Hon Murray McCully, Minister for Sports, Fitness and Leisure

  • Murray McCully
Sport Fitness and Leisure

The Minister of Sport, Fitness and Leisure Hon Murray McCully has congratulated the parties to the Aranui High School player eligibility dispute for moving to settle their differences without undermining the Academy concept.

"I welcome the decision announced today that Academy pupils will be allowed to continue taking part in inter-secondary school sports competitions," Mr McCully said.

"I visited Aranui High School on Saturday to meet the Academy's students and director," he said.

"I also enjoyed the opportunity to see the rugby team play in sub-arctic conditions on Saturday afternoon."

"It was very apparent to me that the Academy has been hugely successful at using sporting incentives to generate important education and employment benefits," he said.

"The pupils have carried their enthusiasm from the sports field into the classroom, to gain additional job and life skills," Mr McCully said.

"I was very impressed with what I saw, and I am convinced that we should be reproducing the model elsewhere."