The Primary Schools Sports Association or PSSA is a group of teachers who organise the inter-school sporting events/competitions. Boronia Park PS is a member of the Ryde Association. Some of the events that they organise are -
- the zone swimming, cross country and athletics carnival
- the summer and winter inter-school sport competitions for students from year 3-6. The games in this competition are played on a Friday afternoon. At Boronia Park PS the teachers ask students to nominate for a team and then trials are carried out to select the most suitable team.
Selection of school PSSA teams
PSSA is an opportunity for students who are talented in sport or have ability in a particular sport to compete against students in other schools.
School teams are selected in the following way:
- Children select one sport that they wish to trial for in the summer competition and one in the winter competition.
- Trials take place over two days (where possible) so that each child has a chance to trial for different positions if necessary and to be given a fair go. Teachers have found that two trials are necessary so that they can fully gauge each child's ability.
- The school does its best to fit in two trials taking into consideration that summer sport often begins in week 3 and the winter competition varies from starting either at the end of term 1 or the beginning of term 2. Any more than two trials proves difficult because of time constraints and school rountines.
- Teachers select teams based on the trials. Some sports, like AFL, require a gender mix and are difficult to fill after one trial. Therefore, if there are not enough children to fill a particular team, then any child who has missed out on selection is given the opportunity to trial for another sport (under teacher discretion).
- PSSA requires the support of teachers to select, coach and officiate at games. If there are no teacher volunteers to take a sport, then the school cannot compete in the competition.
Teachers at Boronia Park PS have found, through experience, that the above selection guide is the most efficient way to conduct trials at the school. All trials are conducted at school or at Boronia Park Oval, which requires further organisation and rearrangement of the school's timetable. The above model is the fairest way that allows all children the same opportunity.
The students selected for the teams are expected to attend training sessions, demonstrate commitment to their team and represent the school with pride.