TOURS OF SCHOOLBOY ATHLETES.

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 4 May 1934, Page 4

TOURS OF SCHOOLBOY ATHLETES.

A decided flutter in educational dovecotes has been caused by the reception given to the Australian invitation for Now Zealand secondary schoolboy athletes to- participate in the Melbourne centenary sports. Th'e earliest continent in this country was unfavourable, one headmaster expressing the opinion that acceptance was undesirable for a variety of reasons/ Other school principals lost no time in opposing his arguments and now there is something very like a wordy war going on among the headmasters. Already it has gone too far, for the head of one of the bestknown schools, in an outburst in today’s * ‘Dominion!,’’ descends to personalities in attacking the opinion of a fellow in the profession, and indulges in a great deal of verbal pomposity in order to make out a case for the acceptance of the invitation. It is to be hoped 1 that someone will make a decision, or in some other way pou'r oil on the troubled waters before the dominies further forget their dignity. The position is simple enough. The organisation of athletic contests for schoolboys iis generally undesirable, despite all that may be said about the prevailing practice in Great Britain and America; the latter country is not tKe only one in the world that has gone mad on sport and as in danger of losing, if it has not already lost, that fine sense of proportion that should accompany all sporting enthusiasm. In the case of th.e Melbourne centenary events New Zealand schools, could, koweve'r, made a gracious acceptance of the invitation without loss of dignity or sacrifice of those very good! principles which discourage the turning of school spo'rtis into public spectacles. Anything which New Zealand 1 and New Zealanders can reasonably do to assist Melbourne in making a success of its centenary celebrations 'should be done., and th'e sending of such a team as that suggested is, under the circumstances, quite reasonable. It will be tune enough to talk about the evils of organised competitio'n and international tours fot schoolboys when isonne misguided enthusiast suggests that they be made regular events.