GAMES AS A CAREER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 9 May 1925, Page 8

GAMES AS A CAREER

professionalism ano sport

Lord Hawke’s recent declaration that he hopes he will never see a professional captaining an English cricket team goes deeper than the question : Should amateurs be agreeable to play under Jack Hobbs or Herbert Sutcliffe? declares “Googlv,” in the Daily Mail, it opens up the very big question of games as a career for boys who are not usually thought of—or allowed to think for themsolves—-in this connection. As tilings are, professionalism in cricket, football, and golf, for example, is almost entirely left to those _who have not had the advantage oj tic” disadvantage (it is a matter of opinion) of public school and university life. Why? All our leading schools and leading universities spend a great deal of time in turning out good games players who rank not least among their heroes. Public schools employ both games masters and staff professionals, towards whose maintenance fathers contriuute, to help in the making of cricket, and football champions. Vet, when a boy leaves bis school or a young man come down from his university the last thing he may do is to turn his games skill to professional account. It is one of those things that are not done. One knows why—and one does not know why. The tradition is that, however good they may be at games, and however bad they may he at other things, these products of system must try to live by the ‘‘other things.” They may scrape some poor sort of livelihood as inefficient doctors, lawyers, schoolmasters, business men. but they may not make money as professional- —- ami probably extremely good —cricketers, footballers, or golfers.

.My own small son’s idea of 1 1 is future is to go to a public school and then to become a professional cricketer. Time may change his views about cricket as ;l fob —1)0 is only ten. He may not- be sufficiently good at- the game to make money out of playing it. But if lie does ‘not. change His mind, and if lie does train on to first-class cricket- standards, how should I act? Should I try tn dissuade him? Should T say that, lie would do better to go in for medicine, the law, journalism, the Civil Service business—a dozen other things, none of which might appeal to him —rather than for cricket? Would he do better?