D'Mo Sanchez
New Member
APS: Scholarships
Scholorships in the APS
A fair bit has been said about Scholorships in the APS competition. Is it fair? Is it right? Should it be allowed? To most people the answer is a clear and resounding No.
What needs to be understood is why some schools find it necessary to have Scholorships in their teams. The main reason for the nessecity of these schools to have Scholorships is because they simply cannot compete at 1st's level without them. An example of this would of course be Haileybury. Now I'm sure most people remember the days when a fixture against Haileybury was a dream, pretty much a practice game that was not taken seriously. Now can you imagine what this school would be like without its Scholarships. There is no doubt in my mind that Haileybury would have been kicked out of the 1st's division along time ago. School pride is important and most people take it very seriously which is why $30 000 a year is paid to people to keep the legacy alive at Haileybury.
The second question is where should this stop? Haileybury have at least 10 Scholarships in their first XI cricket team. Now this is simply taking advantage of a system that was designed to help schools compete against the power houses of Scotch and Xavier not smash them every game. Geelong Grammer have 6 in their 1st's team. Is this to many? Take a look at their recent years performance, this year they have won 3 out of 7 which is more promising that most of the last decade. They are now and average team with a decent reputation and are no longer the "skidmarks of the APS" ( I once heard them described that way).
Another reason for the Scholarships is due to lack of numbers. Scotch, Xavier and St Kevins are all boys schools. This gives them the distinct advantage of sheer weight of numbers to choose teams from.
What this all comes down to is a matter of principle. A game which is fought hard and ends closely is much more rewarding that a big outright embarrasing win. Ask yourself what type of league do you want to play in? And you will find the reason that Scholarships were introduced into the APS
As a fringe first XI player in year 12 because of Scholarships I will surely never play another first game. But do I hold that against the Scholarship boys? No I dont. I would rather have a succesful team that i can be pround of that have my own spot in the XI.
Scholorships in the APS
A fair bit has been said about Scholorships in the APS competition. Is it fair? Is it right? Should it be allowed? To most people the answer is a clear and resounding No.
What needs to be understood is why some schools find it necessary to have Scholorships in their teams. The main reason for the nessecity of these schools to have Scholorships is because they simply cannot compete at 1st's level without them. An example of this would of course be Haileybury. Now I'm sure most people remember the days when a fixture against Haileybury was a dream, pretty much a practice game that was not taken seriously. Now can you imagine what this school would be like without its Scholarships. There is no doubt in my mind that Haileybury would have been kicked out of the 1st's division along time ago. School pride is important and most people take it very seriously which is why $30 000 a year is paid to people to keep the legacy alive at Haileybury.
The second question is where should this stop? Haileybury have at least 10 Scholarships in their first XI cricket team. Now this is simply taking advantage of a system that was designed to help schools compete against the power houses of Scotch and Xavier not smash them every game. Geelong Grammer have 6 in their 1st's team. Is this to many? Take a look at their recent years performance, this year they have won 3 out of 7 which is more promising that most of the last decade. They are now and average team with a decent reputation and are no longer the "skidmarks of the APS" ( I once heard them described that way).
Another reason for the Scholarships is due to lack of numbers. Scotch, Xavier and St Kevins are all boys schools. This gives them the distinct advantage of sheer weight of numbers to choose teams from.
What this all comes down to is a matter of principle. A game which is fought hard and ends closely is much more rewarding that a big outright embarrasing win. Ask yourself what type of league do you want to play in? And you will find the reason that Scholarships were introduced into the APS
As a fringe first XI player in year 12 because of Scholarships I will surely never play another first game. But do I hold that against the Scholarship boys? No I dont. I would rather have a succesful team that i can be pround of that have my own spot in the XI.
