ROWING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1716, 5 April 1913, Page 12

ROWING.

* iT" (Br Mercury.) AMATEUR STATUS ONCE MORE. • , In the excitement of tho recent regatta and the aitermath'thereof, the meeting of delegates called to ileal with the muchvexed question or' tho amateur status of Dominion oarsmen was allowed to'pass over practically unnoticed even by tuose must immediately concerned—the' rowing men themselves. And yet the'matters discussed were of very vital importance to tho sport. , The matter as a whole has been dealt with very fully from time, to time lii these columns, to tho pros and.cons need not bo gono into now, but it will be remembered .that early .in the season tho N.Z.A.It.A. brought before its affiliated clubs the question of so amending the definition oi an amateur oarsman at present . obtaining in tho Dominion as to bring it into lino with that recognised in Australia and tho countries of the Old World. The chief reason for tho advocated change is to reinpvo the present disability under which our rowing men labour with regard to competitions outside the Dominion, in which, as things st&nd at present, they can take no part, so as,. should occasion arise, they might bo aiforded an opportunity of competing at tho Olympic Ciames and other oversea competitions. ' Tho conference under review was called, as an' outcome of tho association's activity. in the matter,'to enable the various centres'to voico-their views per medium of their' delegates present at the big regatta. The voicing of these views showed pretty conclusively in tho opinion of tho centres not only is the timo not. ripe for tho change, but that the change itself is .not acceptable to tjiem. It also showed equally conclusively that the misconception as to the truo inwardness of the term "amateur," as used in other, sports, thai'was so pronounced a. feature —in fact, the chief the initial opposition, is still tho big,obstacle 'n, the path of tho proposed relorm. This, was plainly* sliAwn» by the speeches of the'opponents of the'proposals brought down by tho pssoeiation, with the object of plac-. ing our rowing on a purely amatetir basis. Thus ono speaker stated .baldly that ono effect of the auienclmonts "would bo .to put one of the clubs in his district entirely out of action by debarring the large majority of its members. It is a pity that ;the narno of the.. club in. question was -not. asked for as it is obvious, that such : a statement could only be, tho result of a/ misunderstanding of ihe position. If it could, hav^'bee'n'-,'shown, as doubtless it could : have,- that- a mistake had been made in'this' one instance, a lot of good would, hftyo ..been done towards removing the-general ■misconception. "The Old - Bopy , r | '■ As the chief opposition came from Canterbury. -Mr. F. 1). Kestoven was most prominent in the advocacy ;of the existing state of affairs. His big—, •in triithphis only—argument' was tho same ofd' bogy as of yore, viz., that of .professionals m other branches of sport wero. to Ee'(lebarred from rowing is amateurs, the injmeijiate result, would be such a reduction in'club membership all round as to serioufe'ly cripple the sport. : In fact, itv is the fear, of this dread ■ happening, that-led to the defeat of the .whole project? and it .is this ■utterly erroneous idea that tho association will 'have to combafTiij its "efforts to lead the ; objecting clubs to its. way of thinking. For it is to be presumed that our governing body, will n treat this temporary ■set-back as- final.; The good work is yet to he done,""but it is well worth the doing,, 'and it'is a good sign that of thoso in ot.fice at present on the council of the as'so;ciatio() tho desiro for the 'change is practically unanimous. The councillors make !no secret of this fact, and thoso that oppose it in meeting do, so under instruction from. -their centres, and in absoluto opposition to their private views. It re-jinains-for them now to use their best cur,'deavours to bring their constituents round jto their own way, of thinking—either that ■or the New Zealand Amateur Eowing Association will havo to drop the word "amateur" from its title and constitution.,'* In Contrast. Before leaving the subject for the present, ..'it is'l'atlief interesting to note, two somewhat" divergent views on our present imentrMr. F. D. ICesteven, captain of the !bittqi%st opponents of the reform movement/Mr. i'. D. Kesteven, captain .of the 'Christchurch Union Bow'ng Club, and aquatic writer of the "Canterbury Times —Canterbury authorities 'both. Thus tho former, in his speech at the conference:— I. "Tho-poor,lily-white amateur no longer ;exisfs.;._J,'l!Q._c'hap that was content to iracojfor .trophies, and pay his own cx-'penscfc-lie's gone for ever." ; in this .week's "Canterbury. pTinies:"—"Outside, Dominion oarsiineiil'mlaj- bo. regarded as professionals, •but'l;'venture to assert, that, there aro lietter amateurs in the true meaning of tho"word than those: who compete under .the-rulos of the N.Z, Rowing' Asso:ciats|i; j After- all, tho spirit in -which a man 1 competea-is the Teal thing in sport, -audi'mariy Newi'Zealand oarsmen who do ;a heap; of the season often havo -precious-'little' indeed at tho end to 'shoW :Jh*the tvay of-trophies." "Mercfiry"' leaves it to his readers to iudge.'iwhich, of ."these, experts is correct, ;but;'he c'annot but express his astonish- ■ monVth'at anyone in whoso hands is en- ' trusted the welfare of any amateur sport can-hold, much less express, the views ;voiced''.by 'Mr. Kesteven. <Probat)la Invaders. v Apropos of the fact that our oarsmen 'cannot: compete against any outside amateur crew crimes word from Australia that ■ thero'-is -a big probability of a visit during xiext season of an English rowing -combination. Mr. C. S. Cunningham, selectors of tho recent Austraiian; Olympic "eight," who journeyed to England with the crew, has been ing 'himself whilo at Homo in the matter of an Bnglish visit, and on his recent return to Melbourne voiced the opin'on that :thd.re 'was a big chanco of carrying the. project to a successful issuo. "It was* only after considerable trouble that I could;; break down tho prejudices of English-rowers," he says. "The Leander Club, which is in the same position as the Marylebono Cricket Club, in that it other clubs, and sends its crews to other countries, would not consent .to ."come. out because the men could not; leave their employment. After unsuccessfully.'. . approaching the Amateur Eowing Association, who said that it was a matter outside their ■province, I appealed to individuals, and finally succeeded in persuading a number of well-known oarsmen to visit Australia after the Henley Regatta.". Amongst thoso who will probably make tho journey are: G. L. Thompson, one of the Leander men;, Bruce Logan, a fine -amateur boxer and oars.mani.Hellyer,; another Meander man; Eosser, a University oarsman; and Gigott. The party';" which will probably number twelve, will bo. mostly drawn from tho Thames Club. Tho only thing likely to hinder tho arrangements is that the Amateur Association will refuse its sanction. Tho.clubs aro very conservative, and as the result of their experience of the wiles of the':American amateur athletes, wero ;very chary.:about having anything to.do with colonial oarsmen prior to the visit of our crow. That feeling, however, hns ;now changed, as wo showed them freely that wo are as jealous of our amateur status as they;are."