I remember my first school rugby practice. Autumn, Year 9 (Third Year in old money), an exposed sports field fringed by unruly hawthorns overlooking the Rother Valley, South Yorkshire. Earlier in the week, Mr Heritage, the Head of Sport, had rocked back on his office chair and enquired: “Hinch, isn’t it about time you tried for the rugby team?” I didn’t think I’d been noticed in PE/Games lessons.

I enjoyed sport, most of the time, but was wholly unremarkable in my estimation. However, I always did what my teachers encouraged or told me to do, trusting their judgement. Therefore, at the first opportunity, I turned out after school, admittedly in a football top and flimsy shorts, for rugby training. I didn’t know the rules of the game.

Happily, back in the day, there was a place for such folk and accordingly I was directed to the front row. Suddenly, I was a tight head prop. It was a test for a young lad with no rugby experience beyond games lessons; it was a test for my nylon Castle Market shorts too!

Mr Heritage and Mr Selkirk soon realised that I didn’t fully grasp everything that was going on around me when I casually walked to the wrong side of a ruck, snatched the ball and ran into space as if my life depended upon it. My teachers were kind in reproach. I listened, I tried hard, I learnt. Then came the first game of the season, away to Wickersley as was the tradition.

I was worried. I still didn’t know what I was doing. I remember my first run however, ball in hand, a move from a break down early in the game. I actually made ground, much to everyone’s surprise, and I rode at least one tackle before being floored by a big lad unseen in my try line tunnel vision. However, I presented the ball securely and the game flowed. It was liberating (and also a miracle given my lack of awareness). Nevertheless, I learnt a few rules and soon acquired an inkling about what to do in a game.

My mum invested in some proper rugby shorts.

I was part of a team. I played for school and soon for Rotherham RUFC Colts. It felt good.

I loved playing rugby at school and university, finishing up at Madras College Former Pupils RFC, St Andrews, to let off steam while completing a PhD. If I allow myself a moment to reflect, I am able to perceive the significance of that moment with the oval ball and new mates on a damp, blowy September school pitch in South Yorkshire. I learnt how to play rugby.

More fundamentally, a not particularly sporty or confident young lad began a relationship with physical challenge that, at its peak, became a consuming passion for the great outdoors, mountains and climbing, with rugby, cricket and kayaking trucking alongside for variety. Enjoyment of exercise continues to this day, as recently as yesterday evening in fact, with a star-lit run on frosty hills above Skipton, all the while wondering when I might next get a pass out on my mountain bike (which is in the garage and disappointingly clean at the moment).

So, I am unashamedly biased. I understand that a positive relationship with sport in some form or another is a wonderful, enriching and potentially life-changing thing. People are born to move and physical activity is an essential ingredient in a balanced school curriculum. As a Newly Qualified Teacher I completed a Level 1 cricket coaching qualification and helped to take a team. Soon afterwards, I found myself leading Outdoor Education and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, taking climbing trips and organising expeditions, sharing a penchant for the natural world and adventure.

However, I’m not so naive as to think that everything is harmonious in the world of school sport. The perceived dangers of contact sports, identified by Professor Pollock’s work for example, have been widely publicised. Her campaign has however been largely restricted to rugby even though research demonstrates that this sport is no more dangerous than netball or hockey for the vast majority of school age young people. Participation in sport at any age is not without risk, but the benefits are manifold.

My sense is that most people perceive the latter to outweigh the former as part of a sensible and proportionate worldview and approach to life. However, the heightened risks associated with playing sport are something that schools rightly have to get to grips with and there are no schools in these modern times that would compel a student to take part in contact sport if parents expressed a view to the contrary. Compulsory enrolment in team sport is waning and therefore a new model for participation in school sport is on the rise.

Neil Rollings, former Director of Sport in four HMC schools, Managing Director of Independent Coach Education and Founder of the Professional Association of Directors of Sport in Independent Schools (PADSIS) has commented knowledgably on the subtle changes taking hold in youth and school sport. Adopting a broad view, he has argued that clubs have long been cognisant of the need to attract and retain young players. They do not enjoy the ready pool of players that schools might be able to draw upon. Clubs understandably have to work to encourage interest and engagement. Schools are taking note and approaches for fostering participation are replacing compulsion, thus heralding in a new era for school sport. Neil observes that:

“In schools with a strong culture of participation, the issue of compulsion is largely irrelevant … the future has to be in building a culture of participation. By making the experience attractive, by stimulating intrinsic motivation and through education of parents, pupils and teachers of the benefits of being involved in sport. In an era of growing concern for children’s mental health, the advantages of teamship have never been more important in building emotional intelligence. These advantages are available to all participants; they are not ability dependent, as recreational sport amply demonstrates. The era of making rules to compel participation, and demanding obedience to them, is over. The new focus must be on building and sustaining a culture that values both physical fitness and teamship, in which participants find value, enjoyment and satisfaction. It is a subtle, but significant, shift”.

Neil’s analyses resonate with this particular Headmaster. A relationship with sport and physical activity began for me with some gentle encouragement from my PE/Games teachers who demonstrated an inclusive approach to building a team. I would not have found rugby for myself in Year 9, I didn’t possess the requisite ‘umph’ to put myself forward, and I very definitely was not recruited to win games!

Nevertheless, rugby helped a young man to be part of something good and a little less cautious about giving new things a go. Distant mountains soon seemed a little less far off.