Changing the Game: How Do Students Feel About the New Interhouse Policy?

Image credit: St. Andrew's Scots School https://www.sanandres.esc.edu.ar/school-life/ 

Fun, anticipation, and competition are all words I would use to describe previous years’ interhouses. Fierce sun rays beating down on fierce competition between students, who, for a day, forgot all academic responsibilities and social norms, and went against each other and played for something bigger than themselves. Four colours, four houses, and yet it was one school and all over the fields, colours mingled as people chatted, had fun and got ready for the next match. It was a day of competition, fun and unity, where one would meet new people and play with or against them, as a team. 

However, the same can’t be said for 2026. This year, I arrived at the campus and found myself looking at a depressing attempt at an interhouse. No music, no flags, no people, not even all of the house captains were there. Everything was rushed, there was no time to really take in and enjoy the event, no time to watch the older kids play and not even a chance to watch the younger students, since they weren’t there. It felt more like an extended sports class than an actual interhouse. 

So why is it then that the school has decided to make such a radical change, despite backlash and lack of support from the student body? According to a source which desires to remain anonymous, the accumulated time of all interhouses is a week of school time, thus justifying the need to reduce class time lost in the eyes of school officials.

But, are the interhouses truly a loss of school time, or can they be a productive use of time, possibly even better than time spent in class? That is the question I'll be answering in this article.

Before moving on, it is important to note how a sports interhouse can have a positive effect on students. When it comes to sport, opportunities flow for all types of students. We see student-athletes showing off their skills and seeing themselves valued not only through house mates but through a respectable event. Furthermore, for those students who have trouble adapting socially, these events provide opportunities to bond through sportsmanship, competition and sometimes just support. Most importantly, it offers students healthy competitions, allowing them to fight for victory on the pitch but laugh it off right after.

Nevertheless, this does not mean the interhouses were perfect. Totaling to a sizable amount of school days (approximately a week), they were instances which students undoubtedly took advantage of. Often seen as an easy day off school or a simple way to slack off, there is no effective way to control if students are off their phones, actively participating in games, and optimizing their experience. This then prompts the question: Should academics come before sports?

The answer is we shouldn’t have to choose. Schools should not have to choose between academic excellence and student development because the two are not mutually exclusive. The issue with this decision is not simply that interhouses were shortened, it is the message that accompanies that choice. Rather than brainstorming how the event could be improved, better organized or made more serious, the solution was to strip it down altogether. In doing so, the school, whether intentionally or not, sends the message that experiences outside of the classroom are expendable when they present logistical challenges. 

In my opinion, what makes this especially surprising is the fact that it contradicts a philosophy the school itself has promoted recently. Only last year, our director, Esteban Aranda, stood on stage encouraging students to embrace artificial intelligence, arguing that schools should adapt to new technologies rather than completely prohibit them. Instead of banning AI, students were told to learn how to use it to enhance their education, not replace it. Yet, when faced with the challenges surrounding interhouses, the response was not adaptation, but reduction. 

Subsequently, this issue grows in a society which makes it all the more important. In this day and age, adolescence becomes increasingly digitalized and knowledge through AI is becoming more and more accessible. Because of this, in the near future, success will depend less on who can memorize the most facts and more on those who can communicate, lead, collaborate and adapt. These qualities cannot be taught through textbooks, they are taught through experiences, such as working as a team, learning to win humbly or lose gracefully, supporting classmates and taking responsibility for something larger than oneself. Interhouses have always been one of the few occasions where those skills naturally emerge. 

Incredibly successful business leaders increasingly recognize the importance of these competencies. Marcos Galperin, the founder and CEO of Mercado Libre (as well as a SASS alumnus), brings this sports centered take to his corporate job. He says: “In sports, you learn to lose. And in business, you are going to lose many times. The key is how quickly you get back up, look at the people in front of and around you, and prepare for the next match without losing your spirit.”. If reliance, teamwork, and leadership are qualities that the most prestigious professional companies actively seek, schools should be creating more opportunities to develop them, not fewer. 

Perhaps the greatest loss, then, is not measured in hours outside of the classroom or timetables, but in atmosphere. What made interhouses memorable was never just the matches themselves, it was the music echoing across the fields, the house captains cheering for their teams, the tears of joy shed as the results were announced, students from every year cheering each other on, and the feeling that, for one day, everyone belonged to something bigger than themselves. Those moments gave students a reason to participate on these rare occasions, to support fellow classmates, and to care about representing their houses. Without that shared experience, what remains is exactly what students felt this year: not an interhouse, but a long, and somewhat dreary PE lesson. 

Ultimately, this discussion is not about choosing between academics and sports. It is about acknowledging that education extends beyond the classroom. Every decision the school makes sends a message to its students, in this case school leaders are telling students where their values must lie, forcing a choice where it is not necessary to. The goal should never be to sacrifice one aspect of school life in favour of another, but to find ways for both to co-exist and find a balance. Because, at the end of the day, interhouses were never simply about winning the matches (although it was a nice added bonus), they were about building a community. And that is something worth fighting for.