INSURANCE OF PLAYERS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5265, 20 April 1928, Page 1

INSURANCE OF PLAYERS.

COVER FOR RUGBY FOOTBALLERS.

DISCUSSION BY PAEROA UNION. The oftein discussed question of the insurance of - Rugby. footballers was brought forw'ard-by the secretary (Mr D. S. Kerr) at last Monday’s, meeting of the management of the Paeroa Rugby Football Union. In, response to an inquiry the Hauraki Plains union forwarded particulars of the scheme it had in vogue for the insurance of players. It was stated that the creation of the fund was by a contribution from ejach club undeir its jurisdiction wishing to pai> ticipate in the benefits under the fund of £5 ss, and a contribution from the union of £.lO 10s. Each senior player was required to pay Is. 6d before, each match in which he played, artdl each junior player Is. Such contributions were .collected by ;an official of tihe club concerned, and the total payments, together with a list of the players, was handed to the] referee controlling the game before the commencement, and referees were on no account to accept premiums after the match had. After discussing the pros anjd l cons of the scheme the opinion was expressed by the chairman (Mr W. PPennell) that players would be a great de,al better off if they paid an extra premium and took out an accident policy with an insurance company. The secretary said that an official of the Plains union had stated that his union had lost money 'on the scheme the season before last, but last season tihe fund paid its way. The difficulty was to collect the premiums from the players each Saturday ; also, some of the clubs were slow in paying up the £5 ss. Mr E. Edwards considered that the scheme was of little use to the, Paeroa union. Insurance was a necessity for all players, and. they could obtain good cover if they went in. for the daily papers’ insurance, scheme. Mr H. Tams contended that the best form of insurance was that offered by a friendly society.

Mr J. Pinder thought that too much unnecessary responsibility was being placed on re,Eere_es. He instanced t‘ ie reluctance of some players to pay their club subscriptions, and contended that great difficulty would be experienced in collecting premiums from players each Saturday. If footballers desired to insure against accident on the playing field they should make their own arrangements for cover.

After a depifltory discussion it was moved by the chairman and seconded by Mr M. Crosby that it be a suggestion to clubs to recommend players to arrange; t'heir own insurance. It was also decided to thank the Hauraki Plains union for the assistance it had given in the matter.