Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

A.A.A. JUBILEE SOUVENIR A proposal, made on many occasions subsequently, that any member of the General Committee should have the right to attend any athletic meeting and visit any part of the ground, was defeated. It has its advantages, but the Association has consistently opposed the idea of compelling Clubs to admit either officials or competitors to their meetings if, for any reason, good or bad, they did not wish to have them. In I 896 there were some sensational suspensions of leading athletes who were proved to have received substantial sums for competing at athletic meetings. It was certainly the biggest sensation in the athletic world for many years. The penalties had a good effect all round, and I have no hesitation in saying that in many ways the standard of personal conduct in athletics is higher to-day than it was in the closing years of the nineteenth century. The " expenses" rule was modified in I 897, by permitting expenses to be paid in connection with A.A.A. Championships or bona fide Inter– national, Inter-Club, Inter-Team, Inter-College or Inter-School contests. The" first claim" rule, relating to membership of more than one Club, made its appearance, and after much opposition was referred to a Sub– Committee to be redrafted. In the same year a request from the Amateur Athletic Union of America for recognition by the A.A.A. was declined, the resolution reading: "This Association does not see its way to enter into an alliance with any Union outside the British Isles." Not many years ago the Association departed from this policy by entering into an agreement with the A.A.U. of America, though Sir Montague Shearman at the time expressed grave doubts as to its wisdom. In I 898 the " first claim " rule, already referred to, was included in the rules, and, incidentally, it has probably resulted in more discussions than any other rule in the long list. It was decided that a suspended athlete could not act as an official at an athletic meeting. It was obviously " the right thing," as if a man has become ineligible to compete, he is certainly not suitable for a position of authority. I have a distinct recollection of the Annual Meeting in I 899, as I attended the Meeting for the first time, as one of the three representatives of the Blackheath Harriers. There was a renewal of the proposal to re– model the Constitution Laws, but it was defeated by seventy-eight votes to thirty-one. I listened for the first time to the Chairman, Mr. Montague Shearman, who presented Mr. Charles Herbert with a gold chronometer, a service of plate and an illuminated address, in recognition of seventeen years as Hon. Secretary. It was a great night, and represented my initiation into A.A.A. mysteries. During the same year the requests of the Northern Rugby Union and the Football Association that professional players should be allowed to compete as amateurs under A.A.A. Laws were definitely refused. In the closing year of the nineteenth century the Championships were remarkable for the visit of a large number of athletes from the United States, and they introduced many new ideas into the details of competition, some of them of a very amusing character, according to English views, 44