10 February 2000 Scholarships Offer Balance in Age of Professionalism – Lincoln University Sports Scholarship Programme 2000

With a successful first year of the Lincoln University Sports Scholarship Programme behind us, and the second intake of scholars due to arrive, we are able to put an example before everyone who plays rugby of just how important balance is in the lives of players.

The scholars are living proof that you can do work, study and play rugby in the age of professionalism.

In fact, the players who have that balance right perform better on the paddock, and we've seen it in the way so many of the first intake of scholars made it into age-grade representative ranks last season.

I'm sure it will be reflected too in the flow on to the Crusaders Colts side to be named shortly. And furthermore, we anticipate that it won't be long before the top ones push up to NPC ranks.

Equally important the scholarship programme has resulted in a large group of players coming into club rugby in Canterbury and while the majority were at colts level in 1999 a significant proportion will now move up to senior grades.

So the programme has also helped club rugby in Canterbury. It has brought a lot of talented young rugby players to the province and we regard the whole programme as an outstanding success.

For some time we had been of the view that sport could be a vehicle for concentrating the talents of young people in the broadest sense, and now we're seeing it. Young men and women concentrating on their academic performance as well as having a focus on the rugby.

In the long-term, when we see the first wave of professional players retiring, those who have achieved an academic qualification along the way will have something to set themselves up with as they pursue new careers.

Steve Tew, Chief Executive, Canterbury Rugby Union, Canterbury, New Zealand