I agree with the sentiments of Geoffrey Wells, writing about schoolboy boxing (Letters, August 30).

In the late Forties, when I started junior school at St Johns, Carlton Hill, I was lucky enough to be selected for the boxing team. All the boys wanted to have a go at it.

The goal was to reach the Junior Schoolboys Championship finals at Stanford Road.

From the age of 11, I attended Queens Park School, one of - if not the - country's best boxing school.

RL Metcalfe was the sports master and put everyone in the ring to assess their capability.

It was an honour to be selected to represent the school.

There were inter-school tournaments between local schools, such as St Lukes, Varndean, St John the Baptist and Cardinal Newman.

They were well supported by pupils and parents and were reported in The Argus.

The highlight of the school boxing season was the Brighton Schools Boxing Championship at The Dome.

Competitors from local schools got to know each other and, on meeting outside school, treated each other with respect and as friends, unlike today, when boys and girls don't know pupils from their own locality, let alone another school. There seems to be tension and distrust among them.

Boxing taught us discipline and respect for others. It also helped sort out the bullies.

Not everyone could be a champion but we tried.

In 1955, Queens Park had five boys in the Amateur Boxing Associations' schoolboys quarter-finals - a terrific achievement. Most counties didn't have that number in the quarter-finals, let alone one school. Such was the talent at Queens Park.

Family names associated with a boxing tradition, included Chapman, Woods, Gunn, Gable, Saunders, Tulley, Watts, Shepherd Mellis, Barnard, Bell and Hargie.

It would be a step in the right direction if schoolboy boxing was reintroduced back into schools, as there are many benefits to be had for pupils and the general public.

The sport is strictly controlled, both medically and competitively.

-T Andrew, Brighton