Rowing officials have banned allowing what are effectively year 14 students —once referenced as "eighth-formers"— from competing at the premier annual Maadi Cup regatta after decades of angst. 

The practice would sometimes see pupils spend more time grunting away in skiffs than studying in the classroom during the opening term of the year. 

New Zealand School Sport boss Mike Summerell told Mike Hosking a resolution was found. 

He says it came down to the idea of what’s fair.  

Summerell says that their rules have always been that if you’re at school, you should be able to reap the benefits of everything that comes with school. 

However, he says, while they believe sport is an incredibly important part of school, it’s not part of the education curriculum, and that allows sports to set rules that allow for a level playing field.  

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