The new term is underway, beginning on Monday with conferences for senior students and parents, which was well attended.

The week will finish with the ceremony of planting the crosses to mark ANZAC. We will report on this next week.

At the assembly this week we had the summer sports awards. Below are my thoughts which I shared at the assembly.

But my comments this morning do not necessarily centre around the boys that walk the stage and to show this I want to share this story.

There was a man named Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, who was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam.

After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.

He survived the ordeal and over the years since, he has lectured on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Charles Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.

"I packed your parachute," the man replied.

Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.

The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!"

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man.

Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said: "Good morning," "How are you?" because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor. “

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time, the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?"

This morning I want to focus on those who pack the parachutes in order for you to play your sport, because there’s an army of people who make a day like this possible, where we honour our top sportsmen…..

The General of the army is Mrs Kissick, our Sports Director. She has many able lieutenants, in the case of the summer sports the clubs of rowing and cricket and good people like Mr Gamblin, who organise our Athletics, and others in our community as well.

But also our many parents and old boys who do so much behind the scenes to enable you guys to play your sport and give you the opportunity to not only compete to the highest levels in the region and in the country, but in various competitions going on at all different levels to cater for those boys who just want to play sport to their level of ability.

Those parents on committees, those parents who coach, those parents who take you to practices and games. There are others who pack your parachutes too. Many generous and skilled coaches, teachers, old boys and parents, who prime and prepare you, who spend literally hours of their time, their only satisfaction seeing you be the best you can be.

As a coach myself, one of the greatest pleasures is seeing players perform better than they ever have before, to realise their personal bests, to see the benefits of hard work, but also the joy of doing all that with your mates……nearly all of our coaches are unpaid, many take annual leave, many sacrifice nights and weekends, but the satisfaction I described of seeing you guys discover talents and gifts you may never have believed you had, is often payment enough.

Another group who pack the parachute are you boys who don’t walk the stage today, but who have made it possible in many instances for those who do, by playing supportive roles, without being the star, and have worked just as hard for the benefit of the group, but don’t receive the accolades on days like this. I tip my hat to you guys today.

I have seen many sporting school boy or girl stars who fade when they leave school.

I have also seen many seen many 2nd and 3rd team journey men also who have blossomed when they leave school too

Our top teams often have players who began their time in B and C teams, but a combination of love of the game and hard work, mean they develop later. I can vividly remember a boy I coached in a 3rd fifteen at another school who never made the firsts in that school but went on to eventually play for the All Blacks -

What I am saying is if you love the sport you play, then keep at it….you may be one of those late developers.

I don’t mean these comments to detract from those we are about to congratulate. Well done to all of you and thank you for being such fine ambassadors for the College, by the manner you play and the way you represent our College…..

Until next time

Justin Boyle