Independent Sporting Association (New South Wales)
The Independent Sporting Association is a grouping of independent schools in New South Wales, Australia, generally within of the Sydney central business district, that are associated for the purposes of sporting competitions.
Members of the ISA often compete with members of the Great Public Schools and Combined Associated Schools in trial and representative fixtures.
Of New South Wales' 130 Rhodes Scholars from 1904 to 2006, two have attended a school that is a member of the ISA.
History
The Independent Sporting Association was established to provide a distinguished and well-organized Saturday sporting competition for independent schools that stood outside the traditional frameworks of the GPS and CAS, yet shared the same belief in the formative value of school sport.The origins of the ISA are traced to 1990, when a preliminary meeting convened at Pittwater House under the chairmanship of Martin Orrock. At this gathering John Giacon of St Patrick's College emerged as a driving force for the establishment of a structured inter-school sporting body.
These early discussions drew together a distinctive mix of schools. These included long-standing boys' schools such as St Andrews Cathedral School and St Patrick's College alongside co-educational colleges including Redlands, Oxley College, Chevalier College, and Central Coast Grammar School.