Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

What an exciting week last week was. The visit from four of the Highlanders rugby team was very popular and the four players: Marty Banks, Gareth Evans, Greg Pleasants-Tate, and Malakai Fekitoa were great ambassadors for their team and sport.

Perhaps the highlight was when asked who he looked up to when he was younger Malakai Fekitoa said his father. He then went onto say all that his father had done for him. It was great for the pupils to hear a role model of theirs being very humble, and noting how much someone in a role that we often take for granted, has done for him.

As a friend of mine pointed out on Saturday, cricket finished two weeks ago and rugby starts today—indeed a number of winter codes have started.

Speaking as a parent who has been (and still is) heavily involved in children's sport it is a good time to

reflect on just who the sport is for and how important that it is in the greater scheme. I have witnessed a parent who became so obsessed with his sons success and promotion in a sport that he behaved so badly towards coaches and selectors that his son was never selected in teams that he should have made. It was the ultimate example of cutting off his nose to spite his face, and his son lost out.

I was at a representative managers debriefing a couple of years ago and the high performance coach in this code (and probably one of the regions top coaches) said that he saw all teams were developmental up to the under 18 grade. That means it’s about developing skills, having fun, and learning to be a part of a group right through Primary and Secondary.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan






The Highlanders