Activities offer lessons in life Teacher hails good sports
THERE are lessons sport instils that a student cannot get in the classroom, and that has been a key driver to John Alloway’s longevity at Ignatius Park College.
In his 42 years with the school, Alloway has become the leader of its college sports program and has taken pride in seeing how it can take boys to men.
The coronavirus pandemic has limited the capacity in which the school can offer its 15 sporting outlets, however easing health restrictions have presented a light at the end of the tunnel.
The college’s sports program is beginning to get back up and running POST-COVID, with rugby league having resumed training, while rugby union and touch football will relaunch from the first Monday of term.
Alloway said it was the chance to see how young men evolved with the program that had kept his passion alive, and been the hallmark of his four decades at the school.
“If you push the positive aspects of sport, particularly in youth sport, you get a reward,” Alloway said.
“For example, kids learn to lose and they’re willing to win, so when they’re winning they have to be humble and when they lose they have to be gracious.
“They have to go back and work out how to get back to the top of the tree if that’s what they’re aiming for.
“It’s got a lot of hallmarks of logic for life, like sacrifice; as adults we realise we have to sacrifice sometimes, if we want something we have to put other things to one side.”
Since his tenure began in 1978, Alloway has seen the program evolve into what it is today. Elite pathways have given athletes a goal to strive for, and Alloway has marvelled at how relationships between young men and their coaches has developed.
He said the coaches and managers were at the heart of this success.
“Every generation that comes through is different, our coaches and managers change with the flow and that’s been a highlight for me – the way they handle boys is different now than in the ’ 70s (and) the way boys respond is quite different,” Alloway said.
“There’s definitely a need there for male role models … and there’s definitely a role there for female role models.
“We have female and male coaches, and they’re there outside the classroom modelling life. They’re giving up their own time and they’re committed, and they pass those values on to the kids.”