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In the 1950's and 1960's schoolboys played for their schools and could then be selected for County and International Teams in the under 14 and under 18 age groups. There was however by contrast only limited provision for those players who left school at 16 to attend Further Education Colleges or who began work.
Many young school leavers joined the local clubs where they had no option but to play in teams and against teams of physically mature men for there were no youth teams. At Old Halesonians players such as Mike Churchill, Dave Ford, John Jones and Malcolm Bate to mention a few played for the 1st XV at 16 years of age along with members of the Halesowen Grammar School XV when there was no school fixture.
The RFU defined these 16-19 year old non-schoolboys as Colts and a Colts County Structure was established. The North Midlands Chairman and Secretary was Stan Whitfield of the Birmingham City Police. Many of the players selected were Police Cadets from "Tally-Ho", the Police Training Centre on the Pershore Road, Edgbaston with the rest being made up from the Greater Birmingham and Hereford and Worcestershire Clubs.
The first Old Halesonians player to be selected and play for the North Midlands Colts was the late John Jones aka John Winston in the late 1950's. John played outside half, had a brief spell with Moseley and then came back to the Old Boys. At the same time Malcolm Bate played on the wing and was later to become one of the most prolific try scoring wingers in the Club's history.
Ira Hampton was the 1st XV captain for the 1963-64 Season at Newfields. The team was young and talented but by 1972 with many of the players now "long in the tooth" a frequent topic of conversation was concern about recruitment and the future of the Club.
In October 1972, two seemingly unrelated happenings led to Ira retiring from first team rugby. Firstly he was requested to attend a meeting of the North Midlands Disciplinary Committee at "Tally-Ho" where in the bar afterwards having a lengthy chat with Stan Whitfield he learnt a great deal about the local Colts' scene. Many schools were ceasing to field rugby teams and those that did had many free dates. Saturday morning jobs were now in vogue and players were opting out. Also at Club level both schoolboys and working boys could play for a Colts XV, if one existed.
Secondly he was asked by his old sportsmaster, Dai Davies, at H.G.S now the Earls High School to help him out by refereeing Saturday morning schoolboy rugby matches. He was amazed at the talent and keenness of these youngsters who were mostly 14 to 16 years old. In the changing room afterwards he explained that he too had played for the school in his youth and had carried on playing a Newfields and then Wassell Grove.
In the next 2 weeks the idea of an Old Halesonians Colts Team moved into the planning stage. Ira asked the schoolboys if they would like to play at Wassell Grove when the school had no fixtures given that Dai Davies and the Headmaster gave permission. The answer was a resounding YES.
Support for the project was given by the Committee and a set of shirts purchased. Posters were printed for display in local schools announcing a Trial Match in early December 1972. Over 40 players attended the Trial, some of course had never played a game of rugby but most had played from the age of eleven at Secondary School. There was no Mini Rugby in those days - that was to follow soon after.
And so, down to the hard work and forward thinking of Ira Hampton, the Old Halesonians Colts were born.
Information kindly provided by Ira Hampton