Major shift as APS faces biggest shake-up in the 116-year history of the sporting program

Victoria’s most elite schools are facing backlash over what’s been described as “the dumbing down of APS sport” amid a landmark review.

AFL great Matthew Lloyd coaches Haileybury College’s footy team in the APS. Photo: Andrew Batsch

Victoria’s most elite schools are moving away from year-round competitive sports like football and rowing in favour of walking, yoga and pilates amid a landmark review, the Herald Sun can reveal.

One school source called it “the dumbing down of APS sport due to a growing aversion to competition in private school ATAR factories”.

A review into the future of the Associated Public Schools (APS) sporting program is underway – the biggest shake-up in the 116-year history of the sporting program.

The Herald Sun can reveal APS schools will continue compulsory Saturday morning sport for senior school students, but with a renewed focus on less competitive, contact team sports.

There is a move away from year-round competitive sports like football under the review. Picture: Valeriu Campan

A growing number of enrolments from Asian and Indian families is understood to be a factor in the move.

“Schools now have parents who are less into outdoor sports compared to basketball and badminton which requires less commitment and is played indoors” the source from an APS school said.

The review is also expected to lead to students only doing one compulsory sport a year, not two or three at schools such as Melbourne Grammar, Scotch College, Haileybury College, Xavier College and Caulfield Grammar.

Changes to the sporting program at 11 of Victoria’s most prestigious schools will have major ramifications for the AFL draft, which heavily relies on top talent from APS schools.

It’s understood that Haileybury College is steering the direction of the outcome of the review.

The school has moved to a “sports-plus model which focuses on recreational sports such as karate, walking and pilates”, one Haileybury insider said.

Carey Grammar has already gone down a similar path of offering fitness clubs and yoga and Caulfield Grammar no longer requires senior students to year-round sports.

The Haileybury source said staff at such schools were “less and less interested in Saturday sport and more in maintaining academic results”.

Many private schools are already moving away from requiring teachers to hold extensive sporting roles, with recent alumni paid $36 an hour or more to coach and supervise players.

Institutions such as the Head of the River rowing regatta, which has been going for more than 150 years could also be affected by the new direction, as schools continue to rationalise their competitive sporting programs into the future.

Major rowing events could be affected. Picture: Mark Wilson

Schools with large rowing programs such as Carey Grammar spend more than one million dollars a year.

Melbourne Grammar principal Philip Grutzner told the Herald Sun the logistics of “providing a meaningful sporting experience for approximately 24,600 students on a weekly basis across three seasons are significant”.

“We see the main challenges as continuing to respond to the enrolment growth in some APS schools, maintaining access to high quality coaches, grounds and facilities, and transport logistics and time”.

He said students had given “largely positive student feedback” and “love playing sport with their friends”.

One alumni representative from an APS school said former students “want the prestige and heritage of sport to continue”.

“But people understand the huge logistic challenges, so some schools may still keep first football but not ten teams at year eight,” they said.

The source said any move to amalgamate with the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria competition, which includes Trinity Grammar, Penleigh and Essendon Grammar and Ivanhoe Grammar, would be resisted as “infiltration by the second tier”.

No timeline has been set for the review, which is being informed by external sporting consultants Colganbauer, to be completed.