Nathan Fitzgerald,<\/a> a 27-year-old Australian rules footballer for the Epping Football Netball Club, who died in July 2026 after sustaining severe head injuries from a tackle that culminated in his head striking a hard, covered concrete cricket pitch in the centre of the oval.<\/p>\nOne parent outraged over the gymnastics ban told the Herald Sun she felt girls were being unfairly targeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to increase the girls\u2019 participation in sport and they go and do this. Why not ban it in certain areas but let them do it on the grass, its just outrageous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other parents described the bans as \u201cover the top\u201d, \u201cextreme\u201d and \u201cridiculous\u201d, and one father said banning soccer during the World Cup was \u201cun-Australian\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, Victorian Principals Association president Andrew Dalgleish defended short-term ban.<\/p>\n
He said in some cases bans were appropriate while schools assessed risks in the school environment, including whether children were taking on play that was too risky, or if they needed to be educated on what is safe.<\/p>\n
Dalgleish said: \u201cIt puts educators in a hard place because they need to figure out how to allow rough play, but by reducing the risks, you want to find that balance between kids tumbling, running, and jumping, and how to learn that through safe development.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in our day, it was British Bulldog. Often, schools do this to take a pause to educate children on how to do it safely, or to investigate whether the surface is appropriate, or if it\u2019s too hard (surface) for that kind of play. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe last thing that you want to be doing as a principal is calling a parent and saying your child has been injured and is on their way to hospital. We definitely want our kids to be active. But if kids have been having lots of injuries doing cartwheels and handstands or rough play, then ideally you want to pause and reflect and figure out what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Victoria, the Department of Education has set out guidelines, including safety considerations for physical education and sport in schools, under which schools are required to take reasonable steps to keep their students safe.<\/p>\n
This means schools can choose to put rules in place where activities present a foreseeable safety risk. Any parents or carers with concerns should raise this with their school through the usual channels, and can escalate their concerns to the school\u2019s regional office should they not resolve it with the school.<\/p>\n
A Department of Education spokesperson said: \u201cThe safety of students in our care is our highest priority.<\/p>\n
\u201cStaying active and playing safely are fundamental to growing up and going to school in Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne schools have been banning cartwheels, handstands and rough ball play in playgrounds, in what parents are 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