John Goh is a proud product of public education. As a student, he attended Normanhurst Boys High School, where he “learned the four Rs of 'Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Rugby”.

Now more than 40 years later, the Merrylands East Public School principal is being recognised for his exceptional dedication to rugby union with the prestigious Distinguished Long Service Honour at the 2025 NSW Community Sports Awards.

The ceremony, hosted by Sport NSW, will be held on Monday, 30 June 2025 at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, to celebrate the state’s most dedicated and selfless sporting volunteers.

Mr Goh, who is a rugby referee, a referee coach and a referee appointments officer, will join 19 outstanding individuals who have each dedicated more than 25 years to grassroots sport.

At Merrylands East Public School, Mr Goh has promoted sport as a key driver of student and parent engagement, social cohesion, and wellbeing in a culturally diverse community.

“It helps to have things in common with the community and the fact that a lot of people know me as the referee means we can always have a chat about rugby, and that builds relationships because we have that shared knowledge.”

Under his leadership, the school has had a strong focus on ensuring all students, regardless of background, can participate in a range of sports from rugby to gymnastics and can compete in Primary School Sports Association (PSSA) competitions.

“So that our students don't have to pay, we purchased our own school buses and drive our students to PSSA, which reinforces that notion that we can give our students as many opportunities as possible, both academically and in curriculum and extracurricular programs,” Mr Goh said.

“This will only continue to grow under the Department of Education’s High Potential and Gifted Education policy, which promotes engagement and challenge for every student, in every school.”

Mr Goh has fond memories of the opportunities he was provided as a student to compete on the sporting field, with his high school chalking up victories over highly fancied opponents.

“The year I went to Normanhurst Boys in 1983 we won the Davidson Shield in cricket,” Mr Goh declared proudly.

“We beat the Waugh brothers in the semi-final; they were playing for East Hills Boys High and we rolled Steve, Mark and Danny (Waugh) for not much.

“We also won the first-grade rugby in our zone in that year”

Mr Goh said his experiences in rugby have helped him throughout his career to be a better teacher and principal.

“A lot of what I’ve learnt about high performance in rugby you can bring into a school setting in terms of working, mentoring, coaching and getting the best out of students, identifying student strengths and then building upon those strengths.”

While domestic rugby has had its challenges in recent years, Mr Goh believes the future of the sport is as a bright as the shirts he is renowned for wearing to work each day.

“The growth of women's rugby is one of the most positive aspects of rugby, with their 7’s team performing well on the international stage and Australia will be hosting the next World Cup in 2027 so that’s going to be a wonderful thing,” Mr Goh said.

“A lot of people don't realise that when Australia co-hosted the first World Cup in 1987, there were games played at Concord Oval – just 15 kilometres from Merrylands East Public School.”