In 2007 School Sport NZ introduced eligibility regulations for the events it sanctions. These were deemed necessary to recognise the importance of consistency, equity and fair play for participation in National and Island secondary school sporting events and to protect long held school values by:

• ensuring all the educational needs of the young person were being considered, not solely their sporting development
• maintaining a level playing field in school sport by preventing the formation of ‘super teams’ through “loading” a team with imported players.
• protecting schools from being stripped of students they had worked to develop, students who were often leaders in many fields, not solely the sporting arena
• providing a pathway for home grown players to get into and remain in their school’s premier teams and not find themselves superseded by short-term imports.

These Eligibility Regulations were last amended by the School Sport NZ Board on 17/2/25 and take effect from that date.

1.      Student Eligibility

1.1  To be eligible to compete in National and Island secondary school events, a student must:

a.      be enrolled as a bona fide (Year 9 or above) student at their school of representation and studying at least 80% of a programme that is part of the timetable provided by the school for at least four weeks immediately prior to the event in which they seek to compete;

b.      have a satisfactory attendance record at the school.  The final decision will be at the Principal's discretion; and

c.       be under 19 years of age at the first of January in the year of the competition, unless specified otherwise in these Regulations for a particular competition.

Special Variations:

                               i.        U18 Requirement: For Rowing and Rugby events students must be U18 January 1^st  in the year of the event.

                               ii.       Year 14 Limitation: For Rowing, in the 2025 New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Championships (known as the Maadi Regatta), Year 14 students                                            are not eligible to compete, unless the Principal of the student’s school is granted an exemption in accordance Appendix 1 of these Regulations.                                                    “Year 14” is defined in Appendix 1. Clause 5 of these Regulations (Special Exemptions) does not apply.

 1.2    The school must be prepared to authenticate a student’s birth date.  Organising committees may require validation by a birth certificate or passport.

 1.3   All teams and individuals participating in National or Island events sanctioned by School Sport NZ must be declared at the date prescribed by the sanctioned            sporting body.

Additional Requirements:

1. In addition to the 4 week requirement (in clause 1.1a), any Non Domestic student must have been enrolled in and have commenced their attendance at the school of representation on or before the first day of the school term in which the event or qualifier is held.
2. If an allegation challenging the enrolment history of a student as attested by the principal on the signed team entry material is provided in writing to the School Sport NZ CEO by a principal or an event organiser, the principal of the team in question is responsible for providing to the School Sport NZ CEO the relevant ENROL record for the student.  The principal is responsible for attaining the consent of the student or their caregiver to supply the ENROL record to School Sport NZ.  If an ENROL record is not provided by the principal the student will be deemed to be ineligible.
3. Other age divisions below the U19 age restriction are permitted as decided by the event organiser and notified to the School Sport NZ CEO.
4. Subject to the limits (including new to school limits) described in School Team Eligibility (Clause 2 below), students who otherwise meet the criteria in Clause 1.1(a) above and who transfer from one school to another are eligible to compete for the new school provided they are on the roll of the participating school and have attended classes for at least four weeks immediately prior to the time of the event.  (A special exemption (under Clause 5) may be sought by applying in writing to the CEO of School Sport NZ if a student transfers within four weeks of the competition).
5. Organising committees that wish to allow Year 7 and 8 students to compete in their events or to compete in separate grade[s] associated with the secondary school event are encouraged to do so as long as this is made clear to all schools and to School Sport NZ prior to entries being taken. Secondary schools that have Year 7 or 8 students on their roll may include these students within their secondary school teams if this has been notified. 
6. A secondary school [host school] may offer sporting opportunities to one or more team sports to students who attend a Member School [attached schools] if the school has a roll[1] lower than, 50 students (for single sex schools), and 100 students of either sex (for Co-ed schools).  The host school may enter teams of students from both host and attached schools in national and island events sanctioned by School Sport NZ and will not be considered as a ‘composite team provided that:
   • all other eligibility rules regarding age and attendance of the students are met
   • students from the attached school participate for the host school for the full season of the sport, including attending all practices, games and related activities on the same basis as the students from the host school are required to do;
   • the principals of the two schools complete a written Host-Attached School Agreement for the named students in the form prescribed by School Sport NZ At least eight weeks prior to the participation of the student, the signed agreement must be provided to School Sport NZ for its approval, which approval will be notified to the two schools at least six weeks prior to the proposed participation. If approved, School Sport NZ will notify its recommendation to the organising committee of the proposed event, which will consider but is not bound to accept the recommendation of School Sport NZ;
   • The principal of the host school accepts full responsibility for the team including but not limited to ensuring compliance with these Eligibility Regulations, managing discipline, completing entries and entry fees, health and safety requirements and overseeing logistics;
   • The team[s] will compete under the name of the ‘host school’.
   • Students will be named as representatives of the ‘host school’.
   • An attached school will have only one host school [or one girls’ school and one boys’ school] for any/all of its students who participate in national and island secondary school events sanctioned by School Sport NZ; this does not prevent the attached school entering students under its own name in other sports where numbers may be viable [e.g. individual sporting codes]
   • A school may be a host school for more than one attached school.

