School sport: GPS competition to resume, CAS cancelled
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant stepped in to relax rules surrounding inter-school sport but only half of Sydney’s private schools will resume competition this weekend. SEE IF YOUR SCHOOL WILL PLAY.
NSW
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Only half of Sydney’s top private schools will restart sporting fixtures this Saturday, with headmasters taking different approaches to new inter-school sport rules.
Private schools in the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of NSW (AAGPS) – including The King‘s School, The Shore School and St Ignatius’ College Riverview – will host their first rugby and soccer matches of the season this Saturday.
It comes after a marathon meeting between 23 school heads and NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant last night saw her relax rules confining all school sport to public school zones, which forced the cancellation of private and Catholic competitions.
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Despite a stuttered start to the season, there is still enough time for a shortened five-round fixture in the four Saturdays until holidays with a likely midweek round in the final week of term.
Spectators will be banned from every match of the renewed AAGPS season.
“The AAGPS reiterates that it will follow the advice of NSW Health and other relevant
authorities and will always act in the best interests of the health and wellbeing of
students, staff and the community,” AAGPS chairman Mark Ticehurst said.
“As determined by NSW Health, there is no requirement for the member schools of the AAGPS to follow the same zonal boundaries as applies to public schools.”
The city’s other major private school sporting competition, Combined Associated Schools – including Barker College, Cranbrook and Knox Grammar – have cancelled sport until at least the summer season.
CAS schools have already run and won their rugby and soccer seasons, taken out by Waverley College and Knox Grammar respectively, and have chosen not to restart their athletics season.
“In the light of (Dr Chant’s) guidelines and the advice that NSW Health wishes to restrict the intermingling between communities from different regions of metropolitan Sydney, the CAS heads reluctantly resolved to cancel the 2020 Athletics Championships,” Head of Barker College and CAS Phillip Heath said.
“We look forward to resuming our activities in the forthcoming summer season.”
The athletics season culminates in a Track and Field Championships at Sydney Olympic Park, which was scheduled for September 17, and would have likely contravened Dr Chant’s request that schools avoid large numbers.