News & Results
BOP Secondary School Sport update for Term 1, 2022
Following consultation between Sport Bay of Plenty and the BOP Secondary School Sport Principals Management Group, sanctioned BOP secondary school sport events in Term 1 2022 will be restricted to fully vaccinated attendees, including participants aged 12+.
Under the gathering and event limits of the Orange and Red settings of the COVID Protection Framework, secondary school sport events and competitions could not viably proceed without the use of vaccination certificates. In addition, many venues hosting events are implementing vaccine requirements.
Sport Bay of Plenty and the Secondary School Sport Principals Management Group understand the vaccine requirement may create difficulties for some students and their parents. However, the vaccine requirement ensures the 2022 sporting calendar can proceed with the least disruption and in the safest possible way.
We remain committed to ensuring young people have access to safe and high-quality school sport events in the Bay of Plenty, and will continue to work with member schools to make alternative intra-school options available where necessary.
A review of the requirements will be conducted continuously as new government and Ministry of Health advice becomes available.
Letter to secondary schools
Dear students, staff, family members, partners and supporters of BOP Secondary School Sport,
Following the Government’s announcement that Western BOP will be entering the ‘Orange’ level and both Central BOP and Eastern BOP will be entering the ‘Red’ level of the COVID Protection Framework, Sport Bay of Plenty and the BOP Secondary School Sport Principal Management Group have confirmed that all sanctioned events in Term One 2022 will be restricted to fully vaccinated participants only. This restriction extends to attending spectators where practically appropriate. A review will be conducted continuously taking into account the latest Government advice.
The gathering limits at Orange and Red in particular become too restrictive for viable sports events to take place if Vaccine Certificates are not mandated. Further, as School Sport NZ announced their calendar of events will be vaccination mandated for Term 1 and with venues announcing vaccination certificates are required to enter their sites, it means that this decision is already out of our hands.
Sport BOP and the Principal Management Group understands this will create difficulties for some students and their parents. However, it is nonetheless necessary, to ensure the 2022 sporting calendar can proceed with the least disruption and in the safest possible way. As per the COVID Protection Framework, the outlined gathering restrictions mean that the vast majority of events and competitions simply cannot proceed if Vaccination Certificates are not being checked.
However, we do note that by making this decision we are now able to welcome vaccinated spectators back to our events and encourage you to support the students. We are very conscious that some students may not get vaccinated for a variety of reasons, and we will work with our member schools to make alternative intra-school options available to them.
Thank you all for your understanding of this difficult decision and please be assured it wasn’t taken lightly. For now, we need to set our sights on minimising the impact upon our students, and the best way to do that is get vaccinated.
Ngā mihi,
Sport Bay of Plenty and the BOP Secondary School Sport Principal Management Group
Sport, recreation and play under the COVID-19 Protection Framework
