The Waikato Independent TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1926. EASTER BOWLING TOURNAMENT.

Waikato Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 2644, 6 July 1926, Page 4

The Waikato Independent TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1926. EASTER BOWLING TOURNAMENT.

For twenty-one years,, consecutively, Cambridge has. had its annual bowling tournament. Year by: year this fixture has grown' in popularity, until it has became fully established as- one of .the most successful and enjoyable tournaments held in any country district in the Dominion-—certainly the most popular tourney held in South Auckland. According to a report of a meeting of the council of the South .Auckland Bowling Centre, held at Hamilton a few days ago, there is a danger of Cambridge having Easter dates taken

away from it in the future, in order to

enable the South Auckland Centre to take place during Easter week. From the report of the meeting, it would appear that the attitude taken up by the council of the Bowling Centre is that the centre annual tournaments have been a failure in the past, and tile reason assigned for this is that too many tournaments are held, .and that these gatherings have had to be held

on other than Christmas and Easter holidays, which are monopolised by Te Aroha and Cambridge. The officials'; say the centre should be considered before the individual clubs, and passed a resolution—three voted" against this—fixing the annual South Auckland tour- : nament for Easter, also that proposals be formulated with a view to reducing the number of bowling tournaments . held in.the province. The high-handed action of this meeting will come as a staggering blow to bowlers and other, residents in Cambridge and district, and if carried into effect-will assuredly prove disastrous to the cause of bowling throughout the district for it certainly cannot be called sportsmanlike. It is not "bowler's fair play."-. Whatever may be the cause.of the nonsuccess of the Bowling Centre's. tour : ;' naments, matters are not going /to "be • mended by filching the % annual;.fixturc, dates held' by Te Aroha and Cambridge;, for years and years. As a result many years' hard work, our local Eas : • ter gathering has been steadily built up, until it is now far and away the j biggest affair of the kind held in the entire South. Auckland Centre. It has, long been looked upon as an establish-/ ed permanent institution. Bowlers from all parts of the province make this their annual holiday outing, and will assuredly resent this unwarranted interference by the provincial officials/ Possibly, viewed from the centre's point of view, there may be too many tournaments in the' provincial district; but the greatest care must be taken before the rights of the individual clubs are infringed. To at least some of these clubs their annual tourna- . ments are of vital importance, and to I rob them of these would be a very ! grievous offence, calculated to cause dissension, and do a great deal of harm

to bowling generally. It is very certain that the Cambridge Bowling Club will not tamely submit to the proposed procedure of the South Auckland Council, and assuredly the club will be backed up by many other ehibs in the district, togcthpr with a great many prominent bowlers who always look forward to the Cambridge EastoY tour, nament with expectancy. The whole of the local citizens also will solidly join hands with the local club in its protest, for the annual fixture is of importance to the entire community, being recognised as one of the best advertisements to the town and district. Wc certainly think the centre officials have hit on an entirely wrong method of remedying an evil. Surely some other businesslike and reasonable way might well be adopted for making the official annual tournament more successful, without aiming a. paralysing blow at one of the most successful and loyal clubs in the entire province. We are inclined to the view that the result ,of the Hamilton meeting was due to immature consideration, and have little doubt that more careful enquiry into the pros and cons will convince the officials of their error of judgment. One of the great attractions of the game of bowls is the kindly feeling and good fellowship that is engendered among members. Let us hope that this brotherly feeling will predominate when this matter is further discussed, and that an amicable agreement may be- arrived at that will enable Cambridge and Tc Aroha to continue to enjoy their annual bowling tournaments, and at the same time, ensure more loyal and enthusiastic support being given to the centre's official tourncvi