Dear poor old confused Quick Hands, let me enlighten you this very last time - and I only come back because in fact you and I are on the same side, but your friendly fire is unproductive. Here is the argument:
1. Selective schools dud most rugby players. This is because many achieve an ATAR of 70-85, which is the lower of the selective streams. But the bigger truth is that rugby players, like artists, do what they have to do, not maximising their ATAR, but in obedience to some mysterious necessity.
2. The recent history of Shore, its marketing material, its popularity, its refusal to say how it does select its students, its haste in refusing to play TSC point to a selective enrolment by stealth. If any of the non selective schools was about to abandon this ideal, it is Shore.
3. Rugby has been good to GPS. Rugby has been good to Shore. Shore needs to repay this debt.
4. The schools are not more important than their students, and should be judged by what they achieve for all their students.
5. Any move to restrict entry to GPS schools for rugby playing students is illegal, immoral and trashes its own traditions. Because of this, should push come to shove and some GPS schools follow the selective entry fetish the I will join you, Quick Hands, along with IS, lincoln, and cyclotron at the front of the protest.
over and out
I might be confused about some things.
1. How are rugby players duded by any school? If you work hard you will get better marks regardless of what sport you do or don't play. Maybe boys who are getting between 70-85 are achieving their potential - not everyone is capable of 90% plus, just as not everyone is capable of playing 1st XV.
2. Shore is popular for a number of reasons, one being its geographical location on the north shore. Its enrolment process is quite simple actually. Date of application, with sons and grandsons of Old Boys getting priority as long as they apply before the boy's 1st birthday. Their student body have their enrolment confirmed on or about their 2nd birthday (with $1000 fee). The have a few academic scholarships - half of which are reserved for students of their own prep school, a few music scholarships - one of which is reserved for the French Horn and a couple of boarding scholarships.
3. Shore has about 10 open teams and goes down to 16 Hs and 13Ks, so I think they are repaying any "debt" which they may have to rugby.
4. Correct.
5. Who is attempting to ban rugby players from GPS schools? Most of the schools seem to have plenty of rugby players without offering sporting scholarships - so I'm certainly confused about this point.
The only "trashing of traditions" that I'm aware of is by the current Headmaster of Scots, who is doing that at his own school and may well take the rest of the AAGPS down the gurgler with him.