Inter-Secondary Schools Inter-Island Match

Inter-Secondary Schools Inter-Island Match

After much debate and consideration of the feedback from Managers, Coaches and Schools the TSNZ Exec has reluctantly confirmed the cancellation of this event for 2021.

Several factors were considered before making the decision:

• The enthusiasm of many coaches’ support of the event, weighed against the inability of several schools to compete.
• The limited window of opportunity to hold the event before competitors’ Term 4 obligations (holidays, summer sport commitments, approaching exams etc) impaired their ability to participate.
• The difficulty of running the event under Level 2 rules and the exclusion of areas still in Level 3.
• The low number of committed entrants, compounded by the fact that there was not an option that all schools wanting to shoot could commit to. For any option selected, numbers would be down significantly.
• The reduced numbers of schools and teams competing would significantly impact on the mana of the event.
• Several schools felt it unfair to hold the event when not all schools had an equal opportunity to participate. (Schools still in Level 3 cannot compete; Multiple schools and clubs/ranges have not restarted their shooting after coming out of Level 3.)

Some feedback compared this event to the efforts being made to ensure TSNZ North v South event takes place. There are several factors that make these events quite different when considering shooting under Covid conditions:

• Competitors being in the age group with one of the lowest vaccination rates.
• Competitors needing a higher level of interaction with coaches/managers.
• Competitors are more likely to be sharing gear, which is not an option in Level 2.
• An alternative option of running the 2021 event early in 2022 (that is being considered for the North v South match) was not a viable option for schools as it rules out competitors no longer attending their current school in 2022.