7. School Sport NZ will consider applications from principals for exemptions of Year 13 students with Flexible Partnership Learning Agreements (3/2 dual enrolments) that are completing less than 80% of a course as offered by the school on a case by case basis. The school MUST supply a fully completed MoE template Flexible Partnership Learning Agreement and to be eligible for exemption consideration, the student must not be classified as New to School under these Eligibility Regulations.
8. Composite teams from two or more schools may participate into certain levels of School Sport NZ sanctioned events in accordance with Clause 3 of these Eligibility Regulations

2.      School Team Eligibility

                   2.1  Except for home schooled students (where Clause 4 applies), a school wishing to enter students to participate in any School Sport NZ sanctioned event                                          must be a School Member of School Sport NZ and have paid their membership levies in full by the due date, unless prior approved in writing by School Sport                               NZ.

                   2.2  A school team eligible to compete in School Sport NZ sanctioned events must not exceed the quota of students who are new to the school (NTS) in the 2                                       years preceding the first day of the event as specified in the table below. For clarity, the student’s most recent enrolment date at the school must be                                   used.  For the sports listed in the table below, school teams are limited to a maximum two (2) non domestic students (or one for sports with a quota of one)                                 and any non-domestic student must always be included in the quota (in the Table below). Domestic students are defined in Note 6 below.

2.3.  Where the family or primary caregiver of a student has changed address and, as a consequence of the primary caregiver’s relocation (PCRE), the student could not reasonably have been expected to remain at their previous school, an application for a PCRE may be submitted to the Regional Sports Director (RSD) responsible for the region of the new school. The application must be on the official Application for a PCRE form available at www.schoolsportnz.org.nz be signed by the principal and parent/primary caregiver and have evidence of the address change attached as outlined on the application form. A MAXIMUM of 2 PCRE’s issued in any calendar year may be included in any team that has a School Sport NZ NTS quota. An appeal against a decision of the RSD may be lodged in writing with the CEO of School Sport NZ who shall decide such appeal.

2.4.   Schools that allow entry for some students only at some time after Year 9 (e.g. girls in Year 12 and above) and The Correspondence School will not be bound by the new to school limits in the table except that:

a.       students who are enrolled at The Correspondence School in Year 9 or subsequent years, under the “Elite athlete/dancer/musician/sports/performer” category, in the 2 years preceding the first day of the event will be counted in the new to school limit for each sport (listed in the table);

b.      students who had previously represented another school in a sport in the 2 years preceding the first day of the event will be counted in the new to school limit for each sport (listed in the Table).  For clarity, a school could not play in its Basketball team more than 2 girls who had previously competed for other school(s) in the ‘A’ or “AA’ Championships or their Premiership qualifiers. 

Special Circumstance Variation: For Girls Rowing only, at St Pauls Collegiate, Scots College and Kings College only a new to school student who provides a School Sport NZ waiver signed by her previous school principal to NZSS Rowing Assoc will be exempt from the quota of new to school students.

2.5    Students who have attended a middle school and transfer at the end of the final year level of that middle school will not be considered new to school at their school of first enrolment following middle school.

2.6    Teams from ‘host school/attached school’ agreements [see below] that introduce students ‘new to either school over the past two years’ are to be counted in the quota allowed for a team.

2.7     Any final decision on the eligibility of a student or team will rest with School Sport NZ.

Additional Requirements:

1. Students who start their attendance at a school in year 9 and below are not included in the maximum permitted numbers here.  But see Clause 2.4 above
2. The NTS criteria apply to all finals’ qualifiers unless otherwise agreed with regional qualifying event organisers.
3. Numbers apply to the whole squad registered for the competition or tournament. 
4. It is expected that, for consistency, regions that conduct secondary school sports competitions will adopt these criteria and quotas for their ‘premier’ grades.
5. Other sporting codes may apply for inclusion in or an extension to this list of events
6. Domestic students are defined as:
   1. a NZ Citizen
   2. the holder of a residence permit
   3. an Australian citizen
   4. a NZ passport holder (e.g. Cook Islands)
   5. a dependent of a work permit holder, refugee, diplomat
   6. Exchange Students on MOE approved Exchange Organiser Programmes ( www.minedu.govt.nz/EPO )

or whatever definition the Ministry of Education currently applies.

