Professional sport appears to offer one route to almost instant riches for talented performers, a fact that schools are increasingly taking on board. After just three years, one school’s sporting programme is already attracting young people from Germany, Spain, Hong Kong, Italy and Ireland. These are children who want to join the ranks of the world golfing elite — and they are hoping that their journey will start on the fairways of East Lothian.
Loretto school’s golf academy is now in its fourth year of operation, and it provides the kind of focused sporting development that has only hitherto been available at schools in America.
“Our advanced squad are totally focused on golf three afternoons a week,” says Rick Valentine, the master in charge of the academy. “All of them work with a golf professional, compete in our internal golf competitions, and in our own order of merit that runs all season.”
The senior squad might be hoping to turn their golf into a career, but they are not the only pupils who are spending a lot of time on the green. The school itself has a nine-hole course, driving nets, a bunker and a video training suite. All pupils use these as part of their physical education programme — much of that taking place on Musselburgh links course and the nearby Craigielaw course. This emphasis is nothing new, however. After all, the school has produced seven captains of the Royal and Ancient golf club and 11 captains of the Muirfield club.
What is new is the potential for a route into the ranks of professional golfers — and the extraordinary money they can earn. Many leading competitions have prize money of up to £2m, while appearance fees and sponsorship increase the earning potential of pros even more. As a result, golf development has evolved.
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“The young people who are in our senior squad are looking to take up golf scholarships at American universities when they finish here,” explains Valentine.
“For a really talented golfer, it is possible to get a scholarship to study in America that could take care of all their costs, as well as providing an amazing opportunity to really hone their game and access a huge variety of national, university-level student competition. Succeeding at the latter is the kind of thing that would give you the experience to step up to the professional ranks.”
Entrance to the senior squad at Loretto is by competition. The school runs talent-spotting days, and will even provide golfing bursaries for the most gifted players, but competition for these places is intense, and young hopefuls will come from all over the world.
Of course, golf is not the only sport at which Scotland’s independent schools have a strong track record. More than any other sport, rugby in Scotland has been dominated by players from independent schools, at least since the 1920s. Former pupils’ teams continue to be a significant force at club level, and if you look at any of the really successful Scottish teams, you will find them dominated by the products of our independent schools. Roughly one third of those who have represented their country at rugby in the past year in Scotland come from independent schools, despite those schools educating only 5% of young people.
It is unsurprising that pupils from some schools excel in rugby. At Merchiston castle in Edinburgh, for example, boys play sport four afternoons a week. There is also expert coaching available, but, says the headteacher, Andrew Hunter, provision is as much for the C team as the A team. “I believe sport is enormously wholesome, and that boys benefit from real variety in what they do — that is why we have sport between 2 and 4 in the afternoon and then return to the classrooms until 6.15pm.”
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But, while the school is very proud of its sporting tradition, it treats physical activities in the context of the overall school experience, rather than explicitly grooming boys for professional sporting careers. “We have scouts for many of the professional rugby clubs watching our matches,” he says. “Many of our boys are offered contracts, but I always urge them to put off actually playing professionally until they complete their university studies. Fortunately in rugby that wait often coincides with the time it takes for them to bulk out anyway.”
It is not only rugby for which the school gets noticed either. There are 21 other sports on offer at Merchiston and some of the most unlikely of these have led boys to international opportunities. One former pupil, for example, is studying economics at Harvard on a full squash scholarship.
It is an indication of the variety of talents for which bursaries are available. Kilgraston, the girls’ boarding school in Bridge of Earn, for example, offers scholarships in tennis and horse riding.
“We have our own stables, so girls can keep their ponies at the school,” explains Roderick Baird, the school’s development director. “We also run numerous competitions within the school and host a big annual equestrian event at Gleneagles.”
Like Merchiston, however, while the school is keen to encourage its pupils to achieve all they can competing on horseback, it is just one of a wide variety of activities available, including canoeing, skiing, mountaineering and walking.
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Clearly, if you really do want your child to reap millions very early in their career and they display real talent, then serious golf merits consideration. But if an aptitude at another sport helps offset the cost of schooling, then it is not to be sniffed at.