I still have high hopes that this current drama will lead to change – I hope the gang of 5 hold firm.
To Lambert I make the following comments
Listen to the majority of the parents of your current students (and your staff!) – I have bumped into more on the weekend – again the sentiment is almost universal – ‘We are glad it is in the Media, let’s hope it leads to changes’ – very, very few of the people that should be happy with what you are doing are happy!!
I know a boy at your School on a Rugby Scholarship – his parents may not be wealthy and therefore your ‘Melbourne expert’ will no doubt find that they are ‘economically disadvantaged’ and therefore are entitled to a ‘bursary’ BUT this boy was pursued for his Rugby having being chased after being spotted at Rep Rugby, not because his parents are not wealthy - this means that he is on a RUGBY scholarship and any attempt by you to argue otherwise is offensive. Otherwise go to the local Centrelink office and do random recruiting there (nobody would have a problem with that).
Virtually everybody – employees and parents of Scots know that Scots has been going too far – please wind your program back and just inform the gang of 5 that you will be doing so. You are losing face amongst your own community as you continue to claim you are doing nothing wrong, even though most know that Scots are.
To numerous other posters on this Forum
Yes we all know Scholarships have been happening for decades – and yes I can understand why you might think Joeys and Kings are hypocrites to be in the gang of 5. I was once told that half of Joeys 60 plus Wallabies arrived at Joeys on Scholarships. I also know that GPS rules say no sporting Scholarships NOT some. But Newington and Scots (Basketball) this year have just gone way way too far – and it looks like Scots are heading for a ‘Newington’ year next year in Rugby. If the trend continues it will ruin GPS sport.
And yes I have no idea how Newington, the worst offender this year in Rugby, have got off almost Scot free (sorry for the double pun) – I can only assume they have admitted guilt and told the gang of 5 that they will come into line. What has been more painful for the respective schools, Scots digging in and lying, or Newington just coming into line????
I could now start on why the policy of ‘Parachuting’ in multiple (whole teams!) of NSW representative players in year 9 and 10 in any sport is such a terrible thing to do to the existing boys at any School – but I think that has been covered enough. From Scots home webpage “Our College vision is singularly focused on the education, nurture and development ........” - suffice to say their treatment of those boys that have been parachuted over is not nurturing or developing.
It goes without saying that the boys who are on Scholarships (and their parents) are at no way at fault – no anger or disappointment should be directed to or at them.
I repeat my suggested ‘solution’ from an early post of mine
1. Unlimited Scholarships – but they can ONLY be given out in year 7. No School can afford to carry 13 or 14 ‘free’ boys (New 2013 1stXV’s effort!) for 6 years. A Scholarship boy from year 7 becomes a part of the School – it stops the Scots 16A rugby scenario which is not healthy. It is also much harder sometimes to pick the year 12 stars in year 7 – few boys that make the primary School NSW team(s) also make the under 18’s team – this will deter them from going too berserk.
2. Any exceptions to the above is OK only if agreed to by a majority of the other GPS Schools – for eg because of Newington’s demographic and because of boys leaving the sport because of the madness of the last few years, they may have trouble fielding the appropriate numbers in the opens (No 3rdXV!) – under these circumstances the other Schools may agree to some later additional intake.
3. Adopt the Shore and Iggies game day program approach – they list every team the boys have played in during their time at the School. Providing this information to the host School and printing it in your program on your game days is compulsory. Eg Tom Smith, 13d (Soccer), 14e, 15c, 16a, 2nds. This stops them getting away with anything improper. Any boys that are down as starting in the 15’s or 16’s can be easily researched – just a walk down the sidelines will find out if they are full fee paying or on Scholarship – the beauty of teenagers is that there are no secrets!
