Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
In order to gain an unfair advantage in a sporting contest.
In order to gain an unfair advantage in a sporting contest.
Ah ah ahhhh...I'm out !!
123 pages of pontificating and postulating, and still no sense to this nonsense of schools buying kids !
What is worse - the schools, blissful in their ignorance and naivety, continue chase each other to the bottom in a grubby, greedy sellout of the fundamental principles of their very being.
I have mentioned before that these scholarships "are to the GPS schooling system what myxomatosis was to rabbits " - maybe a bit dramatic, but the reality is much simpler than that.
Schools, and schooling, are about educating and preparing a boy for whatever life may lay before him, teaching him to learn, live, work and play.
Schools' raison d'être is the betterment of their students - boys (and their families ) choose a school that will best serve their objectives in this regard.
The disappointing fundamental motivation of these scholarship programmes is the complete opposite - schools selecting / poaching / grabbing or choosing kids for the betterment of the school !!
When and how did the Greater Public Schools get the simple premise of education so arse about ??
I really don't like it when people make sense.
I think I need some time in the hyperbaric chamberIs this thread still going?
Many will have passed themselves twice so far in the round trip to nowhere.
Is the Scholarship Arms Race just an extension of what is happening in Junior Rugby, where in most districts and zones there is one predatory club that is hell bent on winning premierships that they encourage, entice, and poach players to assemble super teams that win all before them.
TSC have one I believe.I think I need some time in the hyperbaric chamber
Just going to pop back into the hyperbaric chamber for another blast, this is too much for a Sunday night.If there was a correct answer, there would be no need for this thread.
Naturally skilled rugby players who happen to live in an area where the rest of the kids are "normal". Should they be forced to stay in a C Division team with the rest of their neighbourhood? They will score 200 tries each year but never seriously be challenged. They will be playing with their mates in true and time honoured traditional amateur ethos. They will probably be the glue that keeps that team going, knowing that Oliver will win the team many games that they wouldn't necessarily have a hope of winning otherwise.
If/when Oliver goes to a A division club, and team X remains in C Division starts to lose consistently because Oliver has gone. What happens next, Team X folds because it isn't fun any more. Why should Oliver be forced to remain with Team X just because he happened to live in their catchment as an Under 6 boy?
Is the "crime" Oliver (and his parents) moving to a team that is more challenging and appropriate to his skill level?
It is a fine moral line that the A division club must tread. Do they turn Oliver away when the parents try to register him? Should they approach Oliver's parents and suggest that he may be better off playing in a more competitive team/club such as theirs?
Where is the line crossed?
Free registration for Oliver at Club Y, Petrol money for Oliver's parents to join Club Y?
As Wood Rat suggests there are many shades of grey. One persons view of a team operating as a vicarious predatory superclub is another persons belief that they have just provided a appropriate challenging level of football for talented athletes so they can reach their full potential.
Aggressive poaching should be discouraged particularly when there are "inducements".
Self selection and "natural" concentration of talent on a semi random basis is a normal state of affairs.
He may be picked up thru the school system - yes even chs. Changing clubs hurts everyone - particularly parents - friends come and go but an enemy is made for life.If there was a correct answer, there would be no need for this thread.
Naturally skilled rugby players who happen to live in an area where the rest of the kids are "normal". Should they be forced to stay in a C Division team with the rest of their neighbourhood? They will score 200 tries each year but never seriously be challenged. They will be playing with their mates in true and time honoured traditional amateur ethos. They will probably be the glue that keeps that team going, knowing that Oliver will win the team many games that they wouldn't necessarily have a hope of winning otherwise.
If/when Oliver goes to a A division club, and team X remains in C Division starts to lose consistently because Oliver has gone. What happens next, Team X folds because it isn't fun any more. Why should Oliver be forced to remain with Team X just because he happened to live in their catchment as an Under 6 boy?
Is the "crime" Oliver (and his parents) moving to a team that is more challenging and appropriate to his skill level?
It is a fine moral line that the A division club must tread. Do they turn Oliver away when the parents try to register him? Should they approach Oliver's parents and suggest that he may be better off playing in a more competitive team/club such as theirs?
Where is the line crossed?
Free registration for Oliver at Club Y, Petrol money for Oliver's parents to join Club Y?
As Wood Rat suggests there are many shades of grey. One persons view of a team operating as a vicarious predatory superclub is another persons belief that they have just provided a appropriate challenging level of football for talented athletes so they can reach their full potential.
Aggressive poaching should be discouraged particularly when there are "inducements".
Self selection and "natural" concentration of talent on a semi random basis is a normal state of affairs.
Skilled children being forced to play with "normal children in their neighbourhood" i.e. their friends. Is this the point we've reached? Aren't there district rep teams where all the "skilled children" are brought together to play?If there was a correct answer, there would be no need for this thread.
Naturally skilled rugby players who happen to live in an area where the rest of the kids are "normal". Should they be forced to stay in a C Division team with the rest of their neighbourhood? They will score 200 tries each year but never seriously be challenged. They will be playing with their mates in true and time honoured traditional amateur ethos. They will probably be the glue that keeps that team going, knowing that Oliver will win the team many games that they wouldn't necessarily have a hope of winning otherwise.
If/when Oliver goes to a A division club, and team X remains in C Division starts to lose consistently because Oliver has gone. What happens next, Team X folds because it isn't fun any more. Why should Oliver be forced to remain with Team X just because he happened to live in their catchment as an Under 6 boy?
Is the "crime" Oliver (and his parents) moving to a team that is more challenging and appropriate to his skill level?
It is a fine moral line that the A division club must tread. Do they turn Oliver away when the parents try to register him? Should they approach Oliver's parents and suggest that he may be better off playing in a more competitive team/club such as theirs?
Where is the line crossed?
Free registration for Oliver at Club Y, Petrol money for Oliver's parents to join Club Y?
As Wood Rat suggests there are many shades of grey. One persons view of a team operating as a vicarious predatory superclub is another persons belief that they have just provided a appropriate challenging level of football for talented athletes so they can reach their full potential.
Aggressive poaching should be discouraged particularly when there are "inducements".
Self selection and "natural" concentration of talent on a semi random basis is a normal state of affairs.
While Club footy is outside the scope of the title of this thread, there are parallels to the Scholarship Arms race happening in Junior Clubland with super teams being raised at Village club and District Rep level.
As Quick Hands points out above (and many other Gaggerlanders on other threads), this is just as damaging to the growth of Rugby participation numbers and widening the base of the pyramid as what is happening in the Schools System.
I can understand why people want to "take a break from this thread", but the message needs to get out there that it is not just predatory Schools that are sucking the fun out of Age Group rugby.
Maybe there is hope on the horizon in the form of Senator (elect) Dropulich from the Australian Sports Party, who's main platform is apparently "Children's sport".
A very good read to ponder this weekend
Any idea who the Kings 1st XV coach and MIC of Rugby were at the time?