Brother appeals against exclusions
Letters of protest from Brother Bowler of the Christian Brothers’ School were submitted to both the weekly meeting of the Otago Rugby Union and that of the Otago Football Association, appealing against a decision of the Primary State Schools’ Association to debar private schools’ teams from competitions run under its auspices. No reasons had been given to authorities for this action. He asked the Otago Union that his appeal be forwarded to the New Zealand Rugby Union, but Mr Harris said that schools were not affiliated to the NZRFU, which had no power to interfere with the conduct of local football. But it was agreed to forward the appeal and that the president (Mr V.G. Cavanagh), Mr Harris, and the secretary should draft a covering letter.
At the Otago Football Association meeting, Bro Bowler’s appeal was referred to the New Zealand Council of Association Football. The OFA also received a letter from the secretary of the New Zealand Football Association stating that his association was much concerned to hear of the trouble that was taking place in the schools’ competition, and hoped that a satisfactory solution of the difficulty would be found. He asked to be kept informed of what was being done. — ODT, 16.5.1922