Coalition will make competitive sport compulsory in government schools

STUDENTS at Victorian state schools could take part in a radical program designed to make them more active, disciplined and resilient. This is how it would work.

EXCLUSIVE: Competitive sport would become compulsory in Victorian state schools under a radical Coalition initiative.

Mandatory inter-school sports competitions will be rolled out if the Opposition wins November’s election.

The program, to make children more active and resilient, would be piloted in year 7 across three regions in 2020.

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Competitive sport would become compulsory in Victorian state schools under a radical Coalition initiative. Picture: File.

Pupils from dozens of schools would compete in sports such as football, soccer, netball, swimming, cricket, athletics, tennis, cycling and basketball.

The aim would be to then expand the program statewide, and to other year levels.

Schools are currently expected to provide 100 minutes a week of physical education or sport, but formal competition is not necessary.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy will unveil his plan to build “healthy teamwork, independence, resilience and discipline” on Monday.

“At the moment, too many of our children are spending too much time playing virtual sport and not enough time playing real sport,” he said.

The pilot program would run in a Melbourne metropolitan district, a regional city district and a rural district.

Students would be excused only for injuries or illness.

Students would have to choose a new sport each term.

Early in the term they would be coached in the rules and basic skills of that sport.

Intra-school competitions would follow, then round-robin matches between neighbouring school teams.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy will unveil his plan to build “healthy teamwork, independence, resilience and discipline” on Monday.

Rural campuses would have a greater focus on intra-school competitions, given the distances between them; a carnival would be held for all schools in the area at the end of term.

Opposition education spokesman Tim Smith said: “Learning how to win and lose and abiding by the rules of the game are such important lessons that sport teaches young people. There are also countless studies that sport and activity is not only great for overall health, it’s also good for mental wellbeing and academic performance.

“A happy and healthy generation of young Victorians is so important for the future.”

Olympic gold medal rower David Crawshay said organised competitions taught students to work together and handle disappointment.

“These days a lot of kids don’t know how to handle that sort of adversity and the fact you are not always going to win. You can learn a lot more from losing than from winning sometimes,” he said.

Adolescent psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said the expanding waistlines of children was “unsustainable” and the program would help tackle epidemic obesity.

The pilot project would inform the government on how it could be improved and the likely costs. Recommendations would then be made on how to expand it. The program is part of a broader curriculum review focusing on literacy and numeracy; science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM); history; and sport and physical activity.