SCHOOL SPORT: School Sport Australia have announced that they had cancelled all of the 27 national school sports championships for 2021.
In a shattering blow for athletes, they will not compete at the national school level for the second year in a row.
These cancellations affect many locations and regions, including the Fraser Coast, which was set to hold the 2021 National All Schools Triathlon Championships in September after being cancelled in 2020.
Local teacher and event coordinator Brian Harrington expressed his disappointment in the decision that was reached by School Sport Australia.
Release from School Sport Australia today
It is with regret that School Sport Australia is cancelling all 2021 School Sport Australia National Championships. The Board considered that running Championships in 2021 was not viable because of the ongoing volatility caused by COVID-19 outbreaks, hot spot declarations and border closures. School Sport Australia’s priority is on the wellbeing of students, teachers and other officials.
The complex implications caused by the possibility of sudden border closures while teams were out of their home state, weighed heavily on the Board’s decision. Several Education Departments are not yet prepared to endorse interstate travel for students and staff. This is making it challenging to confirm existing Championship hostings and impossible to secure new dates to reschedule the 27 events on the School Sport Australia calendar for later in the year.
School Sport Australia sends its utmost appreciation to each of the States and Territories who have been involved in the planning and preparation for the Championships that were to be held this year. Each State and Territory will continue its program of intrastate activities and we wish them well with these programs. We are optimistic about a resumption in 2022.
FC Sports Media will continue to monitor the impact of the School Sport Australia decision and will update you with further information as it comes to hand.
