An opportunity to partner with the School in making this grand vision a reality

A message from the Chairman of Trustees and the Headmaster

This initiative – The next century of sport at Grammar – is grounded in our strategic vision of Grammar’s past, present and future.

Grammar has thrived throughout its history as a school that combines academic, sporting, musical and other co-curricular pursuits into an ambitious mix in which the effervescent and often wonderfully esoteric ambitions of our young men can come to the fore.

In the life of the Grammar boy of today, the academic, sporting and musical pillars of the School are of fundamental importance. The School’s outstanding academic record is the result of a devotion to the education of the whole boy across his academic, sporting, musical and broader co-curricular interests.

It is therefore unsurprising that we intend to invest significantly for the future in these areas that are so fundamental to the ongoing education of Grammar boys.

Most immediately, the School has planning in place for a major upgrade of our sporting facilities.

This development will ensure that Grammar can educate and inspire boys for the next century across a full range of sports and forms of physical exercise. This includes state-of-the-art, compliant facilities for the sports that our boys love to pursue and facilities for exercise and personal health.

We invite you to read on and consider how you can partner with the School to make the grand vision embodied in this strategic development into a living reality.

Sport: a vital part of our vision for Grammar

The vitality of our academic approach is underpinned and enhanced by the subtle aestheticism of our extraordinary musical and artistic programmes, as well as the competitiveness and camaraderie afforded to our boys through their ongoing experiences in sport.

Sport is an essential participant in this aspirational triumvirate in which academic work is supported and inspired by a dedicated musical and arts culture that is combined with genuine and dynamic engagement in sporting competition.

Back in 1937, Headmaster Dettmann was a strong advocate of the character-building role of sport and his advice is as relevant today as it was then:

“[The purpose of sport is] not merely to win matches or to bring athletic distinction to a few exceptionally gifted players … [G]ames can help boys to learn to concentrate with joy on the job in hand, to realise the other fellow has rights and merits of his own, to take hard knocks with a grateful grin as well as give them without malice or ill will or loss of temper.”

Educating the whole man

Grammar has produced some outstanding young men who have distinguished records of sporting achievement. Beyond their sporting performance, these notable Old Sydneians have often been highly accomplished in their professional lives.

Their outstanding achievements bear testament to the important role that sporting endeavour plays in the holistic development of young men who have the character, discipline and determination to contribute positively to the society and culture in which they live.

Over the years, many Grammar sportsmen have exemplified these ideals

Building on the past for a new future

In October 1906, the Old Boys’ Union submitted a resolution to the Trustees of the School requesting them to purchase seven and a half acres of land at Rushcutters Bay suitable for “sports and recreational purposes, in order to mark the Jubilee of the School” in the following year. The Old Boys’ Union (as Turney notes in his history of the School, p.130) “undertook to arrange for the collection of funds to form and equip the ground”.

Thus it was that the origin of the Weigall sports ground, the home of so much Grammar sport, was made possible through the generosity of members of the Grammar community.

Making a bold new vision a reality

The School has recently acquired a significant property only a block away from College Street which will be re-purposed as a major indoor sports facility to realise the basketball courts, volleyball courts, indoor cricket nets, fencing and taekwondo facilities originally intended down at Weigall. This purchase has been made possible by a very generous lead donation from a Grammar family, and we hope this lead donation will encourage many more families across our community to help bring about sporting facilities for generations of Grammar boys now and into the future.

Indeed, the relocation of these indoor facilities to Darlinghurst has thus presented a marvellous opportunity to build a new tennis centre at the southern end of Weigall, to build first rate cricket nets on the eastern side of Weigall, as well as to refurbish the Weigall Pavilion and the Old Sydneians’ Union Stand. Those who are in a position to support the School with their generous contributions are warmly encouraged to do so, and the School is keen to recognise such significant contributions through naming rights and various avenues of naming recognition.

In honour of that October 1906 submitted resolution from the Old Boys’ Union to the Trustees of the School we intend to inaugurate the 1906 Society as a recognition of those who choose to make a substantial financial offering to the development of the next century of Grammar sport.

We are opening up the possibility of naming rights for major components of the development in recognition of major donations to the overall fundraising campaign.

Make your donation or bequest by clicking here

or contact us at communitygiving@sydgram.nsw.edu.au

The following video offers a glimpse into the sporting life of Grammar as we plan ahead for the future of sport at the School.

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