ATHLETICS.
[BY Mkiicuuy.] THE DEADLOCK OVER DATES. Victoria's Position. The mi written rule that the Home State shall Jix the (lutes for any Australasian, championship meeting is both lair and necessary, ;;inio tlio home State laces the- financial burden of the meeting. The fact that the dates do not -suit any one State does nut alter the position, if the dates have' been fixed alter due consideration has been given to all outside objections. When January 'J-l and L'(j, 1914, were decided upon lor .the next Australasian championships, the New Zealand Association i»t- once made representations to the Victorian body that they were wholly ijiisuitablc. '1 he other States had no objections to malic. The Victorian A-A.A. having gone fully into the matter, has decided thai any alteration of-' the dates would bring the meeting (in at a time when there 'would lie no Chance whatever of making it a success. '; We oil til is side of the Tasnian, unacquainted as wo are with local conditions in Victoria, must bow to .the decision and cheerfully acknowledge the rights of the home State in this matter, the more so since Now Zealand is in a minority of one. What Rights Have We? ' Having admitted this in favour of Victoria, New Zealand's own rights must receive due consideration. Under o'rdinary circumstances the mere fact of the dates being unsuitable would bo no barrier to, nor would it even be pleaded as ail excuse for, the Dominion's non-representation at the gathering. In the past, even when the meeting took place at a time when its representatives had. necessarily to be picked upon tlio form of the previous season, tlio Dominion has always sent a 'team, proportioned to the association's financial strength. In 1009, when the meeting was held at Brisbane in August—-quite three 'months before tlio real opening of our season-r-a New Zealand team, picked on the form displayed at' the previous Dominion championships, was sent, l'n'l9o3, at the gathering held at Sydney in the equally unsuitable month of . November, a- New Zealand team competed. It was rho present council that sent the 1909 team, and this body is not ono t) make a' mountain out- of a molehill. The dates for the next mooting (apart from climatic conditions) in themselves a're suitable: it is the present-circum-stances that make it improbable that tlio Dominion will he represented. And, in fairness to our association,'it is to lie iiopcd that our Victorian friends will recognise the rights of' New Zealand in this matter. ' ' We Must Stick by'.the Americans. ' \ : After eighteen .months. of negotiations, the American, visit promises to become a fact. To en surd: this, the Now Zealand Association lias; ple'dged itself a's t'pr as it possibly , cam- So that the tr.ur may pay its way, it is essential, that, when our visitors are competing in the Dominion, they shall be opposed, by the best of our athletes. During the month of January they will be appearing at the various centres-through-out New Zealand, and the absence of the Now Zealand cracks wonld'seriously iill'eet attendances. Further, it would not be showing courtesy to our visitors to. send our own cracks away at such , a'.timo. In view of those facts, it is 'clearly impossible for New Zealand to he represented at a meeting in Victoria (tyring the course, of the same month. Ir, is wortliy of note, in this connection, that the Americans, of course, will be unable to-compete at- the Anv ti'alasian meeting, but this,'though regrettable, is a matter to which the Victorian Association has presumably given due consideration.
Iliad tlic meeting boon fixed for a month lator, New Zealand would have boon represented, and, as • tlio good, faith of our association, it has at no time'.sought to shirk its ditty of Ixiing represented, by urging that tho liiianeial responsibility ol the American visit would in itself preclude the idea of! a team sent. AH tlial was asked was that" dates suitable to us should ,be fixed. , Byt Why Consult the Centres? As between the two associations, -it liipst bo decided that eaeh is justified in! the position that it has taken ujj, bijt, as between the New Zealand Council uud the centres, thore is room for "Mercury" to break a lance. The council's proposal to get the views of th.e centres is a sign of amiable weakness arising from its ovei'scrupiilousnqss in tho matter of giving fair play to' its affiliated bodies, and to the individual holders of championships. In matters of homo, policy, such as alterations of tho association's rules, or the location of the. New Zealand championships, it is but right for the council to, consult tho centres, but, in a-matter ol'j purely foreign policy, tho council sliould clearly recognise its individual existence and responsibility. So far as the Australasian Union and the other State associations are concerned, the New Zealand centres have no, existence. And, after all, why should the opinion of the. centres liavo ariv weight? They have no responsibility in tho matter, nor can the council cloak them with responsibility by se'pking their opinions. Least of all, can it divest itself of its own responsibility in the eyes ol the Australian States by merely voicing the combined opinion of its centres in a matter that concerns tlieni not one jot. . I "VJncle Sam's" Men, blatters in connection with jtlie American visit have progressed a stage, fuj'ther in that the council has decided to: call up guarantees by October 31.. Tljis step is a necessary one, since the council must have some £-11)0 in hand before November 12—the date on which tlip team will sail —the expenses incurred in assembling the men and their return steamer fares. As stated earlier in the week, the American team ivill contain a splendid all-round ■ assortment of talent, with i tlib two finest junipers of the day and this most promising miler in America. The sprinter will probably be tho comparatively weak man of the ton in, but this weakness will b? only "comparative," since he is a good deal hotter than anything we can produce at present. Athletes Awake! Respite the fact, that the Auckland CVnitio is well under way with its preparations to repel the invader, "Mercury" is not aware of any action oil the part of flic Wellington Centre, and, saye in one or two instances, he is not a warn of any of our athletes haying started their preparation. There is' a possibility el' Wooilger throwing down tile gauntlet, ami Duncan will certainly be,on hand, but, so far,, none of our other cracks have shown any enthusiasm. Away up at Napier 31' Holm is assiduously practising with the hammer, and at Wanganui interest has been awakened, but there is no news from the Wairarapa. This is not altogether as :il should be. The eoiilre might, atany rate, make a start by keepnej an oye on the competitors at the ltugby Union sports on Saturday, for one never knous what running talent may tie Tying dormant, iu tho football world
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Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1866, 27 September 1913, Page 21
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1,168ATHLETICS. Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1866, 27 September 1913, Page 21
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