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The Spike or Victoria University College Review, June 1927

Haslam Shield — Shooting

page 43

Haslam Shield — Shooting

Although a part of the Tournament it is to be very much regretted that Victoria's team this year was disqualified. In fairness to all the members of the shooting team and especially to H. V. Scott it is only right that the position should be recorded in the "Spike."

Five days before the date fixed for the firing of the match by the Victoria University College Team, the Tournament Delegates were informed that H. V. Scott was over age. This student however, had four years war service to his credit, and the delegates considered that for Tournament purposes Scott should be allowed to deduct the period of his war service from his age. There had been several cases similar to Scott's in which this procedure had been followed. V.U.C.'s delegates wrote to the delegates of the other Colleges giving full particulars and requesting them to admit H. V. Scott as eligible, at the same time pointing out that an early reply was desired since the date for the firing of the Haslam Shield Match by the V.U.C. Team was Saturday, 9th April. Replies were received from Auckland and Canterbury agreeing to Scott's inclusion in the team, but by the morning of the firing of the match, no reply had been received from Otago, though it would have been quite possible for them to have replied. Under the circumstances V.U.C.'s delegates interpreted Otago's silence as giving consent and instructed the Rifle Club to include Scott in the team. Later Otago intimated, by a letter written in Dunedin on the 8th, the day before the date fixed for the shooting, and with hardly a possibility of reaching Wellington before the 10th, that they would not agree to Scott, and though the V.U.C.'s delegates brought the matter up again at the Delegates' meeting, Otago adhered to their original decision, and consequently the V.U.C. Haslam Shield Team was disqualified. It should be remembered that the Otago Delegates had received V.U.C.'s letter on the Wednesday, but did not have the courtesy to reply until the Friday, although they were expressly asked in the letter for an urgent reply. Even if they had sent a telegram on the Friday that would have been sufficient; V.U.C.'s delegates would not have objected to paying for the telegram if Otago had sent it "Collect," but to adhere to their decision when they realised, that is if they did realise it, that the disqualification of our Team was due to their neglect, is scarcely believeable—but there it is. The disqualification was particularly regrettable because one member of our Team, G. E. Parker top scored in the Competition and was consequently entitled to a New Zealand University Blue for shooting, until the team was disqualified, when to make matters worse, an Otago man was granted the Blue, as he gained second top score. V.U.C.'s delegates wish to make it quite clear that they do not blame anybody but the Otago delegates for the most unfortunate position. V.U.C.'s delegates cannot under the circumstances follow the Otago delegates reasoning in coming to such a decision, (perhaps our delegates are dense), especially as the decision seems to penalise a student for having served in the war.

page 44

P.S. (Y.U.C.'s Tournament delegates have been informed since the above was written that O.U.'s Haslam Shield Team has also been disqualified, the reason being that O.U.'s Tournament Delegate failed to obtain the required eligibility certificate for one of their team. This means that C.U.C. win practice 4, while G. E. Watt, (A.U.C.) with a total of 110 is deemed to be Highest Scorer, and thus qualifies for N.Z. University Blue).

The performance of the Rifle Club in the Haslam Shield Competition can hardly be called a creditable one. The poorness of the shooting may be put down to the fact that the Trentham range could not be obtained for practice prior to the match, and also to the fact that all through the past season the Club was financially poor. The coming season, however, should be a good one, as the Club is on a sound financial footing, and there are a number of young shots who show great promise.

The day of the match was good with a slight wind coming from the South. Shooting commenced at 200 yards, where good scores were produced. Snap shooting at the disc followed at 200 yards, and here the scores on the whole were not good. After that came 10 rounds rapid in 45 seconds at 300 yards, followed by deliberate at 500 yards.

The scores of the teams were as follows:—
200 200 300 500
Delib. Snap Rapid Delib. Totals.
Parker, G. E. 22 23 38 32 115
Walpole, C. 24 16 36 29 105
Scott, H. V. 22 19 30 31 102
Macarthur, I. 24 16 36 26 102
Bollard, H. F. 20 18 39 21 98
Wylie, C. 22 21 28 26 97
Grant, R, 24 0 34 24 82
Richardson, O. J. 20 5 28 21 71
The possible in this Match was 135, and in scoring 115 G. E. Parker made an excellent score, and well deserved to obtain the highest individual score in New Zealand. His scores of 23 and 36 at 200 yards and 500 yards respectively were excellent, and he is to be congratulated on his fine performance. His score card reads as follows:—
200 yards deliberate 44455 22
200 yards snap 55553 23
300 yards rapid 5555444330 38
500 yards deliberate 5555525 32
115

The Match was supervised by Lieutenant E. W. Clough and Sergeant-Major C. H. Kidman, and we take this opportunity of thanking them for the efficient and courteous manner in which they conducted the shooting.