The Scots College Old Boys’ Association has a rich history that can be traced back to the early years of Scots College itself.
The first SCOBA meeting was held in the basement of St John’s Church in Dixon Street on 2 April 1921. The aim “To keep all the Old Boys in touch with one another and in touch with the life of the college” was adopted on that day, and continues to guide the work of the association to the present day.
In order to keep constant communications with the members, the association held annual social events. The first reunion happened on 14 December 1921. Since then, the annual reunion dinner has become the main item in the association’s social programme. There were also other functions that became joint projects with either the Queen Margaret Old Girls or the Scots College Parents Association such as the Annual Dance and end-of –the-year cocktails. The Scots was published and served as an effective medium to update members of activities and individual pursuits.
The association also enabled the Old Boys to keep in touch with the College. The Oratorical Competition and subsequently, Public Speaking, were popular events. And so were sporting events that pitted the Old Boys against the College in friendly competition. Football was the first sport played in 1925, with the roster of games eventually including tennis, cricket, athletics, swimming, shooting, and hockey well into the 1960s. Golf was also a popular sport amongst the Old Boys, with the formal presentation of the McKelvie Cup in 1965.
The Board of Governors agreed to appoint two representatives of the association as members, as early as 1924. This enabled the Association to have direct input into the running of the College and an awareness of its associated challenges. Infrastructure development was needed by the College, and the Old Boys’ first project – the Old Boys Wing (a dormitory and a housemaster’s flat on top of Gibb House) – was completed in 1947. In 1963, a dual-purpose Chapel-Assembly hall was realised to augment the school’s facilities, the cost of which was largely met by the Old Boys’ Association. Then in 1977, fund-raising began for the major task of the construction of a gymnasium; this building was opened in 1979. Other noteworthy projects through the years include the restoration of the chapel organ in 1977 and reframing of the team photographs in the hall of the main building.
Today, the Scots College Old Boys Association remains true to the aim adopted in 1921, and continues to support the College and its members with worthwhile endeavours.
Condensed from The First Seven Thousand: a Jubilee history of Scots College 1916-1990 by James Brodie
