SCHOOL SPORTS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 6 January 1923, Page 3

SCHOOL SPORTS.

A HEADMASTER'S PROTEST. j "The last few years has witnessed j the rise of a movement intended to j capture the control of games and sports "n secondary schools, and to vest that control in outside bodies." said Mr C. [T. Major, headmaster of King's College, Auckland, at the 'annua? prizegiving ceremony (states the Herald). "Drill and shooting contests innumerable, athletic gatherings, boxing, swimming, and tennis tournaments too many to mention, bait the trao for the unwary. Cups and trophies * for the ao-c-iilied champion school in cricket, in football, in cadet work, have become the rage. Now. in spite of the good intentions of the gentlemen promoting these contests, 1 am of opinion—and my opinion is shared by the staff— that we here are as competent ,to control our games and exercises as any outsider, that sufficient provision is made within the school for all legitimate aspirations of the boys, and that.: no < good end could be served by entering team* and competitors fo T the multitudinous array of contests offering. "Further, trophies in the past have had a tendency to engender unhealthy rivalry, and in some cases havo imported bitterness into the contests whose chief charm is an inducement to friendly striving and emulation. After all, games are played tor the beneht { a boy obtains from his preliminary training, and not to enable either school or individual to acquire facility j iv 'pot-hunting' or to provide cheap I enjoyment and excitement to a crowded ! grandstand of enthusiastic and possibly ignorant partisans. "The whole idea is wrong. How can a ,boy attain a true sense of values ! wften he sees such adulation paid to ffl&re brawn, while brains is passed I oV©r with a smile, or possibly a sneer?! And how can this publicity and notori- I ety inseparable from these contests be J good for the boy himself? At any rate, I we decided long ago to restrict our ac-j tivities to legitimate school contests. Nor have we seen any reason to alter' this policy. If our action ' does not! please our well-wishers, I am sorry, but I am also confident that they need not fear that the boys of King's College .will lose anything ot their old reputa- j tion for excellence in outside games and sport. j