The Sports Council have had a great time planning and running the interhouse competitions this year! The energy and enthusiasm that we receive from the school is what makes this job so rewarding.

The year got off to a rocky start when the lockdown put a halt on many physical activities including our interhouse competition dodgeball. Luckily we were able to kick into gear and set up an isolation challenge where you could earn House points from home. This event was a success, with Omimi taking the lead in the most minutes of exercise. The individual winners received prizes once school was back in motion.

In term 2 we decided to get creative; we came up with some fun short events in an attempt to get the school active and participating after such a long time without social connection. We started with the dodgeball finals carried on from Term One. Aoraki won in an intense final against Omimi followed by an interesting game between teachers and Year 13s: teachers won. Next we experimented with a new House competition that wouldn't be based on skill or ability but instead the enthusiasm to participate. Just Dance was a huge success. We were ecstatic with the flood of people wanting to join in and the energy of the room was contagious.

To finish the term we ran non-competitive volleyball for two Fridays. This was purely for fun; anyone could play with anyone and there was no pressure on the outcome. This competition was also a success, with students having an opportunity to show their volleyball skills after the season had been cut short at the start of the year.

Our second half of the year was just as much fun as the first. House futsal was just as hyped and intense as always; the Houses competed with a fierce competitive energy that only interhouse futsal can create. We loved being able to coach the junior teams and encourage everyone to get involved. We adapted rules throughout the tournament to improve the games (We stopped the big Year 13s shooting from behind half way). Then we started interhouse netball. I was excited for this tournament because: a) I know nothing about netball, and b) girls from all years were coming to us and requesting it as an interhouse sport. We hoped running netball might encourage more girls to get involved in interhouse events, and give the boys an opportunity to play, seeing as there isn’t a boys' netball league. Both goals were achieved. The sports prefects were overwhelmed by the number of students wanting to participate, and it was an awesome sight getting to see the girls rule the court! 10/10, would run netball again.

Getting more girls involved in sport around and outside of school has been a big priority for Maggie and me this year. With a huge amount of help from our lovely sports coordinator Frankie Vella, we managed to assemble a group of girls who we know from all walks of sport, to come together and begin to tackle this issue. Meeting as a group and talking about the issues we’ve faced as women in sport was like a breath of fresh air. It was a place for many girls to come and unwind, and to express concerns and complaints they would not usually have shared. The group gave us insight into the perspectives of girls from all years, and helped us to improve the sports system we currently had running. Through sports like netball that were suggested by the group, we have already come so far and seen more girls participate. Although the participation of girls in the school is of course not where we want it to be, it is only the beginning, and there is no doubt this group will continue to do good for the school. Maggie and I are sad to be leaving the project so soon, as we had some plans for this year that we couldn’t quite achieve, but we’re also excited by the prospect of what these young women will continue for us.

As a whole, the Sports Council has had a super fun year working together, experimenting with new events and soaking up the excitement and love. Thanks to everyone for making this year special for us.