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School sporting scholarships/recruitment

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The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
IMO this whole thing is out of kilter and is driven by this desire to chest beat(often by old boys who can't move on) courtesy of winning some "title" which the great majority of people don't know about nor care about. Sorry I can't tell you who won the CAS swimming last year, nor do I know who won the GPS basketball and more importantly nor do i care! The argument about "a better' education is also a furphy. The GPS and CAS schools, like many high schools and systemic ones, provide an environment where learning is encouraged however no amout of encouragement serves as a guarantee of anthing scholastically if the raw product is of a poor quality. Sadly the schools prostitute themselves to entice parents and in some cases the parent see it as a fast tack to sporting glory when in reality very few progress be it in cricket, rugby, tennis, swimming whatever you want,to any great heights.

Spot on.
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
IMO this whole thing is out of kilter and is driven by this desire to chest beat(often by old boys who can't move on) courtesy of winning some "title" which the great majority of people don't know about nor care about. Sorry I can't tell you who won the CAS swimming last year, nor do I know who won the GPS basketball and more importantly nor do i care! The argument about "a better' education is also a furphy. The GPS and CAS schools, like many high schools and systemic ones, provide an environment where learning is encouraged however no amout of encouragement serves as a guarantee of anthing scholastically if the raw product is of a poor quality. Sadly the schools prostitute themselves to entice parents and in some cases the parent see it as a fast tack to sporting glory when in reality very few progress be it in cricket, rugby, tennis, swimming whatever you want,to any great heights.

THE post of this whole thread, for me.
Some people need to move on from "Glory Days".
 
B

baldingwingforward

Guest
Hot off the press - the richest school in Sydney is looking for a new Headmaster. Rumour has it the council is bemoaning the lack of sporting success over the last two decades and has a mission to get all those rich parents/old boys to help recruit the best sporting talent in the country - apocalypse now!

Are you talking about Cranbrook....??? The headmaster there is nearing the end of his term and they are certainly not short of a $ or 2! And they have not won anything for.... Well at least 2 decades!
 
H

Hartman

Guest
Tonight in the youth olympics was a swimmer who in year 7 was at North Sydney Boys High (academically one of the best in the State) and in year 8 (having been state 12 year old champion) decides to go to Trinity. You can't tell me he went for a "CAS" education. Stop going on about they want a "GPS" or "CAS" education - it is all about sport.

Yep - having been in his year at North Sydney Boys I can tell you with 100% certainty that he was offered a scholarship.
 

Informer

Ward Prentice (10)
Yep - having been in his year at North Sydney Boys I can tell you with 100% certainty that he was offered a scholarship.

Trinity are by far the biggest and most blatant "ïmporters" in the CAS system, without a doubt, with Waverly also in the mix. Hard to believe big Jed Holloway found his way to Bondi from the north coast by accident.
 
H

Hartman

Guest
Trinity are by far the biggest and most blatant "ïmporters" in the CAS system, without a doubt, with Waverly also in the mix. Hard to believe big Jed Holloway found his way to Bondi from the north coast by accident.

One of my friends from school is an athlete who in year 7 broke national records in long jump and triple jump, was a national level sprinter, etc. He was approached by several schools, most notably Trinity, but he turned them down in favour of a "CHS education".
 

AussieDominance

Trevor Allan (34)
Waverley haven't had scholarships for 5 years. Randwick Rugby brought Holloway down from Yamba.

It's beyond belief that Randwick would bring down a kid and place him in a Private School that means he cannot play for the club on Saturday.

This is the quote from the Southern Districts website

'One other player to mention is Jed Holloway, the son of the former Port Hacking player Grahame “Molly” Holloway. Jed came down from Yamba where Molly now lives and attended Waverley College. He played for combined CAS rep team and was chosen to play alongside Waldo for NSW Schools and Australia A. The club sincerely hopes Jed will follow Molly down to Forshaw next season.'
 

Torn Hammy

Johnnie Wallace (23)
I have no idea who is paying his fees. My original point was that the school has not had sporting scholarships for 5 years. Why do you assume it is not his parents paying his fees.
 

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Staff member
Some folks may wonder why we are allowing such a thread for the time being since we have evidence that such a subject can lead to unsavoury comments.

Think of this thread as a quarantine station, and if feelings have to vented do so with decorum. So far, so good.

