Sports Grants: ".... and it shall be taken away"

Some enter confidently, some enter nervously, and all wait patiently. When their turn comes they submit to a crossfire of searching questions that leave even the most confident flustered. They are then told they can go, and depart thankfully.

Applicants for a job? Doctor's waiting room? Brigadier Gilbert's inner sanctum? No, just the Sports Committee considering winter sports clubs grants.

Normal procedure is for a sports club secretary or treasurer to obtain a grants application form from the office, fill it in in at least sextuplicate and take it along to the committee meeting to explain it. Unfortunately, incorrect forms were issued, causing confusion right from the start.

Sports Committee treasurer Mike Reynolds is a hard man to slip anything past, and with Tom Robins and Executive treasurer Keven Tate also present, some clubs were lucky to get any money at all. Come to think of it, some didn't, notably Deerstalkers, who were probably too honest for their own good. Just imagine, they didn't even ask for the usual £5 for stationery!

Also to get a rough going-over were the Women's Hockey Club. This season they have to pay £50 to the Wellington union for an international tournament to be held in 1971; they have also been lumbered with £150 for a coming NZU tour. The club has only 25-odd members, so their grant deal £7 is not going to be a great deal of help.

Rugby Club was also dealt with somewhat summarily. They asked for £100, which was automatically reduced to £80—a new policy says 20 per cent is taken off all grants as an economy measure. Then an outstanding loan of £45 was deducted, and finally £26, given last year but unused, was removed, leaving a club of 225 members with £9. Fortunately Rugby Club is not faced with the heavy ground and affiliation fees payable by other University sports clubs.

After their high-jinks last year, the Squash Club members had a very thorough going over, but emerged with credit. The financial details were a little too complicated for any other than Commerce Honours students, but even Tom Robins was happy—although a little snarling between the latter and committee secretary John Perham enlivened proceedings.

Another part of general policy was to deduct any of last season's surplus cash from the amount asked for. Harriers were just about unaffected by this—at the time of the meeting they had a grand total of £0/0/8 in their bank account. Oddly enough, Harrier treasurer last year was Mike Reynolds.

After four and a half hours of what was mentally fatiguing work, the committee had dealt with all the grants presented and Robins made a congratulatory speech to the effect that Executive ratification would follow as a matter of course. He then left leaving Keven Tate behind to argue what constituted minimum travel fares. Although Tate is Swimming Club secretary, he didn't seem to have the financial welfare of sportsmen at heart.

The meeting broke up after midnight with the warm glow of a job well done—and so it was.

At a recent meeting Sports Committee gave Deerstalkers some money—£6/19/1 to be exact. Also to get grants were Association

Football Club, Men's Indoor Basketball Club, and Swords Club. As usual, cash in hand was deducted from the figure arrived at after all other deductions had been made from the amount asked for.

£30 to provide medical kits for each Soccer team was not allowed as it was considered this was not a proper use of Student Association money. Although club uniforms are not allowable items for grants, Swords Club managed to get two jackets and body wires paid for as it was felt that the club would lose members and its present high standard without them, particularly considering the increase of electrified tournaments.

The possible dissolution of the Women's Hockey Club, mentioned above, looks unlikely until the end of the season, if then. Club members seem to be making a commendable effort to raise funds, but money-raising for a women's club is much harder than for a men's.