The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro." SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 1934. SURELY A WAY OUT

Southland Times, Issue 22351, 16 June 1934, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro." SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 1934. SURELY A WAY OUT

So much will be lost if the High Schools’ football tournament- is abandoned that all lovers of sport will regret the announcement that a dispute over the eligibility of students taking terms has reached a deadlock, and that there is small prospect of the annual tournament being held this year. There will be the fear, too, that if a breakaway takes place this year, some time may elapse before the breach is healed. Evidently the point at issue between the schools is not new, but while at first glance it may seem unreasonable that the schools in the larger centres do not give way in this matter, there is the fact that students who are frankly taking terms as part of a degree course are extra-mural students and not secondary school pupils in the accepted sense. The public has been Accustomed to look for bright football, played in a sporting spirit, from the schools, and the tournaments have been magnets for lovers of good football and for the old boys of the schools engaged. Keenness to win is one of the essentials to good sportsmanship, but the pleasure of the game transcends even that, and the fine sporting spirit of the school, which puts the game before the result should open the way to a settlement of this dispute. No regulations should be necessary for the definition of secondary school student in connection with these games, but if the schools are to be placed on an equality so far as definitions are concerned, it appears desirable that the test should be, those students who are taking from the school what is properly secondary school instruction. The Higher Leaving Certificate takes a student beyond the matriculation standard, but it involves no more than the secondary school extended course. On the other hand, a young man who is frankly studying for a degree is beyond the secondary school standards. It must be remembered, too, that there is an age limit, and the larger centres may reasonably feel that their advantage in numbers is by no means outweighed by the presence in schools in the smaller centres of one or two students who are taking terms. At this point it should be possible to obtain a satisfactory arrangement, and to save the tournament. Some compromise is desirable, and it may be found in restricting eligibility to those students who have been keeping ’varsity terms at the school for only one year; but the principals of the four schools should be able to reach an agreement, especially when all of them are convinced that the first hope of each school is to enjoy the rivalry of the game, with the thrill of victory occupying a secondary place in the scale.