I am the Captain of Sport at Haileybury College (and no I’m not on a sporting scholarship). Occasionally I scroll through the “School Football” forum and quite often I see Haileybury’s name being unfairly tarnished as a direct consequence of the scholarships we hand out.
To begin with, I’d like to convey the universal benefits of introducing scholarships. Scholarships in the private school system serve as a means of giving disadvantaged students, who contain exceptional qualities in a particular area, an opportunity to attend an elite school. The private school gains an “outstanding” pupil, and the “outstanding” pupil gets to go to a private school. Everyone wins. Whilst, this is a sports forum, it should be noted that scholarships are not tied down to sporting ones alone. Academic, Music and Drama scholarships are commonly handed out in all APS schools.
To contextualise the argument, in recent years Haileybury has given out a number of sporting scholarships in an effort to raise the profile of sport within the school. Sport has the potential to unite an institution and raise school spirit. Other school pupils on this forum have lamented over Haileybury’s dominance in the school football during the last three years. Yet, one only has to look back to 2002 when we finished 10th. In fact, in the ten years spanning from 1994-2003 we achieved a top four position just once. Let’s face it, enough was enough. A proud school like Haileybury had to do what it felt necessary to achieve the best results possible. Just like all other APS schools will hand out Academic, Drama and Music scholarships to lift those respective fields, Haileybury did so with Sport.
Some have attempted to argue that Haileybury has no school spirit as a result of our “chequebook” sporting teams. However, such a contention cannot be substantiated. I’ve been at the school for the past nine years. Presently, school moral is at its peak due to a direct correlation with the success our sporting teams enjoy.
Now every APS school has money. What each school decides to do with that money is their prerogative. If Haileybury believes it requires 15 general excellence scholarships to elevate its standard of football, it buys 15 players. If Scotch requires an abundance of boating sheds and equipment to ensure victory at the Head of the River, then it forks out the cash too. Conversely, if Scotch believes it only needs 2 footballing scholarships to be successful, it buys just 2 players.
One might argue that Scotch is more moral than Haileybury for it is less excessive with its handing out of scholarships. If you think scholarships are bad, you may equate Scotch as the lesser of two evils. However, this still makes Scotch evil. Ultimately, it is the PRINCIPLE of handing out scholarships, not the excessiveness, which matters. Let me put it in a way that all you fellas may understand more easily:
If your girlfriend cheats on you once or ten times, irrespective of how many times she cheats, you’re still going to be hurt. This is due to the principle of cheating. Haileybury may give out more scholarships than your school. But the fact remains that every APS school gives out scholarships, full stop. This makes us all evil, if you’re one to believe scholarships are a negative thing.
So before you start pointing the finger at Haileybury, look at what you own institution does in regards to Sporting, Music, Drama and most importantly Academic scholarships. Ultimately, if you want to condemn Haileybury for doing what it thinks is the best way to achieve the best results, then that’s fine. It’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it. But then go and condemn each and every one of your own schools too. Go and tell your mates on academic scholarships to piss off out of your school, because they don’t pay full fees.
To begin with, I’d like to convey the universal benefits of introducing scholarships. Scholarships in the private school system serve as a means of giving disadvantaged students, who contain exceptional qualities in a particular area, an opportunity to attend an elite school. The private school gains an “outstanding” pupil, and the “outstanding” pupil gets to go to a private school. Everyone wins. Whilst, this is a sports forum, it should be noted that scholarships are not tied down to sporting ones alone. Academic, Music and Drama scholarships are commonly handed out in all APS schools.
To contextualise the argument, in recent years Haileybury has given out a number of sporting scholarships in an effort to raise the profile of sport within the school. Sport has the potential to unite an institution and raise school spirit. Other school pupils on this forum have lamented over Haileybury’s dominance in the school football during the last three years. Yet, one only has to look back to 2002 when we finished 10th. In fact, in the ten years spanning from 1994-2003 we achieved a top four position just once. Let’s face it, enough was enough. A proud school like Haileybury had to do what it felt necessary to achieve the best results possible. Just like all other APS schools will hand out Academic, Drama and Music scholarships to lift those respective fields, Haileybury did so with Sport.
Some have attempted to argue that Haileybury has no school spirit as a result of our “chequebook” sporting teams. However, such a contention cannot be substantiated. I’ve been at the school for the past nine years. Presently, school moral is at its peak due to a direct correlation with the success our sporting teams enjoy.
Now every APS school has money. What each school decides to do with that money is their prerogative. If Haileybury believes it requires 15 general excellence scholarships to elevate its standard of football, it buys 15 players. If Scotch requires an abundance of boating sheds and equipment to ensure victory at the Head of the River, then it forks out the cash too. Conversely, if Scotch believes it only needs 2 footballing scholarships to be successful, it buys just 2 players.
One might argue that Scotch is more moral than Haileybury for it is less excessive with its handing out of scholarships. If you think scholarships are bad, you may equate Scotch as the lesser of two evils. However, this still makes Scotch evil. Ultimately, it is the PRINCIPLE of handing out scholarships, not the excessiveness, which matters. Let me put it in a way that all you fellas may understand more easily:
If your girlfriend cheats on you once or ten times, irrespective of how many times she cheats, you’re still going to be hurt. This is due to the principle of cheating. Haileybury may give out more scholarships than your school. But the fact remains that every APS school gives out scholarships, full stop. This makes us all evil, if you’re one to believe scholarships are a negative thing.
So before you start pointing the finger at Haileybury, look at what you own institution does in regards to Sporting, Music, Drama and most importantly Academic scholarships. Ultimately, if you want to condemn Haileybury for doing what it thinks is the best way to achieve the best results, then that’s fine. It’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it. But then go and condemn each and every one of your own schools too. Go and tell your mates on academic scholarships to piss off out of your school, because they don’t pay full fees.
