The Cracks Are Showing: Who Really Benefits From “School Sport”?

"Really, our role as principals and our role as schools is to educate young people."
—Tim O’Connor, Principal of Auckland Grammar and Chair of College Sport Auckland 1

This statement highlights a contradiction. If schools exist to educate, why do principals hold such sweeping control over secondary-age sport—often at the expense of inclusion and fairness?

Last week, it was Year 14 rugby players. This week, a breakaway schoolboy competition is making headlines2—prompting principals from excluded schools to speak out. But for homeschooled students, exclusion from sport isn’t a new controversy—it’s a long-standing, systemic issue. The term ‘school sport’ is routinely used to justify their exclusion from a wide range of student sporting events, reinforcing barriers that have existed for years.

“Discrimination and unfairness in sport is the everyday norm for homeschooled domestic students,” says Home Educators Student Sports Association (HESSA) Chair Mel Ewart.

Sports commentator Alice Soper wrote last week that the current system fails many students—not just homeschoolers, but also those who don’t fit the mould, attend the “wrong” school, play underrepresented sports, or are girls still facing legacy barriers. The current system goes against the kaupapa of sport—inclusion, fairness, and opportunity—and increasingly is being recognised as not fit for purpose. Soper proposed a simple fix: “Put the sports back into clubs. Keep 13–18-year-olds in the same system that serves them at every other age and stage3,4.

South Island principals have contacted the Sports Integrity Commission and the Human Rights Commission over the planned boys’ schools-only rugby competition. College Sport Auckland chair Tim O’Connor recently criticised Sport NZ for its silence on "Year 14" athletes. But the irony is clear: there is no independent body overseeing integrity issues in the primary setting of sport for over 300,000 young people.

Bodies led by Principals, like Mr O’Connor, control much of secondary-age sport and they decide which students get to play sports that happen outside the school gate. National sporting organisations claim it’s not their responsibility—yet continue to support a system that sidelines young people’s needs. That’s not just disappointing—it’s shameful

Mel Ewart says “HESSA members have previously contacted the Sports Integrity Commission with concerns about exclusion. But those concerns were rebuffed.“

The Sports Integrity Commission advised that its remit covers integrity issues within the sport and recreation sector—but not school sport. That leaves a glaring accountability gap: school-led sporting bodies appear answerable to no one but each other.

Ewart added, “The very adults who have the power to drive change continue to overlook the barriers homeschooled students face to engage in sport while their websites proudly promote values like inclusion and fairness. But clearly, those ideals are reserved for some, not all.”

When School Sport New Zealand CEO Michael publicly declares that “the rules are not expected to change”—even under political and public pressure—it highlights values that conflict with national goals to raise youth participation in sport and physical activity. SSNZ has openly stated that eligibility criteria are created by schools, for schools, reinforcing a system designed to serve institutions, not students. This isn’t about what’s best for young people—it’s about protecting school prestige, power, and the funding that follows.

Ewart asserts, “Even NZ Rugby buckled under pressure from a handful of school principals, abandoning plans to make the U18 international rugby team truly inclusive—for all U18 boys, not just those in mainstream schools6. What message does that send about the values we claim sport represents?

This is why HESSA has been compelled to take a petition to Parliament asking for the government to take action to ensure all students have equal access to secondary-age sport. 
Because when every other body is burying its head in the sand, someone has to stand up for young people who are being excluded..

Two HESSA members are raising awareness by riding from the national home of cycling in Cambridge all the way to Parliament to deliver the petition. They depart the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge at 9:30am on Sunday, 22 June, and will arrive at the steps of Parliament on 1 July. https://our.actionstation.org.nz/p/sportforall

Because It’s time to rethink who gets to play secondary-age sport—and maybe, just maybe, it’s time to change who gets to decide.

References

1]https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/563959/auckland-grammar-principal-calls-out-sport-nz-over-year-14-athletes (13/06/2025)

2]https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/564543/co-ed-school-principals-fight-deeply-unethical-boys-school-only-rugby-competition (19/06/2025)

3]https://alicesoapbox.substack.com/p/the-struggle-of-school-sports (13 June 2025)

4]https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/home-schooled-athletes-challenge-nz-school-sports-barriers/HNFZLXMDAVCYJAAH24NAC5A4NY/ (15/06/2025)

5]https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360677677/all-we-want-level-playing-field-home-schoolers-fight-back (06/05/2025)

6] https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/561272/nz-rugby-drop-plan-to-establish-under-18-team

(16/05/25)

© Scoop Media