Sermon Blog
Newman, Education and Sport
July 16, 2024
When we hear the word “sport” most of us think of the world of professional athletes – the near god-like athleticism, the glory of big-time competition, the money. But the world of sport is much larger. From kids shooting hoops in their driveway to Little League baseball games to a game of tag on the playground, sport is a form of play. As play, it’s for everyone, and as a microcosm of life it can be a great teacher of virtue. St. John Henry Newman understood this, and in his time presiding over The Oratory School ensured that play was an important part of the holistic education instilled in students. The Oratory School was the Catholic counterpart to an English public school for boys. These so-called public schools, such as Eton and Harrow, were actually private schools, mostly for the elite.
While we have come a long way since the 1800s, public education in the United States is hardly holistic; it is often misshapen and disfigured. On the one hand, play is largely left out of the school day, and on the other, family time can often take a back seat to kids’ travel sports and televised sporting events.
Newman was not a sportsman. If he had been, we might credit his personal interest for the presence of sport at the school. But it’s just the opposite: it’s presence shows he believed sport was not an extra to education, but a vital part of it, despite his more academic interests. We can see this right from the founding of the school, which “even with [its] spare offerings in the early period, the school had a playground and ‘racquet court’” ((Shrimpton 2005, 86). As the school started to grow, there were early debates about whether to use their resources to expand the playing field or build a main school building (97). And while Newman was in favor of the latter, he did not disdain the former. His primary interest was in founding a respectable, established Catholic public school on par with its Protestant counterparts; that meant having classroom buildings and resources worthy of the instruction (98).
In founding The Oratory School, Newman was adamant about having an atmosphere of freedom where influence from teachers and mentors, rather than strict discipline, ruled the boys. Hilare Belloc left a memorable testimony to the effect. Sport and games provide just such an opportunity for developing responsible freedom, and Newman was eager to offer activities, even at the expense of upsetting superiors: “Not merely did Newman allow his students to keep horses, but when some of them had been ill he went out riding with them himself. At the Catholic University of Ireland,he encouraged all kinds of free activities, music and debating societies, and to draw them away from the Dublin saloon he provided them with a billiard table. This was far from the discipline of the seminary which Archbishop Cullen expected” (Marmion 1979, 24).
In the school day itself, play was built into the curriculum. Of the nine time slots in the timetable for an ordinary day at the school, beginning with breakfast at 7:45 and ending with supper at 8:30, “play” constitutes three, or one-third, of the activities! (Shrimpton 2005, 194-195). And despite their busy schedule and many responsibilities, the masters were expected to run games, including cricket, hockey and football (195). Holidays were marked by sporting competitions and some of the masters joined in as well, including the first headmaster, NIcholas Darnell, who was an excellent cricket player (95).
Knowing the students as persons, developing quality relationships with them, meant also engaging in healthy play. In his memoir, Newman sought “[students’] society in outdoor exercise, on evenings, and in Vacation” (Autobiographical Writings 1874, 90). He understood the importance of play in their lives, and when parents asked to enroll their sons in additional academic lessons, Newman “remind[ed] them of the boys’ reluctance to forfeit time outside classes” (Shrimpton 2005, 199). While careful to keep academic study at the forefront of the boys’ minds, he was committed to taking their interest in sports seriously, hiring a cricket professional for the school and watching games on feast days (202). The school expanded at a time when interest in public sports rose sharply in the culture at large and in participation in public schools in particular. Newman responded to this change, and The Oratory School sought to match the facilities at other public schools, just as they had with the school buildings in the early period (207).
There is a clear picture that emerges from these glimpses into life at The Oratory School: Education was in service of man, not the other way around. Play found its proper place, not only as a balance to rigorous academic study, but as an important part of human development. A place to experience the joy of physical effort, to learn how to win and lose, how to lead others, how to work together as a team, how to play fairly and with respect for one’s opponent, and more. In the workaholic culture present in America, we would be wise to consider the role of play in our lives and those of our children. It’s just one of the many areas in which this 19th century saint can school us.
References
Newman, John Henry. 1874. Autobiographical Writings. New York: Sheed and Ward.
Marmion, J.P. 1979. “Newman and Education.” The Downside Review 7 (1):10-29.
Shrimpton, Paul. 2005. A Catholic Eton?: Newman’s Oratory School. Herefordshire: Gracewing Publishing.
