Re-Considering Saturday School Sport
Saturday fixtures have existed in schools as long as sport has been a feature. Initially a way of filling time in boarding schools, they were enthusiastically embraced by day schools, and have an unbroken history going back more than 100 years. They survived intact when many schools abandoned Saturday morning lessons, and still thrive in many environments. The keenest pupils continue to value the opportunity, enjoy the bus ride and participate enthusiastically with their friends. However, there are constant pressures that increase incrementally, and will influence the future shape of this programme.
The honour of selection is not what it once was. The assumption that all pupils will want to play, and value being ‘selected’, is no longer universally valid. Neither is the unquestioned support of parents who have to make arrangements around ensuring children are available. The commitment of senior pupils is declining in most schools, with fewer lower ability Sixth Form teams in traditional games than in any previous era. Even the enthusiasm of some staff is waning, with the boundary between contractual expectation and discretionary effort becoming increasingly blurred. And a new breed of head cannot be guaranteed to be on the touchline each week, adding support and tacit approval.
What benefits does Saturday sport bring? It certainly allows a wider catchment area of travel than that permitted by midweek matches. It contrasts with the hurry to get away after school and battling back through evening traffic to meet the optimistic return deadline and the waiting parents. Wider travel potentially allows better matched opponents: for schools in rural areas, it allows more greater competition. It also increases the quantity of sport, by adding time to that available in the week. For sports where facilities are rarely floodlit, such as Football, Rugby and Lacrosse, it permits the competition programme to continue through the dark, winter months. Activities which are more time-consuming, notably Cricket and Athletics, face fewer restrictions on Saturdays. The tone is different in the less frantic atmosphere of the weekend, with teachers and pupils not reeling from the demands of a busy day, and then adding a match on top.
Most schools continue to see value in the Saturday programme, and battle against the mounting pressures to provide the opportunity. It is a feature of the sector, frequently identified by parent satisfaction surveys as a valued point of difference. Such questionnaires are insufficiently forensic, however, to distinguish between the parents whose support is unqualified, and others who like the idea of weekend sport – but only on their own terms. Sports provision is part of the business case of independent education.
The shape of Saturday sport has changed little in recent decades. Other than a greater number of morning matches, the last 50 years haven’t seen fundamental change. The basis of teams in every year group, playing head to head matches simultaneously against a single opponent, is the historic norm. There hasn’t been a lot of innovation over recent years, to make the offer better match the inclinations and aspirations of pupils, parents and staff.
Perhaps the time has come to look at this issue more creatively, challenge some historic norms and find a better way of leveraging the benefit of weekend school sport?