Secondary Sport
Secondary Sport on Redland Pulse incl. Rhino
Has, Is and Will School Sport Continue to Change?
These three questions have plagued mine and many of my colleagues minds over the last few months. The uncertainty of this year has raised questions about our purpose and our roles as educators. As we have slowly followed the road map upon the return to competitive sport this term, I am struck to think what a year it has been in intra and interschool sport. From cancellations to adaptations, to modifications and even ‘pivotications’ (new word for 2020), sport has changed considerably throughout this year.
Through these changes, some fantastic opportunities and realisations about interschool sport have arisen. Generally, competition has become more welcoming and open in its structure to accommodate a greater diversity of circumstances and school contexts. This has yielded a deeper respect and appreciation for the need of students and schools to enjoy the privilege of simply playing sport as opposed to competing for division championships. This is not to say we don’t care about winning, more that school communities have become more aware of the beneficial role that sport plays in wellbeing and holistic education of children.
Although sport has changed, I wonder if sport is continuing to change and what it will look like in the future. As we near the end of the school year, we take stock of our programs and continue to review what worked well, what didn’t, and what we should change. It would seem more probable than not that the degree of safety and COVID measures currently taking place will continue in the short term of 2021. As schools continue to mitigate both the health and reputational risk to their communities, sport will retain some level of COVID restrictions in the short to medium term. But with this comes opportunity. We can continue to look at creative ways of filling draws and competitions to be more inclusive of schools in close proximity and outside of our traditional associated competitions. Coaches and staff will continue to build closer relationships with club programs to establish partnerships for both athlete development and facility management, as catchments for both have become smaller. From a long term perspective I am hopeful sport will continue to learn from this time and I wonder what changes we can view in future years. Will we see a rise of more e-sports? Will schools take up more local or internal school competitions in lieu of interschool competition? Will interschool competition have a limit of students and areas? Will schools partner with clubs to work closer on athlete development? Will associations work with each other to reduce travel? Will the purpose and focus of sport in education shift? School directors of sport often speak about what schools “rest their hat on”, meaning their school sport reputations. Often this is program specific, eg. Rugby programs, Netball programs and elite athlete programs. It would be interesting to see school sport shift its focus from program specific goals and reputations to one of character development and values driven success. This may seem idealistic to the over 200 years of school sport history. However, 2020 has been a year like no other and it is worth us all considering what it is we really want out of sport in our Schools.
Basketball
Tennis
Unfortunately the 8.00am Tennis matches did not go ahead, however, we were fortunate to play the 10.00am matches. There was some excellent tennis being played with a number of teams only allowing their opponent a glimpse at winning a game. Other results were not a true reflection of how competitive the match was with many games going to deuce. It is always great to see the excellent sportsmanship of all Redlands Tennis students each week as they continue to improve their match play skills.
Just a friendly reminder, please aim to arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled start time to ensure there is sufficient time for a warm up and matches can start on time, 8.00am and 10.00am. If students are sick or injured and cannot attend training please email Eliza Peirce. If students are sick and rostered to play on Saturday, please email Eliza Peirce before 12.00pm on the Friday to ensure a replacement can be found and all sets can be completed.
The COVID Safety Protocols for Tennis have not changed for Round 4, Saturday 7 November. The one spectator rule at all NSTA tennis venues remains in place. The Redlands COVID Sports Protocols can be found on Redlands Pulse. All wet weather updates can be found on twitter @RedlandsSport.
Touch Football
We are continuing to see great improvements throughout the Redlands Touch Football program, with a number of highlights throughout the weekends games. Unfortunately the 1st VI went down in a close match against St Andrew’s Cathedral 1sts 3-4, but the girls took a lot of lessons from this defeat and will be looking to bounce back this weekend against Barker College. The Snr 2 Girls had a huge victory against Barker College 2, in what was a see-sawing battle coming down to the last few minutes and the girls were able to take the game 4-3! Our Snr 3 team fought hard against Barker College 3 but unfortunately went down 1-3.
The Juniors are showing some great skills at the moment and, despite some games being a little one-sided, the girls are all enjoying their games. The Jnr As had a strong win against St Andrew’s Jnr As taking the match 11-1. The Jnr Cs also took on the St Andrew’s Jnr B team with a 7-1 victory. Our Jnr Bs unfortunately went down to a strong Jnr A Barker team. With the Jnr D and Jnr Es also going down to the Barker Jnr B team, both teams looking for some improvements this weekend.
A reminder regarding wet weather, please ensure you check your email and @RedlandsSport during the morning, if games are cancelled we will email and update Twitter as soon as possible.
“Being relentless means demanding more for yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you, knowing that every time you stop, you can still do more. You must do more“. Tim S. Grover
Mr Tom Kindred
Head of Secondary School Sport
sports@redlands.nsw.edu.au
All Sports contacts can be found on Redlands Pulse.