ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Sport
FOUL PLAY
Some 18 and 19 year-old “high school student athletes” around New Zealand are feeling a bit caught out today.
Rowing officials have put an end to the controversial practice of ‘Year 14 students’ competing at the Maadi Regatta, removing what an Auckland principal called a “black mark” on New Zealand’s biggest secondary school sports event.
“I had a lot of respect for the Maadi Regatta until I realised a bunch of these Year 14s were just hanging around to take the medals from actual Year 13s,” said one anonymous former student from a Christchurch high school.
“Like are we reeeally meant to believe they’re there to complete NCEA Level 3?”
And it wasn’t just rowing. High school 1st XV rugby teams, most notably in Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington, would frequently field athletes who had finished Year 13 the previous year, popping back in like they’d never left.
“I remember thinking, ‘Alright, it’s my last year, I’ve earned my stripes and have got a chance at the 1st XV.’ And then, out of nowhere, the Year 14s return, somehow magically better at rugby than all of us,” said a disgruntled former Christ’s College student.
“Oh well, with the ban on second-year Year 13 athletes, it will be funny to see some of these elite school rowing teams pretend like they’ve always cared about playing fair.”
More to come.
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