To Serve and to Lead: A History of the Diocesan Boys' School in Hong Kong

12 Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular Activities 271 DBS is well known for its extracurricular activities which form an integral part of its deep-rooted “all-round education” philosophy. While education is incomplete without extracurricular activities, it should be stressed that such activities do not in themselves automatically lead to character training or result in an all-round education — their effectiveness rests on the way in which they are handled. Development of Extracurricular Activities from 1869–1941 Sports Activities In the early days of the school, sports activities were considered important mainly from the standpoint of health. The annual report of 1885 recorded that the boys were frequently taken to Stonecutters Island to learn to swim because of its positive effect on health.1 In 1916, Mr. Piercy considered sport to be vital for the development of esprit de corps in the school.2 When Mr. Featherstone decided not to award any prizes for swimming in 1919 and athletics in 1921 and forbade students from competing in games where they had to register with a league in 1922,3 he was probably concerned about the impact of extracurricular activities on character training and development. As the school had no playing field of its own in the Bonham Road campus, in 1885 an application was made to the government for a “squatters’ licence” to use part of the land on the north side of the school as an extended playground to improve the health and physical education of the students.4 Even this, however, did not completely solve the problem and, in his annual 12 Extracurricular Activities 272 To Serve and to Lead reports in the ensuing years, the headmaster more than once deplored the fact that the school was a long distance from suitable places for swimming and ball games. In response, the government in 1896 and again in 1898 improved the land near Robinson Road at West Point, for use for sports activities by nearby schools, including St. Joseph’s College, Victoria English School and the DSO.5 In 1900, the DSO also improved the playground to the north for cricket and football, and constructed a tennis court on the lower terrace.6 Coaching for sports probably began in 1901–02 after the arrival of Mr. A. O. Brawn, who trained the boys in cricket and football. Under the care of Mr. Brawn and an old boy named A. J. Mackie, sports activities flourished in the school, with strong teams being fielded in cricket, tennis, football, fives andboating. The DBSO toppedthe HongKongSchools’ Football League for the first time in 1906 and its cricket team, besides winning all its matches against the other schools, was also successful in those against adult club teams such as the Craigengower Cricket Club in 1908.7 When Mr. Brawn left the DBSO in 1909 and was succeeded by Mr. W. H. Viveash, enthusiasm for and success in games continued unabated. In the ensuing years, the school continued to excel in cricket, athletics, swimming, football, tennis and fives.8 In 1913, the DBSO lost the old playing field at West Point and the government later provided it with a new, but smaller, one at the west end of the town in West End Park. From 1915, Mr. Piercy more than once expressed his concern that there was no proper practice ground for football and cricket; and both he and Mr. Featherstone mentioned the need for cricket and football as a means of fostering a group spirit among the boys. The absence of proper playing fields for football and cricket led to an increase in the popularity of tennis and volleyball.9 Mr. Featherstone was an idealist who discouraged the use of prizes as an incentive for effort and strongly opposed participation in any competitive sports aimed at prize-winning. He lamented the encouragement of “professionalism” by the leagues, resulting in many of those who were generally good at games becoming “pot-hunters”, and the lack of a “sporting spirit”, as exemplified by the failure of teams that had no chance of winning first or second places to complete their programmes of matches. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, from 1922 he did not allow students to take part in the leagues, but encouraged them to play friendly matches with other schools and directed their attention to intramural (intra-school) competitions. He introduced the house system whereby the school was divided into four houses, each designated by a different colour, for house sports, etc.10 [3.145.191.22] Project MUSE (2024-04...