Sporting Philosophy
What is IGSSA?
IGSSA is a sub-committee of AHIGS, the Association of Heads of Independent Girls’ Schools, NSW. There are 31 independent girls’ schools within AHIGS and IGSSA’s role is to provide sporting activities for the students of members’ schools.
The IGSSA philosophy was developed by AHIGS and is reviewed regularly. Its emphasis is on helping girls appreciate the value of physical activity, fair play, teamwork and good sportsmanship while building self confidence, skill, self discipline and responsibility.
Both individual and team sports are provided by IGSSA with eight different Saturday sports offered throughout the year. Six carnivals are also offered annually in the areas of swimming and diving, rowing, tennis, athletics, cross country and gymnastics.
In addition to providing inter-school sporting opportunities for girls, IGSSA also provides a pathway to representative competition at the state and national level. This commitment to school girl sport at all levels is central to the IGSSA philosophy of encouraging each student to develop her full potential as both an individual and team player.
Although IGSSA has grown rapidly in recent years, the formation of the sub-committee dates back to 1922, six years after the formation of AHIGS in 1916. Today, IGSSA sport is managed by the AHIGS Director of Sport who, with the support of a co-ordinator & administrative spoort staff, co-ordinates an extensive network of committees, conveners and umpires.
An opportunity for all
To ensure that every girl has the opportunity to participate in sport at her own level, IGSSA has developed a grading system which allows teams of similar ability to compete with one another throughout the season. All participating schools contribute to the grading process and much time and thought are invested in allocating the appropriate grade to each team.
The grading process begins with schools selecting teams and proposing grades. All schools are then invited to a grading meeting at which grades are finalised based upon player profiles, the number of representative players in each team, previous seasons’ results and the school’s justification for the grades sought.
Saturday sport
IGSSA sport is played on Saturdays during term time at members’ schools and public venues throughout Sydney. Country members’ schools visit Sydney to participate in round matches, sports finals and carnivals.
The girls can choose one sport each term from the following selection:
| Term 1: |
Softball / Tennis |
| Term 2: |
Basketball / Football |
| Term 3: |
Hockey / Netball |
| Term 4: |
Water Polo / Touch |
Carnivals
IGSSA sport carnivals are popular activities as they allow members’ schools to come together for a day of fun, friendship and competition. Carnivals also provide a pathway for talented girls to achieve representative honours.
The IGSSA carnivals include, Swimming and Diving, Rowing, Tildesley Tennis, Cross Country, Athletics and Gymnastics. All carnivals are held at carefully selected venues, many of world class standing.
State representatives
IGSSA provides a representative pathway to a national level for elite athletes through its affiliation with the NSW Combined Independent Schools Sports Council (CIS), NSW All Schools and School Sport Australia (SSA).
Safety, risk, evaluation and improvement
Participation in sporting activities is potentially dangerous so IGSSA takes steps to reduce the risk of accident or injury by adopting a comprehensive program of risk management.
Every effort is made to identify potential hazards and these are addressed prior to the commencement of each sport or carnival. Venues are checked regularly; the safety guidelines of the overarching state sporting body are observed and behaviour at matches is governed by the IGSSA Code of Conduct. Venue conveners are trained to handle safety issues at their venue and reports are completed and reviewed for those accidents or injuries that do occur.
IGSSA encourages all participants to be aware of sport safety and feedback is encouraged via the IGSSA website.
In 2006 AHIGS received the NSW Sporting Injuries Committee’s award for outstanding achievement in sports safety at the state level.