Actually, there often is these days.
You may joke, and we just did, but luring children away from their devices and other distractions and keeping them active is certainly worthy of a medal.
And Otago secondary schools are doing a marvellous job.
School Sport New Zealand, in partnership with Sport New Zealand, has released data from its national census of secondary school sport participation in 2021, and Otago has come out on top for a second consecutive year.
The region’s participation rate of 63% is the highest of the country's 19 regions, and well above the national average of 49%.
Otago’s participation rates are also the highest of all the regions for both girls (62%) and boys (64%).
The national average for girls is 49%, and for boys it is 52%.
Otago’s overall participation rate is up 1% compared with 2020, but down 3% from 2019 in pre-Covid days.
Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association acting regional sports director Noeline Burden said Otago’s comparatively high participation rates were down to the sterling work of school staff who volunteered their time.
"It is the sports co-ordinators and school staff who keep it going," she said.
"They give up their time and most of them don’t get extra pay for it.
"It is just that they realise the value of getting involved and seeing the students outside of the class."
Otago has consistently had higher teaching staff involvement than the national average during the past two decades.
In 2021, 40% of teaching staff in Otago secondary schools were involved in school sport compared with the national average of 29%.
Burden wondered whether flexibility was another strength.
"We recognise not just the main three or four sports and that is something that is keeping participation up as well. We actually offer a reasonably wide range of sports.
"If there is a trend and if there is something happening and that is what the students wants, we try our best to provide it.
"I guess that does cater for a higher participation rate."
Nationally, netball is still the sport with the most participants (26,141) followed by basketball (24,850), rugby (24,299), volleyball (22,444) and football (20,787).
Basketball is No1 in Otago with 1699 participants, followed by volleyball, rugby and netball.
