A message from the Rector

By Richard Hall | Posted: Friday September 1, 2023

One of the highlights for many of our boys of their time here, is competing for this school against others.

It brings our boys together, they bond over competition. In my opinion that is a good thing. Competition needs to be seen more as a positive than as a negative, because competition can be healthy. Often we shy away from the term or the idea, because we are worried about the negative impact losing may have.

But losing is a fact of life. And a number of our fancied tournament teams have lost. But losing is not as permanent as it is made out to be. I have not won every job I have gone for, nor have I won every event I have competed in, and while it might sting at the time, at least I know I was in the ring. And I got better ones later.

In our school, competition is healthy, competition for grades, for places and for prizes. Boys often respond to it positively, for without it, many will simply drift. As adults we need to remove the soft padded pillows we put up for them when they were little, because the rest of the world is certainly not soft.

This week, a number of our teams came second. We have gone well and failed at the final hurdle, or we never even got going, and while that is not great, it is not the end of the world. Especially if it has helped to create a more competitive mindset and given our boys a wider and more realistic dose of what the competition across the rest of New Zealand is like. So, I want to ban saying we feel sorry for them, or they deserved more. No they didn't, the other teams have passionate players and coaches too. Instead congratulate our guys for having the courage to step over the line into the playing field, but also do not sugar coat the result.

It might sting, but it might also inspire. Either way it leaves a memory of the time they wore the hoops.

Have a good weekend, and good luck to our Senior Basketball team, our last team to compete this week.