School sport in British state schools is an utter scandal. Since coming to New Zealand I've become ever more aware of just how bad it is.
My secondary school had a grass athletics track/ rugby field/ football pitch, a small gym, some concrete tennis courts and a nasty cut-up cigarette butt-coated artificial cricket pitch. We were lucky there was a sports centre across the road where we could use the hall for basketball/indoor cricket and the field for outdoor games if necessary.
It doesn't sound too bad, but it all felt so half-arsed. We never seemed to play proper sports - non-stop cricket, that kind of thing. At the time I truly earned my username so I wasn't taking advantage of what there was, but l think it sucked compared to NZ.
Compare Mountainview High School in Timaru. It is the lowest-decile secondary school in the city with a "rough" reputation by New Zealand standards, but it had facilities to rival a private school in the UK. My cricket and hockey teams trained up there. Two turf cricket squares, turf and articficial nets, a rugby field, an artificial hockey pitch, netball/basketball courts, tennis courts, and I never even saw the indoor facilities! And the other schools- TBHS, TGHS, Roncalli and Craighead had the same, if not better. It is similar in Oamaru.
Moreover, the structure is so much better. Proper inter-school competitions, not the half-arsed one-off friendlies we had in England. Teams in the local cricket leagues- top grade stuff and lower levels. Participation across the board, but with the opportunity to excel.
I don't think you can totally blame my school. You need to have the drive to take advantage of what you have and I don't blame my school for lack of success in sport. There are plenty of sports clubs in England for kids to join if they want to. It's just the culture in NZ schools is so much stronger, which inculcates a good attitude in the kids.
