Madam, - Tom Humphries writes eloquently in his piece headed "Dublin hurling must study role of UCD" (Sports, November 14th), laying the problems of Dublin hurling at UCD's door. It is not my intention in this letter to take issue with his arguments about the participation of UCD hurlers in the Dublin County Championship, other than to say that blaming the currently successful UCD team is likely to be, at best, a temporary camouflage for deeper problems in the sport.
My reason for writing is, however, that, in pursuing his point, Mr Humphries seems to me to misrepresent the nature of the UCD sports scholarship scheme. It is the CAO system which determines entry to UCD; we do not "pick the best minors in the country and offer them scholarships".
Students gain entry through the CAO system and UCD then awards sports scholarships to talented young women and men who have gained entry to the university as a result of their own academic achievements in the Leaving Certificate. Our Sports Scholars' intellectual ability is borne out by the outstanding achievement in recent years of, to name but a few, Stephen Lucey (honours degree in medicine), Paddy O'Brien and Paul Griffin (honours physiotherapy), Colin Moran (honours commerce).
A debate about the participation of UCD teams in the Dublin County Championship is entirely legitimate but it should not misrepresent the university entry system. - Yours, etc.
MARY CLAYTON, Vice-President for Students, UCD, Dublin 4.