3.      Composite Teams

A composite team is a group of students from two or more schools who participate in a team for a team sport, but excludes teams formed under a host/attached agreement.

Composite teams will be permitted only if:

1. all other eligibility rules regarding age and attendance are met
2. the principals of the schools that the students attend, agree in writing (in the prescribed form)
3. the schools are situated within the same region that their Regional Sports Director (RSD) is responsible for;
4. students from the schools participate for the full season of the sport, including attending all practices, games and related activities
5. one principal accepts responsibility for the composite team including but not limited to ensuring compliance with these Eligibility Regulations, managing discipline, completing entries and entry fees, health and safety requirements and overseeing logistics

f.       the team will be called by a name indicating that more than one school has contributed players

g.       Subject to (h) below, in the premier level of any sport, the team will be permitted only through the preliminary round and will not be eligible to participate or receive placings or competition trophies in those rounds (but may be eligible for awards such as Fair Play and individual trophies.)

h.      Where appropriate and with the agreement of the event organiser and School Sport NZ, Composite teams may compete for medal places in competitions below the premier level of that School Sport NZ sanctioned event. Where events are either a qualifying event for or incorporate promotion to a higher-level School Sport NZ sanctioned event, Composite teams may not progress or be promoted to the higher-level event.

i.        Composite teams are not able to enter tournaments at the premier level of a sport when single school teams are on a waiting list.

4. Home Schooled Students

Individual Sports. 

1. Where event organisers wish to do so, home-schooled students that are members of the Home Educators School Sport Association (HESSA) may participate in a School Sport NZ sanctioned event.
2. Home-schooled students who meet the above criteria are eligible to participate in sanctioned Cup and Festival tiered events.

Team Sports.

1. For events below the premier level of a School Sport NZ sport, and where agreement of the event organiser is given, home-schooled students who are members of HESSA may be included in the Composite Team of a school, provided that the home-schooled students have been a part of the school team for the season and not simply joining for the event.
2. The school principal of a Composite Team is responsible for ensuring all eligibility regulations and Health and Safety protocols are adhered to.
3. All other School Sport NZ regulations relating to Composite Teams will apply to such teams in (i) above, including the principal of the school taking responsibility for all team members.

5.      Special Exemptions

In addition to a PCRE (Clause 2.3) and a dispensation granted by an Organising Committee (under Clause 1v), a Member School may apply for a special exemption for a student from any of the eligibility requirements in these Eligibility Regulations (except for an application for an exemption under clause 5 which shall be considered in accordance with Appendix 1). An application shall be made in writing to the CEO of School Sport NZ and decided by the Board of School Sport NZ (or a committee appointed by it for that purpose). An exemption may be granted in its complete discretion, taking into account the objectives of these Regulations, but shall only be granted in exceptional circumstances. The procedures for applying for, and deciding, such exemptions shall be decided by the Board. There is no right of appeal of a decision on a special exemption.

6.      Inducement to Transfer for Sporting Reasons (Poaching)

School Sport NZ does not condone any inducement of students to transfer from one school to another for sporting reasons, other than by way of publicly advertised scholarship.  Where a Regional Principals Association advises School Sport NZ in writing that it has investigated and is satisfied that inducement has taken place, School Sport NZ may, in support of the Regional Principals Association, invoke the procedures outlined in the School Sport NZ Integrity Framework and, if proven, impose a penalty which may include exclusion of a student(s), team or other personnel (coach, manager etc) from School Sport NZ sanctioned events.​​​​​​​

APPENDIX 1

ELIGIBILITY OF YEAR 14’s

2025 NZ SECONDARY SCHOOLS ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS (MAADI REGATTA)

For the purposes of the Special Variation (ii) to clause 1.1:

1. Year 14 in relation to a student means the student’s Year Level has reached Year 14 when Year Level is established as follows:
   

             i.   The first year of secondary school is Year 9. Year 14 is the sixth year of secindary school.

             ii.  A student's Year Level is established through the processes in this definition. It is:

                  1.    Independent of their academic level

                  2.    Independent of their programme of study

            iii.  A student who is attending school before the first year of secondary school (e.g. attending intermediate school) has a Year Level of "pre-secondary".

