AMATEUR ATHLETICS

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 84, 14 September 1938, Page 3

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

THE OPOTIKI CLUB

AXN UAL AIEETIN G

The annual meeting of the Opotiki Amateur Athletic, ana Cycle 'Clue vvus newt in tne Mission Hail .last nignt, vue president, Mr cnas- Tabu, occupying tne chair,. Hie Ininuves or tne pi evious annual meeting were read by tlio secretary (.Mr. G. v». .button) ana confirmed'. Apologies for absence were lcceived irom Messrs Urmanuy, Storer Bros., Oebroceny senr., Mpuson sent., W. See veils and Jack Inskip.

The annual report was presented as follows bv the secretary:—

Annual Report.

Once again 1 am pleased to be able to. report a successful season and anotner year or progress ni, the club s history. The membership tmougliouv tne season .was well maintained, a feature being the large number or

promising junior members. Owing to seven al senior members leaving tlio district tlie nelds in some or the events were rather small. 1 Had it not been tor a- tew of the older juniors sportingly competing as seniors, the senior events m some eases would have been a. farce.

The schoolchildren showed more interest. there being a number displaying good promise. Fortnightly sports meetings were held, on Alonday nights, while the usual two big day meetings took place. The spi rts day held for .the Moody .Fanner competition on February 12 proved an outstanding success. Gisborne—the holders of the bannersent over a very large team and there were representatives from Tauranga, Te Rulce, Rotorua and Te Awannitu. Gisborne again retained the banner; this being mainly due to their large representation- The Opotiki team were runners-up and put up a very creditable performance.

The bind sports day, although lacking the interest of the previous big meeting, was a success, except lor the disappointing attendance of the public. The gate takings throughout the season were good and on occasions large and interested crowds attended.

The teams selected to represent Opotiki in other upheld the reputation of the club and put up very creditable performances. The outstanding performance undoubtedly goes to Jack Inskip who won the Auckland Provincial Junior Broad Jump Championship. The club takes the opportunity of congratulating Jack on his fine achievement and hopes that lie will now endeavour to win the provincial senior broad jump championship. The team that took part in the Waikato Championships performed' well. Although perhaps it is unfair to individualise this team, special mention should he made ot Doug. Debreeeny’s great race in the junior 140 yds. The club’s delegate in Hamilton, where the championships were held, wrote and asked me to convey to Air Debreceny his special congratulations <>n his performance. On 29th. .January a good team journeyed to Gisborne to take part in an Anniversary Day sports meeting. Again Opotiki was well to the fore and several members fared very well. The outstanding performers were D- Debreceny, E. Wilson and J. inskip. D. Debreceny won the junior ICO 1 and BSO yards handicaps, 'E. Wilson the 120 yards hurdles in fast time and J. Inskip gaining first place in the high jump. J. King rode a good rate to win the 3 mile -cycling handicap.

Several members of the club competed' individually at various sports in the province, gaining places in their respective events. Several attempts were made to send small teams away to outside meetings but owing to transport difficulties and other reasons these trips with one exception did not eventuate. At Easter a small team set out to compote at Tauranga Tint Avas prevented from reaching there oil account of a bad slip at Mafata. In regard to the Balance sheet to he presented. J think the. club is in a sound financial position and there is no reason for any concern. The committee sot out to' cut down its expenditure as far as possible and this policy was pursued to the close of the season- The committee also kept to its improvement policy, which cost over £ls for further lights. Owing to increased costs with the preparation of the ground there was a further £3 rental more than, previous years, fluxing the year the club’s assets have increased. Besides the now light which

is half paid for, the club was fortunate in securing six tine cups from the Herbert Smith Trust which are valued at approximately £4." The reserve was kept in fairly good order throughout the season. As previously stated the Council made 'an increase in the ground rental of os per meeting, during the season.

