Cricket is a reflection of life and offers an education in life; an education that can be incredibly uplifting but also unforgiving. We encourage youngsters to play their cricket with determination, in order to ‘play the game’ to their fullest. We commit to bringing the best of the game to them so they can, in turn, give of their best to the game. Cricket affords great learning and experience, and an enrichment for its devotees difficult to find elsewhere. Cricket is schooling of a special sort. And as everyone finds their niche in cricket, from the adventurer to the accumulator, the cavalier to the careful strategist, the accomplished to the apprentice, all gain a home, a calling, ‘out in the middle’ in cricketing camaraderie and competition.
The wonder of cricket resides in its ability to test and reward in equal measure. For young people, cricket gives them more than is often revealed on the scoreboard; it gives them character. Few sports compel its players to apply or sustain such prolonged pressure – mentally and physically. Few sports can lay claim to crossing so many social divides. Few sports are played for hours or days but won or lost in a matter of minutes, with victories within defeats and defeats within victories. Few sports are steeped in such rich history and custom – commanding our respect.
Few sports have the capacity to put us on such an emotional rollercoaster, as we navigate its changing fortunes. In cricket, young people learn to deal with the adverse and to aspire to become better. In cricket they also find belonging. This is education as it ought to be.
At The Willows, young cricketers gain playing both with and against past and present first – class cricketers. They come to understand the spirit of cricket more. What an education! Timaru Boys’ has played games against The Willows since 2002; most recently with Old Boy, Mark Otley, selected for the Governor-General’s XI. Going back further, a certain Olympic Shotputter, ‘son of TBHS’, and Mark Parker Memorial Scholarship recipient to Winchester, Tom Walsh, played at The Willows. While our Jack Lovelock of 1936 Berlin Olympic fame, may not have been a giant in Cricket, in Tom Walsh we have an Olympian with a cricketing background, who will potentially match the iconic exploits of Jack in Athletics, and perhaps even make a return to the pitch one day!
Now being realistic, cricket is not a perfect panacea. It can, however, provide a significant part of holistic education. Hundreds of people work tirelessly throughout New Zealand to promote participation in cricket, and other superb sports, to a wide range of our boys – including those who will never take the cricketing world by storm! Sport then acts as a network and as a conduit that carries young men through the good and the bad times they may face in life. By contributing positively to sport and growing in sport, our boys are all the more ready to stake a claim out there successfully in the real world; one that will meet their needs and those of others.
At Timaru Boys’ we are focused firmly on building the boys up well as we bring them through, to the best of their ability, and ours as educators. A high quality education offers suitable challenge, gives young men a positive masculinity, and a sense of pride, purpose, and poise. One that gives them an edge. While academic excellence and cultivation of a keen mind and ‘can do’ are a priority, sport enables growth of character otherwise hard to obtain or create.
Our school motto since 1880 has been Scientia Potestas Est – ‘Knowledge is power’. In cricket we have the makings of a special self – knowledge; a knowledge key to a worthy education.
Enjoy your cricket as each over is bowled and each shot is played, and cherish what it gives its players beyond the obvious. See the cricket our youngsters play as giving lessons in life and preparation for a better future. Game on.