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Key points
- Former AFL player Bachar Houli Foundation’s Islamic College of Sport aims to offer years 11 and 12 and open early next year pending approval from the educational regulator Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority.
- It’s set to join the growing number of sporting academy schools however operators warn there is a “narrow tunnel” of students who go on to be professional athletes and inflating the potential for success is a dangerous game.
- Last week, The Academy, an independent elite AFL-focused senior school run by former Richmond footballer Alex Rance told families it was shutting down.
Adam Sweid, 15, has always preferred sport to study.
“Even when I’m at my school normally, I’m always thinking about footy,” he said.
Adam Sweid and Feda Abou-Eid hope to attend the Islamic College of Sport.Credit: Justin McManus
He’s one of many students opting for a sporting alternative for his final school years and hoping to go to former AFL player Bachar Houli Foundation’s Islamic College of Sport. The school aims to offer years 11 and 12 and open early next year pending approval from the educational regulator Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority.
The ICS would offer VCE vocational majors focused on multi-sport, including physical training, and athlete mentoring, with sports industry partnerships.
Sweid would love to be an AFL player, or get to the highest level in the sport he can.
“Some kids aren’t always focused on school and education, so this definitely helps,” he said.
Australian basketballer Ben Simmons with Box Hill Senior Secondary College head coach Kevin Goorjian in 2014.Credit: Eddie Jim
It’s a diverse and competitive landscape, with 12 state schools offering sports excellence programs, private schools touting their elite alumni, sports academies run by professional athletes and now independent sports colleges offering senior school.
Some – like Box Hill Senior Secondary College – produced athletes like Ben Simmons, who in 2019 won a $US177 million ($277 million) contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. They run normal academic programs with high-performance electives or after-school academy programs.
Others couch education through sport. But experts have warned it is important to temper expectations when it comes to going pro or gaining a job in the competitive sports industry.
Last week, The Academy, an independent elite AFL-focused senior school run by former Richmond footballer Alex Rance told families it had failed, leaving year 11 students scrambling for a place to study for their final school year.
The Academy was not registered with the VRQA; instead, it offered VCE vocational majors through GoTafe, with Rance telling The Age that teacher shortages and a decline in students during COVID had made it unsustainable.
But SEDA College Victorian principal Heath McMillin, an independent senior secondary school with 700 students, said more families are open to alternative educational models, as interest in the Hawthorn East school climbs.
State schools with sports excellence programs
- Maribyrnong College
- Rowville Secondary College
- Hallam Senior Secondary College
- Box Hill Senior Secondary College
- Sandringham College
- Bendigo South East College
- Ballarat High School
- Templestowe College
- Greensborough College
- Parkdale College
- Western Heights College
- Heathmont College
At SEDA, students are taught by one teacher a year and subjects tailored around sport.
“As a state, if we want every student to get to a Year 12 completion, then we are going to need lots of different schools. Every student is different, we need schools to teach in different ways. If we don’t have that, we won’t get every student to Year 12,” McMillin said.
He said there was a “narrow tunnel” of students who go on to be professional athletes, and inflating the potential for success was a dangerous game.
“All any school or academy can do is try and cater for that person the best they can. It’s important schools that run high-performance programs are clear about that expectation,” he said.
Maribyrnong Secondary College sports academy director Mark McAllion said there weren’t clear definitions of what classifies as a sports academy, but there should be some regulation.
“If you brand yourself a sports academy, you’ve got facilities of this level, or you’ve got coaches of this accreditation level, or you’ve got relationships with the sporting bodies to ensure that the pathways are right for kids,” he said.
AFLW player Monique Conti is a graduate of Maribyrnong Secondary College.Credit: Getty Images
He said it would be good for parents if there were criteria, or a website with accredited or endorsed school sport academy programs.
Maribyrnong is the only state government-funded sports academy in Victoria and offers 575 funded sports scholarships for 15 sports, as well as associate athletes in sports like gymnastics, ice-skating and karate.
About 30 former students are on US college scholarships and it produced some of Australia’s top athletes, including Olympic bronze medallist Luke Plapp, Port Adelaide Football Club’s Zak Butters and AFLW player Monique Conti.
Deakin Sports Network director David Shilbury said there was now a larger range of sports academies and elite training schools compared to 15 or 20 years ago, but still made up a small percentage of schools overall.
He said the sports industry is a “very, very competitive employment market” and despite marketing rhetoric in the tertiary sector, there was no guarantee of employment at the end of a course.
“We can get a bit seduced by the amount of coverage that we see of sport … it gives you the sense that it’s a massive industry,” he said.
“It’s continuing to grow but it’s not so big that it can soak up the number of kids or students coming out of these programs at the moment, and some of them are going to be disappointed.”
Shilbury said it was pleasing to see the education system has opened up to alternative ways of education at the secondary level, which would engage students in school for longer.
“When you start to couch education in a language that the learner can relate to, it typically means better educational outcomes,” he said.
Islamic College of Sport director Ali Fahour said there are 16 Islamic schools in Victoria with 46,000 students, and the college would initially be based at Coburg City Oval. It already had enough interested students for a year 11 class.
“We think there is a gap in our community where parents want to remain in a culturally safe environment, but there was no alternative for these young boys and girls who love sport but aren’t driven by traditional VCE schooling, but want to complete year 12,” he said.
Fahour said the college had a point of difference by infusing its curriculum with both sport and faith for elite athletes and students interested in sport.
“There’s nothing like this anywhere around the world,” he said.
He said there is demand in his community and a bit of an identity crisis.
“The challenge is growing and we are trying to create more role models. We want them to be proud Muslim Australians.
“A lot of their curriculum is about utilising the values of faith and building the confidence of who they are as great Australian citizens.”
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