School bans before and after ball games

A Victorian primary school has banned before and after school ball games in a move widely criticised by sports administrators.
Sue Leighton-Janse, Assistant Principal of Black Rock Primary School, in Melbourne's south eastern suburbs, recently advised students and parents "children are not allowed to play, use, and bounce or throw balls and after school."
"This is a safety issue as many children get hurt from balls or get knocked over at this time due to the larger amount of people in the playground."
AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou, has slammed the ban, stating "it's bloody stupid. I'm sick of hearing these stories Neil about schools banning contact and banning ball sports, please."
Demetriou said it came down to organisations being scared by litigation and insurance, and asked what Shane Warne, a former student of the school, would be doing if he hadn't been allowed to bowl a cricket ball before school, adding "what are they going to muck around with Neil, bricks?"
Black Rock Primary School Principal Julie Luiten said the ban was in response to three or four parents' complaints after a toddler was hit by a ball.
Luiten told local radio station 3AW "we've got nearly 600 students at the school, and in that time there are about 1,000 people in the yard and it's too dangerous to have children kicking and throwing balls>"
Luiten defended the rule saying she believed it wasn't over-protective, adding "it's a 15-minute period we're talking about, we're not talking about all day.
"There's plenty of time during the day for children to play ball sports."
Director of the Education Standards Institute Kevin Donnelly agreed with Demetriou's sentiments, but said it was unsurprising the action had been taken, adding "what the school is doing is just part of this general move to supposedly safeguard children.
"If I was the school, I'd get a teacher out there before or after school just supervising.
"Children need to let off steam, they need to be energetic, and they need to run around."