PLAYING FIELDS

Waikato Times, Volume 90, Issue 14028, 3 April 1919, Page 2

PLAYING FIELDS

DOMAIN BOARD AND SPORTS BODIES. A deputation from the Hamilton ' Rugby Union, consisting of Messrs Speight, Day, Paterson, Varney and Brown waited upon the Hamilton Domain Board last night in regard to the allocation of the playing grounds for the coming season. The chairman of the Board, Mr. A. Swarbriok, in greeting them, said: — “Wo have asked you to meet us in order to consider the best means of providing facilities for footballers with the limited means at our disposal. The land and funds we administer are the property of Hie entire community, and we are bound to administer them to the best of our ability in Wfce interest of all. If wc expend an undue amount on any section of the community wc deprive ethers of their just rights. Our domain lands are all set apart for ‘recreation purposes.’ This does not merely mean playing fields and sports grounds; it also includes parks, ,n which people who never play outdoor sports may lake exercise and pleasure in the open air. When this Board took office, they came into possession, not of ready-made playing fields, but of 150 pieces of land neglected and overrun with noxious weeds. The first duty of the Board is clearly, lo bring these lands into use, and make them available for sports and pleasure grounds. But the amount available each year for this purpose ■ is totally inadequate. At the present moment we have hundreds of urgent matters waiting our attention, and we are impeded and crippled on every side by lack of funds. Practically the whole of our funds are derived from the rents of our land, the administration of which is an exceedingly troublesome and expensive matter. Of the funds so obtained the greater part is consumed in inevitable expenses which are practically outside the disposal of the Board. The general cost of administration must he paid, noxious weeds must be kept down, grass cut, walks and drains cleared, , and fences and buildings maintained, or the whole will go to rack and ruin. Of this inevitable expenditure fully one-half may fairly he debited to sports grounds and the balance to pleasure grounds. Therefore, in considering our expenditure on Sports grounds, we must bear m mind ttiat every year we have to expend a large sum in order that sports grounds may exist at all; and for this inevitable expenditure we make no claim on the sports bodies. Of the balance at the disposal of the Board after this inevitable expenditure, more than one-half has hitherto been spent cu sports grounds. In the last financial year we spent about £2OO m forming football grounds; £3O in laying out tennis courts; about £GO in special expenditure on cricket grounds, over and above the ordinary expenditure before mentioned; and about £BO was spent in improving pleasure grounds. In the annual port adopted by the Board in February last the proposed expendtiure of the funds at our disposal during the current year was as follows: —We propose to expend £3OO in bathing and swimming accommodation; about £SO in improving pleasure grounds, am. then, if possible, we propose to ope.i up a new football ground on Lot 4, Hamilton West. That is our present programme, as proposed by me and adopted by the Board. To do this we are compelled to refuse additional expenditure for the cricketers at Seddon Park, and the expenditure of past years on cricket must be curtailed, and the cricketers, like all other sports, and like cricketers- in ether districts, must pay their share of the cost of their amusement. . Thu portion of my report referring to football is as follows; —‘For football we did nothing till the last two seasons. We now provide two grounds. We have expended a considerable sum in making grounds available for football, 1 and I'trust we shall do more when ’ funds are available. I suggest that next winter the footballers use two grounds at Steele Park, deferring the final completion of these grounds until'another ground is available, to he used for a season while the second portion is being levelled. In order to do this, I suggest that the Football Association be asked to contribute the cost of an additional dressing room, tc be used until a proper pavilion can be erected at Steele Park. The cost of maintaining a football field is not very heavy, and last year the Football Association contributed £3 to our funds.’ That report was read and approved at the Board meeting on January 14th, when Mr. Wilson was not present. At the next meeting of the Board, when Mr. Wilson was present, he protested against any furteher sum being expended on a football ground as suggested. The position which the Board proposes to take with regard to outdoor sports, as already indicated last, year, is as follows: —The hulk> of our expenditure k just as much for outdoor sports as for pleasure grounds, but it Is inevitable, whether football and cricket are piayed or not, it must go on just the same. But, beyond this, there is a certain expenditure—a small one in the case of football and hockey— : which is directly conected with the use of the ground, and we consider that this special expenditure- should be borne by the players, as is done in all other centres.- Unless this is done by each sports body, then the other sports and the general public will he deprived of their just rights. As regards football we consider an annual payment of £lO, would fairly meet the expenditure by the Board, and our sugestion now is that the Football Association shall find the necessary sum lo enable an additional dressing room to be at once erected at stc-ele Park, and that the amount so advanced shall be credited to the Football Association as so much paid on account of future annual payments.”

Mr. Speight recognised that sporting bodies were exceedingly well treated in Hamilton as regards grounds, but considered that the Domain lands were for playing on. The footballers were quite prepared to contribute what they could, but their fun is were not very high, as during lbs past two years they had devoted all their profits to patriotic purposes. The grounds should be apportioned

according to the number of players in Hie various branches of sport. The Union comprised schoolboys, juniors, and seniors, and was entitled to a fair share of the grounds. Last year the Union had 300 players: Schoolboys, eight teams (120 players); juniors, live teams (75 players) ; seniors, four teams (GO players), and three open teams (45 players). No fewer than 138 games of Rugby were played. It was expected that this year the number of players would be at least 300. It would be impossible to play all the matches on two grounds. The Union was prepared to pay £2O towards the cost of the new dressing shed, and £lO per year. After further discussion it was resolved that a committee of tiie Board, consisting of the chairman and Messrs A. E. Manning and J. R. Fow confer with representatives of the -

sports bodies re the Appointment cl the grounds on Thursday evening It rva-s emphasised that the Board is eager to meet the desires of the players ns far as possible, but funds arc limited.