Eumemmerring College principal Brian Burgess is angry over the loss of nearly every player from the school’s year 10 volleyball team to Haileybury College.
By Callan Date
EUMEMMERRING College is furious with a fellow school it believes has poached the majority of its year 10 girls volleyball team.
Seven members of the championship winning squad have taken up scholarships offered by Haileybury College amid concerns of foul play from Eumemmerring principal Brian Burgess.
The principal of the school, which has campuses in Endeavours Hills, Hallam and Narre Warren, believes Haileybury has increased its scholarship offering by an extraordinary amount this year which has caused great concern among both state and independent schools in the area.
“Haileybury has targeted existing high performing teams to achieve success.
“The focus appears to be to improve the perception of Haileybury’s sport program by taking students from other schools,” Mr Burgess said.
Mr Burgess said his school had noted some of the strategies implemented by Haileybury College to increase its female student enrolment and make sure its newly founded senior girls campus will have the required amount of students when it fully opens in 2007.
“Haileybury has targeted teams, not just individuals,” Mr Burgess said.
He said it was frustrating to see the talents of Eumemmerring students nurtured by staff, only to then see their good results at senior level accredited to the Haileybury program.
Mr Burgess also denied there was a traditional flow of students from Eumemmerring to Haileybury in year 10 before this year.
“A very limited number of students who have excelled in sport have been offered scholarships in the past.
“In fact, in 2005 no student left the affected Eumemmerring campus to go to Haileybury on a sports scholarship.”
Mr Burgess added his school has a long and proud history in volleyball and was pleased that it continued to support the students’ passion for the sport.
“The girls volleyball team has been very competitive at a state level for a number of years. This speaks highly of the program offered at Eumemmerring College.”
Haileybury College principal Robert Pargetter issued a statement on the school’s website saying students from more than 50 schools had transferred to its girls college and all were asked to consider the implications of moving schools at senior level.
“The students admitted were outstanding young women chosen on merit,” Mr Pargetter said.
He said the scholarship program was being conducted as a one-off and the school didn’t believe its actions would affect the viability of other local schools.
Mr Pargetter added that no students were approached directly in regards to the scholarship offering and would have heard about the scholarships through the extensive advertising the school conducted.
