Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
I was talking to a couple of Kings fathers last week watching the second half of the 1sts and one of them said "Every try that the Scots 1st XV score against Kings today will see 1 less Kings boy play rugby next year. You can only watch the biggest and strongest boys in the school get flogged by over 50 points by the same school so many times before you become demoralised and lose interest in something you used to love."
He then named half a dozen boys in U14 & U15 who had played rugby since U8s in club and school who had switched to Soccer or Mountain biking this year.
The discussion then moved on to the possibility of Kings or New or even Shore deciding to follow Tas, High and Grammar into the 3rds comp in 2016 when the current structure is up for review. This was despite the fact that apparently Kings and Scots played 24 games with Kings winning 14 (inc 2nds, 4ths, 16as, 14as) and 1 draw (15as) and the only blowout being the 1sts.
It was all a little depressing
What's concerning is theat the two smallest (in terms of playing numbers) at Kings this year are 13s and 14s. These are normally the biggest age groups with the most teams, but IIRC Kings only go down to Es - this is less teams than they have in their 16s age group. If the normal drop-out rate applies to the current 13s and 14s at TKS, they'll be lucky to get a 16Cs in 2 or 3 years.
You're right, it's depressing.