Struan 1962 - Adm.monash.edu.au

Football . . .Each working Wednesday afternoonthe Coll ege building brisklydivests itself of students. There isenthu siasm and anticipation in thisstude nt exodus. Yet their purposeis not to further their knowl edge ofteaching, but simply to play games.How does this channelling of 10 percent of the Coll ege week to pleas antrecreation, reconcil e with demandsfor a three-year course?Each December the Collegebuilding reluct antly sheds itself ofstudents. Many of the se are not toreturn. It is their last and mostdeeply felt farewell. It is impossibleto spend two years of a still-younglife in such surroundings and failto be greatly changed by such anexperience . Those making last farewellsare not the same peopl e whoentered two or three yea rs previously.To understand the change swrou ght in these people is to und erstand,in part, the purpose of Wednesdayafternoon.The most widespread Au stralianrecre ation is sport. We are justifiablyproud of our record as a tenmillionnation which can "take on "any of the giant nations of theworld. We ask no concession s andwe mat ch and out-match the best.Thi s pride and this ach ievement ispart of our growing tradition . OurWedn esday afternoon experiencea llows us to feerthC"1l1'fiir of com ­petition. Hence we are betterequipped to pass on this tradition.My main experience of Collegesport has been with football . Thisgame demands all the qualitie s inherentin the Au strali an image.It is a big man 's game, yet littlemen with courage, pace and skillform the bulk of every team.It is a game of full speed , recklessphysical clashes, yet seriousinju ries are strangely few .It is a high-scoring, fast -scoringgame in which players neveracknowledge defeat. A series oflong kicks and soaring marks canalter a game in minutes. Th e feelingof a match-winning bur st isinfectious to both players and spectators.A team well beaten for thr eequarters often lifts its game to producea thrilling last quarter bur st.Cause and effect are mer ged in theincreasing roar of the crowd andthe fearless enthusiasm of theplayer s, as they race the ball goalwards.Ours was not the most skilledteam, but it bowed to none instrength, enthusiasm and will towin. In their two years our exit menhave helped mould these qualitieswhich are now being woven intoour own special tradition. They arebetter citizens and men throughtheir battles on the football field.Th ey were the smallest team, butasked no concessions and matchedthe best teams. Th eir afternoonswere far from wasted . T he CollegeI's ''a r6etter p lacetnroughtnei-r--_......_­effort s. Future'" success will be builton the tradition they have fashioned.Nelson is grateful and wishesthem well.STRUAN, 1962Page Sixty-Five