nonplussed wrote: ↑Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:04 am
My son plays at one of the said big rugby schools, and as they move up through school the more semi pro it becomes, from Meds onwards in particular. While he is loving rugby at school, he also lives in fear of losing his place (something expressed by quite a few parents), which makes me exceptionally annoyed as these are kids who should be enjoying playing sport with their mates... He also trains and plays occasionally for his club, with a lot of the same boys, and the difference in their happiness and fun while playing is palpable.
theres definitely too much pressure at school level in certain quarters and when a DoR is paid 70k+ and has no teaching responsibilities this is multiplied.
The same could be said of some of the English schools. The only difference is that in NI the 'rugby schools' (bar Campbell) are not fee-paying, whereas a lot of the RoI ones (Clongowes, Blackrock, Belvedere etc) and nearly all of the English ones are. That's a feature of the entry selection criteria in NI (another subject entirely and not one for this thread). State schools in England, unless they are 'old' grammar schools (e.g. Colchester Royal Grammar School) rarely play much sport at all, and would be rather unlikely to see a specialist single sports coach as a worth-while spend.
A friend's 14 year old son is at Warwick School (middle of the road independent school in the English midlands with day fees of around £15k, nowhere near as high profile as the Etons, Harrow's Winchesters - more aligned with the Sedbergh's, Ampleforth's, Gresham's, Repton's, etc) and they have 3 teams in each year group from 12, selected by rugby ability all the way to the 1st XV, which largely comprises 17-18 year olds. His son is in B1 (the one below A) and is doing S&C at 7.15am twice a week. The school has a full-time rugby coach.
He still enjoys it, mainly I think because he's still ok, can see a way into the higher team with hard work, and his mates play too - but you can see how when it gets to 17/18 and you've not made it but can still go to Uni why you just give up playing - it's a blessed relief. The worst part for the game itself though is that the school demands priority over any club rugby on a Saturday. So there is little understanding of the concept of 'playing for fun' and, more importantly, being a long term part of a club (beyond Sunday morning mini-rugby which seems effectively for many parent to be cheap child-care).
It boils my blood to read journalists going on about the 'lack of school sport' etc etc, whether rugby, cricket, hockey, athletics or even rowing. The sad fact is that modern professional sport demands (a) talent, (b) hard work, (c) intensive coaching input, (d) facilities (now even more off the pitch too), for a number of sports (e) expensive personal equipment [balls, sticks, pads, boats etc], and (f) at the lower levels, a lot of time and money input from parents in running kids to coaching events/matches - for which you generally need a car. And now that's to even get into the sub-academy at 18. The only organisations who can afford to consistently provide that for 11-18 year olds in all sports (except English football) are schools who recover these costs from all their customers (i.e. fee-paying ones). They also have the advantage of (a) a longer school day so can fit in sport nearly every day and (b) a pool of funds to provide scholarships (and often this includes boarding). They generally also have the funding to be reasonably academically successful, so even if you don't succeed in sport, you can still get into college somewhere. You want sporting excellence coming from state schools - it'll cost a lot of (tax-payers) money. Even the National Lottery won't run to that much.
So when, as another friend who was county-level at u-16 level is approached by a private school (in this case Worksop College) offering a full sport scholarship for 16-18 then which parent is going to turn it down ? Joe Root's parents did the same - he was playing cricket for his local Sheffield club from 7 to 16, and both him and his parents knew that to bridge the gap to 18 & the County Academies he had to have the specialist coaching and time that only a private school (which was Worksop College too) could provide. The same thing also happened for one of my sister's daughters (hockey this time) at a different private school. They, with much concern, took the offer.
Or to look at it another way, my partner's niece is doing 4 A-levels at Aquinas on the Ravenhill (3 in STEM). Did 11 GCSEs. With a school day that lasts from 8.45 to 3.30, is it a surprise that there's no little or no sport in the school beyond official PE and what an enthusiastic teacher or two does after school ?
The only exceptions to this seem to be (a) GAA in Ireland, where it's the clubs who really seem to have the upper hand all through teenage years (please correct me if I'm wrong here) and (b) football (in England). In the latter this is because the schools either don't do it (e.g. the private ones) or gave up a long time back (in the 1970's) when the clubs realised they had to expand their youth systems to fill that gap in both talent sourcing and training, and academies down below 18 etc came along. In both systems the cost of improvement is taken out by either central support for many of the local input costs (GAA) or direct control of the process (soccer academies). No school can compete with the money that any Premier League or Championship club can throw at this issue. So why try ?
Not sure which is better - what I can say is that I'll bet that a goodly proportion of the £17m or so that Methody was left a year or so ago will end up spent at Pirrie Park and the rowing club at Stranmillis and, perhaps, hockey ? That's how Methody will stay competitive with the Campbell's.
Finally, Millfield School in Somerset (well known in English sporting circles) seems, as a fee-paying school, to have specialised in (a) sport and (b) disabled pupils (it's apparently an outstanding school in that area). I'm reasonably confident that the two work well together, with parents who can afford it more than happy with how it works.