Meantime keep this subject out of all other threads else it will be deleted with the comment "Sick of the moaning"
 

Eyes and Ears

Bob Davidson (42)
Really guys - is this where we want to end up with this whole sporting scholarship issue - ultimately the rich will win and there will be no equity. As suggested before the ARU and NSWRU could support the State Sports Schools in retaining the best talent - if that means contracts for 16 year olds then so be it - and using Colts as the pathway. We need a strong CHS to extend the appeal of the game beyond the AAGPS/CAS/ISA schools if we are to compete with NRL, AFL, and football. This all about grassroots not leather patches.

The ARU doesn't have the money to look after 16 year olds. The elite schools have much more money than the ARU anyway and could potential out-bid the ARU if it came down to it.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
The ARU doesn't have the money to look after 16 year olds. The elite schools have much more money than the ARU anyway and could potential out-bid the ARU if it came down to it.

That is a silly addition to a scenario that was very far-fetched in the first place. There will never be any bidding wars between GPS schools and anyone. Period. All the GPS can offer is free tuition, which seems to be a fairly large drawcard for families of good young players.
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Because I am lazy, I will do a cut and paste of my previous comments on scholarships from another forum. This may be a bit rambling as it is an amalgamation of several previous posts.

Many of those whinging about Scholarships are out and out hypocrites. We know that many schools may be doing it but the schools seem to continue to hide behind the claim that they do not offer sporting scholarships, simply that some of their students may have their fees paid for by other than their parents. This observation is not limited to just Sydney GPS schools.

Some claim that imported scholarship players rob "legitimate" players from the opportunity to play for the A's , and I suppose that I'd be pretty gutted to be de-selected from the A's due to imported rockstars when I came to Open grades.

However this is a fact of life, and you should get used to it. School is not a bad place to start learning the "harden up" lessons in life. What happens in clubs when the super 14 and wallaby players return from representative duties. The club "battlers" are 1st grade one week and performing quite well thank you very much, scoring tries and not missing tackles. Next week they are relegated to 2nd grade or heaven forbid thirds, when the rock stars show up. Recently at Randwick, the "normal" 1st grade halfback would get relegated to thirds when Phibbs and Whittaker returned from Rep duties. I'm sure that other clubs have similar examples.

One of the main points on jealousy related to "imports/scholarships" is not related to the boy replaced by the import, but the parental double standard. They whinge that "We don't like they way your school has imported players. We do not think it is fair". This only really seems to be an issue when the opponents imports are seen as being better than their own imports or home grown talent. I reckon behind that is a rage at their own school rugby master and old boys group for not getting that particular rock star player on scholarship with THEIR school.

Who pays for scholarships? Parents, Family Trusts, Relatives, others???
So what if a philanthropic organisation provides financial assistance to a boy who happens to have some skills in a particular area to get an educational experience he may otherwise not be able to afford. Music is a profession, and many schools offer musical scholarships. Rugby is a now a legitimate full time career option (arguably a profession). Why should schools not be allowed to offer an opportunity for gifted sportsmen. The gifted musicians are not denied a place in the School orchestra.

Many schools attract full fee paying students from outside their normal catchment area particularly if they offer a programme in a certain area that is perceived to be better than another school.

I am sure there are plenty of examples where a child from Chatswood (or anywhere for that matter) who's family chose to enroll at Joey's because the parents believe this will help develop his rugby skills, and assist to open certain doors in rugby that may difficult to open in other circumstances. That child may have some or all of his fees paid for by a family trust, or rich friend or relative.

Is this not the same as a bunch of old boys providing similar assistance to a good rugby player. I really see no problem with this provided the kid is brought in at year 7 and developed for the next 6 years in that particular school's environment.

That being said, I have some philosophical difficulties with philanthropic associations related to schools poaching boys in year 11 or 12 solely for the purpose of playing for the 1st XV.

In relation to scholarships, a mate of mine tells frequently reminds his kids that they are on a Scholarship. "What Scholarship?" say the kids. Dad replies, "A Citizenship scholarship provided by the [Family name withheld] family."
Isn't nearly every kid at a private school on a fully funded scholarship with source funding for that scholarship coming from the parents of the boy?

I really wonder how many sports scholarships do the leading rugby schools actually give out?

I am sure that some parents claim their kids have been offered scholarships just to talk up their own kids potential.

With school fees pushing $20k at some schools, School funded Scholarships would be a big overhead for the full fee paying parents to cover.

For one, I would rather watch my kids lose a game of footy, than have to pay more in fees to cover several scholarship players.

Consider this very simplistic example: 1000 boys at school on full fees of $20k per boy. 5 boys on Rugby Scholarships (funded by the School) = 5 x 20k = $100k or $100 extra per full fee paying boy to recover costs.

Thank you for your indulgence and reading thus far. I have canvassed several issues and trust my observations provide food for thought.
 
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