Protective Equipment For Softball

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31449, 16 August 1967, Page 10

Protective Equipment For Softball

Children should not play softball without suitable equipment to protect the catchers from injury, said a letter from the Education Department received by the Linwood High School board of governors. Boards could be held liable on the grounds of negligence if a child were injured and the game should only be played with chest protectors and face masks, said the letter.

In place of the headmaster (Mr P. A. Hickling), the acting headmaster, Mr J. Orman, said that it would be very difficult to enforce the wearing of equipment. It was just a matter of uplifting the gear from the physical education store, said the secretary (Mr P. J. Halligan). The chairman (Professor T. E. Carter) said that teachers were liable and they should not let the children play without the proper equipment

The board discussed the new system for partial passes in the school certificate, examination and agreed that the problems created were ad-

ministrative and organisational ones.

Pupils entering the sixth form with partial passes would have to be accommodated for one or two subjects in the sixth form and for other subjects in the fifth form. Mr Orman said that a new system dealing with overseas students had been evolved. There would now be a central register of overseas students and school principals were asked to submit all applications from overseas students to the department This would alleviate the problem which had been encountered in previous years of many students applying for admission but failing to arrive. Schools had the choice of whether or not to join the scheme.