From the President's Desk

Dear principals, sports staff, students and parents,

Every July, before a single whistle is blown, the season already exists — on paper. Venues are booked, officials are rostered, age-group rules are settled, and two hundred and forty fixtures wait patiently in a calendar. My favourite part of this job is knowing that by next April, every one of those rows will have become a real morning: kit bags on a boundary rope, a nervous captain at the toss, someone's first medal.

Last season gave us plenty to be proud of. A record turnout on Olympic Day. A new astro-turf ground that kept our hockey calendar dry through the tail of the monsoon. And a championship race decided by fewer than twenty points going into the final month — proof that our leagues are as competitive as they are fair.

A school's size should decide nothing about its season. Only its students should.

That sentence has guided this association since eight schools shared a borrowed ground in 1998, and it guides the 2026–27 season too. This year we are asking schools to confirm squads earlier so draws can be published before the term break; we are expanding the officiating pool through our July clinic; and we are keeping affiliation fees where they have always been — low enough that no school is priced off the starting line.

To our returning schools: welcome back, and check the fixture board — your first dates are closer than you think. To schools considering affiliation: the form takes ten minutes, the office replies within three days, and your students will thank you for decades.

See you at the grounds.