A busy month on the school sport calendar

Week three of the term and already there has been so much action out and about in schools, with most winter sport competitions now up and running around the region.

May is a very busy month on the sporting calendar, with loads of events and tournaments happening, as well as the weekly competitions.

The Southern Area Schools Tournament is a highlight on the sporting calendar for the six area schools from the lower South Island. This year’s tournament, being hosted by Lawrence Area School, starts today and will run until Friday.

About 180 pupils from Waiau Area School, Maniototo Area School, The Catlins Area School, Lawrence Area School, Twizel Area School and Roxburgh Area School will take part over the three days.

Sports include touch, basketball, Rippa rugby, netball, football, ki-o-rahi, volleyball and golf, along with indoor bowls, squash, badminton, table tennis, petanque, climbing, quiz, chess, frisbee golf and clay target shooting.

Over the course of this tournament, pupils will be selected in rugby, netball, basketball, volleyball, ki-o-rahi and football to represent the South of the South region at the national area schools tournament in Rangiora in the July school holidays.

The OSSSA cross-country series will also take place in term two, with the first event, the Logan Park Road Race, celebrating its 20th anniversary next Tuesday.

There are four events in this series, consisting of both individual and relay events, building to the Otago Secondary Schools Cross-Country Championships at Kaikorai Valley College on June 8.

Many schools are busy hosting their own cross-country events during term two and it is great to see many of them mixing it up and including dressing up in house colours and creating a fun vibe for pupils.

Weekly competitions are under way already or starting in the next week or two, involving thousands of pupils pulling on their sports uniforms to represent their schools.

Many of these teams will be looking to build throughout the season in the weekly competitions before attending South Island or national tournaments during winter sports week at the end of August.

Many schools have traditional interschools and exchanges, and intraschool or house competitions also in the calendar for terms two and three, which adds to the pride of pulling on a school jersey.

Covid-19 might seem like a distance memory, but schools are all too aware of the permanent part this virus continues to play when it comes to sport and the availability of players from week to week, not to mention the extra layer of administration needed in planning for events.

However, front of mind at the moment is the continued strike action from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) and ensuring this has limited impact on our rangatahi when it comes to playing sport.

Teachers play a vital part in ensuring that school sport can happen and without the extra hours and dedication from these key drivers, sport would not be as accessible as it is for school pupils in our region.

With that in mind, the sporting sector is doing everything it can to not only support the PPTA action but also ensuring that it has a limited impact on our rangatahi during this time. — Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association