The governing body for high school sport in New Zealand is considering changes to its eligibility rules as a group of principals push for a ‘year 14’ ban to be implemented across all national secondary schools events.
It comes after schools voted overwhelmingly in favour of a rule change for rowing’s Maadi Regatta last month, making students returning for their sixth year of high school ineligible to compete at the prestigious event.
The rule change will erase what one Auckland principal describes as a “black mark” on rowing’s national secondary schools event, with the controversial practice having been a source of tension in the sport for decades.
Critics of schools fielding ‘year 14’ rowers in crews claim it points to a “win at all costs” mentality that pervades the event, turning it into a marketing tool for elite schools.
But the issue is not limited to rowing. Schoolboy rugby underwent a reckoning of its own around six years ago, when a number of high-profile scandals saw a tightening up of age eligibility and anti-poaching rules.
Anecdotally there are also reports of the practice occurring in netball and basketball.
While the number of year 14 students competing in national events each year is only estimated to be around 15-20, some principals believe the rules need to be tidied up to stamp out the practice.
School Sport NZ, which governs high school sport, including more than 250 tournaments and events, is currently undergoing a review of its eligibility rules for implementation in 2026.
Mike Summerell, who heads up the organisation, says the “year 14 issue” is something officials are looking at closely.
“As part of the review process we received a number of submissions and one of those was around year 14 participation in national secondary school sport.
“The board will look at that and given where we’ve got to with the Maadi Cup, there’s obviously a mandate there from some principals to see what that looks like across all national secondary school sport.”
Currently, School Sport NZ’s rules state students must be under the age of 19 to be eligible for its events.
There are two variations to this rule: Schoolboy rugby rules introduced in 2017 stipulate students must be under the age of 18 as of 1 January of that school year; while rowing changed its age eligibility to under-18 back in the mid-2000s.
Last month’s rule change, which was instigated by a group of around 60 principals from across the country, effectively closed a loophole that allowed year 14 students with “lucky birthdays” to still compete at the Maadi Regatta.
The iconic event is the only secondary schools competition that explicitly excludes year 14 students – albeit schools are still able to apply for a dispensation for a student, which will be assessed by an independent panel.
School Sport NZ played a role in facilitating a conversation between the principals and the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Rowing Association (NZSSRA), leading to a Special General Meeting and last month’s landmark rule change.
But Summerell stresses that while “rowing has had its fair share of challenges” and there was a clear need for the Maadi Regatta to amend its rules, School Sport NZ would have to be convinced there are genuine concerns in other sports before implementing a blanket year 14 ban.
He says the overheated environment around secondary schools rugby cooled significantly with the tweak to the age eligibility rules seven years ago, and his organisation rarely receives complaints of year 14s competing in other sports.
Any widespread changes to the rules would have to be weighed up against the positive effects of sport being a vehicle to keeping young people engaged in education.
“There needs to be justification and there needs to be a reason for limiting someone’s access to something, and we’re not going to rush through that just to make it so,” he says.
“I’m really comfortable with where the conversation around rowing landed, but I I do think right now we’re really talking about a rowing issue and not necessarily a sports-wide challenge.
However, Tim O’Connor, headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, believes it is an issue of competitive fairness, and preventing year 14s from competing will eliminate the risk of schools sacrificing the welfare of athletes in pursuit of national titles.
“It moves it to a point of fairness for all and we might see a return to a point where everyone has their day and we see a wider range of schools actually being on podiums or winning national championships or getting in finals,” he says.
“We need to go back to why do we offer sport in our schools, and who are we focused on the most? For me, it’s to give students opportunities while they are at school, it’s not to keep them coming back once they have finished.”
School Sport NZ will confirm any changes to its eligibility rules in June.