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Wymondham College Magazine 1971

Wymondham College Magazine 1971

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must surely spell disaster . Very few pupils of the College can claim, when they leave, to have learnednothing of the value of family life .I am certain that I am only one of many former pupils who, since leaving, have seen even moreclearly Mr . Metcalfe's vision and determination, and the achievements of the last twelve years haveadded greatly to my admiration for him .I wish Mr. Metcalfe every happiness and good health in his retirement, and all the membersof my family join me in expressing thanks to him for his work over the last nineteen years . To thismay I couple the same good wishes for Mrs . Metcalfe, whose support for her husband's work mustsurely have been an inspiration to him .The following is a tribute to Mr .England.Metcalfe from R . E . Rowell, the first College old boy to play rugby forIt was in the summer of 1956 that it was learnt that Mr . Metcalfe had decided to introduce rugbyfootball as the major winter game to be played by the boys at Wymondham College . This newswas received with a degree of suspicion by many of us, as rugby was somewhat of a mystery to usin an area where it was only just becoming established at Club level and where boys instinctively,as in many other districts, kicked a ball in the street or the park .There were some of us who had only two years in the sixth form left at School who had theoption of continuing to play soccer . This we took until we realised the pleasure our younger friendswere deriving from their games of rugby .Since then I am sure that many pupils of Wymondham College have gained great satisfactionand fun playing the game both at School and subsequently at Club level .As a game rugby football has all the qualities and skills to offer that any other major sport couldclaim, plus many other opportunities for enjoyment and meeting people . These apply to the gamewhether it is played at School level or Club level .It is most desirable that boys playing the game at School should be encouraged to maintaintheir interest at Club level on leaving School ; but it should be mentioned that in order to progresssacrifices and effort have to be made . A further incentive is the possibilities the game offers fortravel, whether at home or abroad, because provided one is enthusiastic enough, these opportunitiesexist without having to gain exalted honours, such as playing for the British Lions or theBarbarians on tour . I personally for example was in Ceylon during August 1969 with an Invitationside and similarly visited California during May of 1970 .The above opportunities have been made possible for us all by the very great enthusiasm andinterest Mr. Metcalfe has shown for the game since its introduction and for this we thank him . Itmust have given him great pleasure and satisfaction to witness such a rapid rise to prominence inSchools' rugby of the College XV's . Regular reference to the National Press informs the readerof notable victories against other distinguished Schools .Mr. Metcalfe's encouragement will be very much missed but we do wish him and Mrs . Metcalfea very happy retirement and know they will continue to follow the fortunes of the College teams .Mr . Wolsey writes :I would like to place on record my appreciation of the kindness and hospitality afforded to meand mine on our arrival at Wymondham College by all members of the community led by Mr. andMrs . Metcalfe and Mr. and Mrs . Bowman .In order to lessen the shock of the impact on the College, the arrival of my family was spreadover a period of four months and I eventually arrived a few days before Christmas . Before I hadreally recovered from leaving my friends of Callington Grammar School, the term here had started .

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