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CV NEWS FEED // A student who recently won first place in a mountain bike competition was denied a medal due to School Sport New Zealand’s rule that homeschooled children have an unfair advantage over their public school peers.
RNZ reported April 24 that 12-year-old George Fisher was given a certificate, and the student who placed second was given the first-place medal.
“It was standard practice according to School Sport New Zealand rules,” the article states, “but a group of parents want to change that — saying it was not fair that they pay the entry fee and were considered fulltime students by the Ministry of Education.”
Mel Ewart, the chair of New Zealand’s Home School Sports Association, said that the rule barring homeschooled students from competing is “sort of a hidden secret in sporting circles.” She added that it has affected her own daughter.
“My daughter used to do team sailing when we lived in Marlborough and she was able to compete in silver fleet but not go through to gold fleet if their team had qualified,” she stated. “It affects kids at all levels.”
She stated that she was told that homeschooled students have an unfair advantage because they can train all day while their peers are in school.
“What parent is actually going to think that it’s sensible even that their kid just trains all day and doesn’t prepare for everything else in life?” she commented.
Ewart also pointed out that public school students may have other advantages over homeschool students, noting, “Schools have sporting academies, there’s even a school in Palmerston North that’s been set up with the character of high-performance sports.”
While homeschoolers can still participate in school activities such as orchestra or Model United Nations, Ewart said that the rule barring them from sports “stops them from being able to play with their friends and peers because they’re friends with school students.”
School Sport New Zealand undergoes a yearly regulations review, but the Home School Sport Association was not invited this year.
“We only found out by chance,” Ewart said. “We put in a late response which they have thankfully accepted.”
School Sports New Zealand stated that homeschool students that are part of the Home Educators Student Sports Association (HESSA) can participate in some school sports, just not in championships, though the organization will be consulting with HESSA over the coming weeks as it revises its regulations.
“At the end of the day is sport about the participant or the schools that oversee the students?” Ewart asked. “Our argument is that all students in New Zealand all Kiwi kids who are student aged should be allowed to participate in student sports with their friends and peers.”