As in previous years difficulty was experienced in arranging members to prepare the ground .for the fortnightly meetings. It. is hoped that a better arrangement in this respect can be made for the coming season. , The members were well catered for as lur as trophies were • concerned. . These were fairly well distribute!, except, for two outstanding all-round performers in El. Upton and J. Inskip, who woii no less than 11 cups and two medals between them. Of these, J. Inskip won the most and lie is to be congratulated on his splendid achievement.. His successes were: Ist senior sprints for seaon, Ist senior field events for season, junior hop step and jump championship and second in the senior points aggregate. Ted Upton’s record of wins is one to be well proud of, esepcially taking into consideration that he assisted, in an official capacity for the club. His successes were: Ist senior points aggregate, Ist senior distance events, 2nd senior field events for season,and the £BO yards championship. There was ii c) outstanding cyclist for the season, the cups and medals being well distributed. The club wishes to thank Messrs. J. Arrol and C. Hunt for donation of cups. These were awarded to the best all-round junior (won by E. Brown), and to the competitor gaining the most points at the final day sports (won by B. Anderson). A tore cups and medals were given to the school children last season than previous seasons and the cut!' hopes to benefit by the extra expense incurred.

At the beginning of June one of the club’s keenest cyclists. B. Vereoe, decided to make an attempt on establishing a record front Opotiki to Gisborne- This he accomplished and completed the journey in 9 Ill's. 12 mins. This, was a great achievement as tlie weather and road conditions at the time were most unfavourable. After a night’s rest this rider set- out on his retuiMi journey, completing his long ride (four- miles of which lie had to walk, owing to chain trouble) in a little over his previous time. It,is hoped that Air Vereoe’.s feat v/ili be the means ot -paving the way lot iurther attempts to break this hue record.

The social activities ot the club were carried out similar to previous years. All functions were a great success and the dance following the big invitation meeting on February 12th. whs considered one of the best entertainments the club lias bold.

In concluding this report 1 wish to express the club’s thanks and appi eolation to all those who assisted the club in various ways. The club specially wishes to thank the people who kindly billeted visiting teams, also those who provided transport lor the: trips to Gisborne and Hamilton. 1 would like to take this opportunity, of again thanking the committee lot their good work throughout the past season. The committee should (eel. pleased and satisfied with the piogress the club has made and be prepared to commence the coming season with a bright and optimistic outlook.

The balance sheet presented by the treasurer, Air A. Debreceny. showed that the club commenced the season with a small credit balance and finished the year with a small debit balance. The report and balance sheet were adopted.

Election of OfficersThe election of officers resulted: Patrons, Alossrs G\ S. Moody and J. \Y. Gordon. •President. —Before vacating the chair Air C. Tabb thanked the outgoing committee for the support he nail received during the year and wished the club another successful season. On the motion of Mr T. .Hickey, seconded by Air Debreceny, Air I abb was unanimously elected president. •Viee-prosidents, .Messrs S. Al- Jeplison and J. AlcChldou. Hon. Surgeons, Drs A. J. Brass and 11. .Mail. Joint Secretaries, Messrs B. Anderson and E. Upton. Assistant, Air G. \Y ButtonHon. Treasurer, Air A. Debreceny. Mr Button thanked the treasurer for the work he had done during the pastseason. Hon. Auditor, Air A. G. Burton. Committee: Officers and Alessrs LI. McTlwraith, T. Hickey, J. Shaw, it. D. Black, A. S. cle Montalk, J. In-

skip and Griffon. I'Jxecutive: A small executive committee was appointed. The question of ground attention for the sports meetings was Jett in the hands of Messrs de Montalk and Anderson. Club Captain, Mr T. Hickey. Hanclicappers and Judges.—Heft to the incoming committee. Starter, Mr it. Mcllwraitli. Assistant starters, Messrs MeCald.on and Morris. Call Stewards.—Left to incoming committeeSubscriptions.—Seniors o/~ % (including affiliation fee of 1/6), juniors d/6, -bulies 2/6, lion, members 2/6. General. .

Ail' K. Upton referred to the need for encouraging lady competitors and said that Opotiki comparecl unfavourably with other centres in this respect. Mr - Upton also suggested that the number of field events should be enlarged and suggested the discus and javelin throw. Mr C. Tabb offered to present a javelin to the club and Mr It. Mcllwraitli offered to provide the discus. The offers were received with great enthusiasm.

The president, suggested that- a set of low hurdles would be an asset to the club and the event would he very popular. MV MeCaldou moved that it be a recommendation to the incoming committee that a first-class starting pistol be secured.

Votes of thanks to the press and the chair concluded the meeting-