The Magazine of St Aloysius' College • 'Men for Others' • Issue XLVII ...

from the principal
On Saturday 4 April over three hundred members of
the Aloysian Family gathered for the College Cocurricular
Fundraising Dinner. The Dinner had as
its theme “Celebrating Aloysius’ Co-curricular Programme
– Diversity, Creativity and Excellence”. The Honourable Pat
Farmer MP, the ultra-marathon runner and Federal Member
for Macarthur, was the guest speaker on the night.
The College’s commitment to the development of
the whole person is explicit, and reflects an Ignatian
educational philosophy that sees schooling primarily in
terms of formation, and not simply as instruction or
information giving. Dr Paddy Moran (SAC 1902), an
Aloysian and Captain of the first Wallaby side, pointed to
this almost a century ago when he wrote that he was proud
that an Aloysian education was “not a school course nor a
university course, but a life course”. The spiritual, emotional,
physical, social, aesthetic and intellectual all demand
nourishment for balanced personal development, and the
co-curricular life of a school can be a powerful element
in providing such nourishment. The early Jesuit schools in
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were among the
first to include elements of drama and music in the life of
the school. And one sport, lacrosse; so named by French
Jesuits who noted that the stick used by the North American
Indians resembled the staff carried by the bishop, and thus
referred to the game as ‘la crosse’, and brought the Indian
game to Europeans.
At the Co-curricular Dinner we presented a draft list
of Aloysians who have since 1979 represented NSW
or Australia (or the equivalent) while at school – the list
includes one hundred and sixty-three NSW Representatives
and an additional twenty-seven National Representatives in
athletics, baseball, basketball, cadets, cricket, debating,
fencing, football, ice hockey, mooting, mountain biking,
music, public speaking, rugby, snowsports, swimming, tae
kwon do, tennis, tournament of minds, and water polo. We
are planning to erect an honour board for all Aloysians who
have represented the state or nation since the foundation
of the College. The board will be in the proposed new
gymnasium that the College plans to build
in 2009. We will also erect a
Hall of Fame for Aloysians who
have achieved at national level
after school (given especially
that schoolboys representative
sides are a relatively more
recent phenomenon). This Hall
of Fame will include the early
figures of Aloysius sport, Paddy
Moran (SAC 1902),
Daniel Carroll
(SAC 1900)
and Edward
M a n d i b l e
(SAC 1903)
from the first
Wallabies
team in 1908; Olympic swimming gold medallist Cecil
Healy (SAC 1896), and Australian cricketer, Jack Ferris
(SAC 1882). It will also include figures from the performing
arts such as Cyril T Ritchard (SAC 1915).
In the 1886 cricket series between England and an
Australian team, England was dismissed for forty-five, which
remains England’s lowest-ever score in a test match. It was
also the first test where a side invited the opposition to
bat on winning the toss. Two Australian bowlers bowled
unchanged throughout the English innings; one of them
was Jack Ferris (SAC 1882) who was an Old Boy of St
Aloysius’, and the first international sportsman to emerge
from the College. Jack was a hero to Aloysius schoolboys of
the time. During one interstate match at the SCG, a whole
class absented themselves after lunch to watch Jack. When
summoned the next morning to explain their absence, the
class escaped the cane by offering ‘school spirit’ as their
defence.
Dr Paddy Moran (SAC 1902) captained the first touring
Wallaby side in 1908. He too was an Old Boy. He would
later be a President of the St Aloysius’ College Old Boys
Union. As a doctor he introduced into Australia the use of
the radium needle in the treatment of cancer. He was also
a patron of the study of modern languages in NSW. Here
at the College he donated a prize for Proficiency in Sport
and Study.
Cecil Healy (SAC 1896), Olympic Gold medalist
swimmer and world record holder, was another Aloysian.
He is remembered most for an extraordinary act of
sportsmanship in persuading Olympic officials to let his
great rival, the Hawaiian (and ‘father of surfing’), Duke
Kahanamoku swim in the 100m freestyle after he had
missed his semi-final race because of a bungle by the US
Team Management. He was also a pioneer in Australian
lifesaving and an inductee in the International Swimming
Hall of Fame. In World War One he joined up in the
Sportsmen’s Battalion, answering the call of duty, and
he paid with his life when he was cut down by a hail of
machine gun bullets on the battlefields of France on 29
August 1918.
Cyril T Ritchard (SAC 1915) was a Broadway star,
playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan in 1954, for which
he received a Tony Award. His career encompassed
films, TV and the stage on three continents: Australia,
England and the United States. His range included revue,
musical comedy, West End and Broadway long-running
comedies and opera. At the College he had the title roles
in productions of Macbeth and Hamlet, and as Sir Charles
Surface in The School for Scandal. At his wedding at St
Mary’s Cathedral, police had to keep control of 5,000
fans outside.
Ferris, Moran, Healy and Ritchard, all Aloysians, should
call out the best from us. They should serve as models who
inspire us to the best in whatever we undertake, and to do
so with a spirit of generosity and mateship.
The diversity of activities that were celebrated at the
St Aloysius’ College
A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879 aloysiad / page 4