            iv.  A student's Year Level is set to Year 9 when they first attend the first year of secondary school. A student's Year Level does not get re-set to Year 9 if they repeat the                    first year of secondary school.

            v.   A student's Year Level increases by one in January of every year after they are Year 9. A students Year Level always increases by one each year. A student's Year                          Level:

                  1.    Does not reset if a student repeats a year

                  2.    Does not stay unchanged if a student leaves a scholl for a year or more

                  3.    Does not increase by 2 or more if a student is acclerated forward a year or more

           vi.  A student who transfers school has their Year Level determined by when they first attended the first year of secondary school, not when they first attended their                       new school

           vii. A student whose first year of secondary school is not the first year of secondary school but who attended intermediate school or the last year of primary school has                   their initial Year Level calculated by:

                  1.     first setting their Year Level to the level corresponding to their last year of school as follows:

                  a.    last year of primary school: Year 6

                  b.    first year of intermediate school: Year 7

                  c.    last year of intermediate school: Year 8

                  2.    then increasing their Year Level by 1 for each January that passed until they first start secondary school.

             viii. Any other student whose first year of secondary school is not the first year of secondary school (e.g. an overseas student, a home-schooled                                                              student joining mainstream education) has their initial Year Level calculated by:

                  1.   using Year 1 as the year they turned 6:

                  2.   then increasing it by 1 for each January that passed until they first start secondary school

                        Note: for these students Year Level = [current year] – [birth year] – 5.

       2.  Year 14 Exemptions

               2.1   If a Year 14 student wishes to compete in the 2025 Maadi Regatta, the Principal of the student’s school may apply for an exemption as set out in this Appendix 1                          (Year 14 Exemption).

              2.2    The exemption will be considered by a special exemption committee in accordance with the Terms of Reference in Appendix 2.

       3.  No Right of Appeal: 

            For avoidance of doubt, there is no right of appeal of a decision of the special exemption committee to School Sport NZ.

APPENDIX 2

TERMS OF REFERENCE OF SPECIAL EXEMPTION COMMITTEE

1. PURPOSE

On 24 January 2025 New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Association (NZSSRA) adopted Rule 2.5 to implement an NZSSRA policy that excludes Year 14 students from participating in Maadi Regatta unless an exception is granted.

School Sport NZ has approved this NZSSRA policy and these terms of reference which have been incorporated into its Eligibility Regulations.

The special committee will assess all applications for Year 14’s exceptions, taking into consideration the criteria below and decide whether an exception is granted.

Note: This is the first season in which this process is in effect, and it may be refined over the coming years.

2. RESPONSIBILITIES

2.1 Exception applications open 25th January 2025 and close 11th February 2025.

2.2 The special committee will convene within 10 business days of applications closing and will meet as often as it needs to complete its responsibilities.

2.3 The special committee may conduct business in person or by electronic means.

2.4 If an application is incomplete the special committee may decline to consider it until the application has been completed, the applicant must be advised immediately.

2.5 In reaching a decision whether or not to approve an application the special committee must consider whether the Principal has declared an academic need for the student to be enrolled as a Year 14.

2.6 In reaching a decision whether or not to approve an application the special committee may consider matters it identifies as relevant to the legitimacy of the student's eligibility to compete at Maadi.

2.7 The special committee is to provide its written rationale for decisions.

2.8 The special committee will issue the decision to the applicant and NZSSRA at the earliest opportunity, but no later than 10 business days on receipt of the exception application.

2.9. 2025 is the first season Rule 2.5 is in effect, the responsibilities of this special committee may be reviewed and adjusted in the future. Note: all students must meet the eligibility criteria of School Sport NZ’s School Team Eligibility Criteria to compete at Maadi

3. AUTHORITY:

3.1 The special committee is authorised, within the scope of its role and responsibilities, to:

a. Obtain additional information from the applicant or NZSSRA, if it deems that necessary to consider the exception application;

b. Seek funds for committee business from NZSSRA. NZSSRA will approve reasonable requests for costs for the special committee to complete its responsibilities;

c. Make the final decision on exception requests.

4. COMPOSITION:

4.1 Members of the special committee shall be appointed by the Schools Committee. ToR Year 14 Exemption Committee

4.2 The special committee shall consist of:

a. 2-4 Principals who are not Principals of current NZSSRA member Schools,

b. However if non-rowing members cannot be sourced, remaining Principals will be selected from the Schools Committee and/or NZSSRA Board;

c. A representative from School Sport NZ.

4.3 The appointments shall be made annually.

             4.4 The membership may be changed by NZSSRA Schools Committee if required.