Super Eight Schools New Zealand Celebrates 25 Years

2022 marks 25 years since the Super Eight Schools New Zealand organisation was formed and recently a celebration dinner was held to coincide with the annual Headmasters Conference in Rotorua. It is a privilege to be involved in the Super Eight, which not only provides opportunities for our young men to compete at the highest level in a range of sports and cultural activities, but also recognises academic excellence and provides professional development opportunities for our staff.

Formed in 1997, the first sporting competitions began with rugby and cricket in 1998. Since that time the Super Eight concept has grown to include 12 sports competitions: badminton, basketball, clay target shooting, cricket, cross country, football, golf, hockey, rugby (1st & 2nd XVs), tennis and volleyball.

Added to these events is the Super Eight Cultural Festival, which incorporates art, chess, debating, drama, kapa haka, music soloists, music groups, Pasifika, oratory, and theatre sports, while our top academic pupils are awarded a Super Eight Scholar badge for excellence in NCEA achievement at the highest level.

Super Eight provides a level of competition for our young men that is at a significantly higher level than that available in the local region. Consequently, our young men are able to compare their performances to those of some of the very best sports and cultural performers in the country.

As all of the Super Eight Schools are boys’ schools, our focus is on the education and achievement of young men and, given the negative statistics that young males dominate, we believe that this focus is essential. The Super Eight schools meet regularly for teachers to share best practice in effective classroom teaching, and for leaders to share effective leadership strategies and tools – all focused specifically on boys’ education.

At a national level, Super Eight teams and groups figure prominently, again both in sport and cultural activities. In the last 20 years of the NZSS Top Four rugby competition, 15 of the 20 finals have featured Super Eight teams, with 11 of these won by Super Eight teams. In 2022, two of the ‘Top Four’ teams were from the Super Eight, while five Super Eight teams were in the top 17 teams at the NZSS football championships in Napier, won by a Super Eight school. At the NZSS Rankin Cup hockey tournament, five Super Eight teams were in the top 14 schools in the country. In countless other tournaments and competitions, Super Eight schools were to the fore.

It is a privilege to be involved in the Super Eight Schools New Zealand organisation and we look forward to the next 25 years of the Super Eight.