could drop the project. Mr. O’Sullivan also pointed out the necessity for a training shed with showers and conveniences. “This ground of out's is a disgrace,” declared Mr. Birchall, in commenting on the condition of the playing grounds. He suggested that they approach the park board with a view to obtaining an improvement. The question of going into ways of providing a training shed was left in the hands of the management committee. WAIMATE FOOTBALL CLUB ELECTION OF OFFICERS. MANY NEW MEMBERS ENROL. The annual meeting of the Wainiatc Football Club was held on Wednesday evening, Mr. J. W, Paterson presiding over an attendance of about 40. The annual report and balance sheet were adopted. The .finances showed a debit balance, and members were urged to pay their subscriptions promptly. Officers for the year were elected as follow: Patron, Mr. A. G, Bennett; president, Mr. J. W. Paterson; vice-pre-sidents, ten were elected; secretary and treasurer, Mr. A. J. Christie; executive committee, Messrs. E. Snowdon, L. Hughes, W. Bourke, AV. Bourke, junr., R. °Hughes, A. McCracken, E. Long, E. Lavery* G. H. Meuli; club captain, Mr. AV. Bourke; delegates to Taranaki Rugby Union, Messrs, C. A. Burke, J. W. Paterson and A. J. Christie, emergency delegate, Mr. 'E. Bourke; selectors, Messrs. C. A. Burke (seniors), A. McCracken (juniors). The appointment of selectors for the lower grades was left to the management committee. The following were elected members: R. Gray, C. Whalen, L. Burke, AV. Johnson, F. Hickey, T. and D. McKay, T. Tamm AV. Yates, L. Hickey, E. Bigham, L. Vine, R. Free, "W. Prout, L. Budd. AV. Edwards and F. Dick. It was resolved to nominate four teams this season.

Mr. C. A. Burke congratulated the juniors and Mr. Cosgrove congratulated the Maori team on their respective successes last year. Subscriptions of members were fixed at 25s for seniors and juniors, 5s for fourths, 2s 6d for thirds, and 7s 6d for honorary members. Various schemes were suggested for improving the finances. It was considered that the proportion of. gate takings was inadequate in the ease poorer country clubs. The opening practice will be held on Wednesday, April 27. It was decided to nominate two teams for the Kaponga seven-a-side tourney. A dance will be held at a later date, and arrangements were left to the dance committee.

The delegates to the Rugby Union were instructed to oppose the Eltham Club's remit that club boundaries be dispensed with. _ ■ Considerable objection was raised against the rule under which championship points shall not count in games played by a team which subsequently forfeits twice and is disqualified. Regarding the remits from the Okaiawa club it was decided to support the ones advocating that fourths shall not be over 1G on June 15 and that delegates from schools shall have voting powers only in respect to their own grade. The delegates were instructed to use their discretion with regard to the remit urging that referees have no seat on the management committee of any football club under the jurisdiction of the Taranaki Rugby Union. Tho proposal that three selectors be appointed, one from the north, one from the south and a chairman, was discussed and it was decided that the delegates be empowered to vote at their discretion. Mr. C. A. .Burke considered the final provincial selection should be made by a sole selector.