Le W. St. John #2 March lst, 1938.

 

 

Mey I point out that there is a serious error
in your letter to me when you state that the A.A.U. of
Canada was the original body represented on the Rules
Committee. The A.A.U. as such has never at any time
been represented on the Rules Committee. Mr. Crocker,
in the first place, together with John Brown, was a reéw
presentative from the Y.M.C.A.'s of the country at large.
At a later date Canada was given two representatives, Mr.
Crocker and myself both being appointed by the C.A.B.A.
At a still later date it was decided to cut down Canadian
representation to one and as the C.A.B.A. insisted that I
should be their representative, a modification was’ made
so that Mr. Crocker could continue his membership in the
Committee as representative of the Canadian Intercolleg-
iate Association.

The A.A.U. of Canada is not now the official
organization of Canada affiliated with other national
bodies in the international basketball picture. I have
on my desk a copy of a letter from Mr. W. Jones, Secret-
ary of the Federation Internationale De Basketball dated
the 2nd of January, 1938, in which he states that the
A,A.U. of Canada has been notified as at January 2nd,
1938, that the F.1.B.B. is not renewing its membership;
that it will not renew any Canadian membership without
previously satisfying itself that the applicant deserves
the qualification of member; that the F.I.B.B. believes
that basketball must be an independent sport, promoted
and governed by its own freely chosen organization and
that following its constitution, it is the National Basket-
ball Federation which is recognized as the responsible
body; the A,A.U. in the case of Canada is only a super-
federation and cannot claim to control any sport directly
except in track and field, etc. From this you will see
that the A.A.U. of Canada is no longer recognized in
international basketball circles. I would add that steps
are now being taken by the C.A.B.A. which will undoubted~
ly result in that body being recognized as the official
basketball organization in Canada.

I also note your statement that Mr. Crocker was
appointed official representative of the A.A.U. of Canada
at the last meeting of that organization. While I have
not checked the accuracy of this statement, it does not
seem to me to bear upon the matter at all. In the first
place, the A.A.U. has never at any time been accorded
membership in the Rules Committee nor has it made appli-
cation for much, in the second place, the A.A.U. controls