Sport News

This weekend sees Marist host St Laurence’ College in a whole round of action at Ashgrove to celebrate Old Boys Day. This is a special occasion in the College calendar and one that the entire Marist community looks forward to. The 1st XI football kick-off at 12:15 on Cameron Oval and the 1st XV start at 2:30pm on McMahon Oval. If there is one day for boys to stay behind and spectate this is the week. Good luck to all boys wearing the blue and gold this weekend.

Spectating

Boys coming along to watch matches are required to wear their winter uniform. Boys who have played earlier in the day and are staying behind to watch matches are required to change into their winter uniform. Boys, unless playing the match directly before the First team, should be in correct school uniform.

Team selections - Rugby and Football

I thought it important to share with you the challenge our coaches and coordinators are facing in trying to organise boys into teams this year. Marist fields between 4 and 6 teams in every year level in rugby and football. This is between 70 and 100 boys to be selected into positions and teams in each sport. In a normal year this is a huge task for the staff, all of whom are either teachers coaching on top of teaching duties, external coaches with full-time jobs to manage and young Old Boys with limited coaching experience.

In a normal year we would have had an internal trial day, 2-3 sessions in the last week of Term 1, a trial round either at the start or end of the holidays, 2-3 training sessions in Week 1 and the AIC trial round at the end of Week 1. This equals 13 hours of trials with all coaches and players available (minus injured). This year we got the internal trial day in, some got 1 session in Week 10, the trial round was cancelled, with 2 days off last week most year levels got 1 session in and the trial round last Saturday against Villanova- this equals 5 hours. On top of this many students have had COVID-19 or isolated during this period and large numbers of coaches have also been absent with COVID-19 or been close contacts. Where the absent coach is a high-level coach, the rest of the coaches are unable to do much selection wise until that coach returns. To say it has been challenging is an understatement. In some cases the combined absences of coaches and players means coaches have simply not seen some players yet.

I can assure the Marist community that all our coaches are doing their best to sort out our teams and prepare the players for Round 1. Interesting many AIC are still adding and deleting teams from the competition this week, suggesting everyone is in the same position, and we are by far the largest sporting program in the AIC. I know everyone is aware that it has been a difficult year so far, and the community has been incredibly patient, but I thought sharing the numbers would highlight just how hard this has been.

Playing Uniform

All players must be in the correct Marist playing uniform for the sport. Other Marist apparel, including training shirts, are not acceptable. The uniform has all items required for sale. If the shop is sold out of a required size, please contact the relevant year coordinator in advance to request permission to play. Coaches will not let players play in the wrong uniform unless approved in advance.

Absences from Training and Matches

When committing to play a sport for a season it is the College expectation that the activity will be given the highest priority. Absences from training and games lets down your coaches, your teammates and your College. From time to time absences are unavoidable with illness and significant family events and we understand these. However, clear communication, with as much notice as possible is required. Boys in Years 8-12 should take responsibility for communicating this themselves by emailing their coach and year co-ordinator explaining why they are absent from training or a game.

Wet Weather Procedure

The College manages our fields. This is different to many club sports, where the local council manages the facilities and are conscious of wear and tear with less resources to manage and more teams using the fields for longer periods of time than schools. Our aim is to train wherever possible and we will only cancel training and games if it is dangerous, such as lightning or water pooling on fields, or if it has been consistently raining and the fields are showing significant wear and tear.

Cancellations are communicated using the College app. For morning training if we have posted the notice before 10:00pm the night before we will assume everyone has checked the app. If the notice is posted after 10:00pm coaching staff will still arrive even if training is off and provide supervision for any students who turn up. For afternoon training sessions our preference is to cancel before 12:00pm to assist with transport arrangements after school, but sometimes late storms come in that cause very late cancellations.   

Rugby Union

Mr Derek Lennon, Mr Mitch Reid, Mr Corey Lucas

Marist enjoyed trial matches against Villanova College last Saturday. We thank Villanova for hosting the senior teams. Marist enjoyed the bulk of the wins over the course of the day in what proved to be a good preparation for the upcoming matches against St Laurences’s College, who will prove a significant challenge for all teams. Congratulations to the 1st XV for coming home with the win in a very close contest. The benefits of the recent tour to Sydney in hardening the team and bringing them together were on show and probably the difference. This weekend we host St Laurence’s at Marist for Old Boys Day with most Marist teams playing at home on the day. It would be great to see huge numbers of boys supporting the 1st XV at 2:30pm on McMahon Oval.

The training schedule is final now (though there will still be tweaks from time to time) and available on the College App. Team lists for Saturday will be posted by Friday morning. Everyone’s ongoing patience is much appreciated as we work through this. Coach contact details are also available on the App.

Rugby Union - Trials v Villanova - Results

Football

Mr Derek Lennon (Football Coordinator)

We finally got some football matches into our legs with the AIC trial round against Villanova College. The day was quite even in terms of results and the lack of time on task was evident in our play across the year levels. A near full week on the training park this week will allow us to finalise teams and start to prepare for the AIC season.  The 1st XI shared the lollies with Villanova, with Captain Ryan Oostenbroek scoring a “worldy” free-kick with 10 minutes to go. This weekend the Old Boys Day means most matches will be at home and boys are encouraged to support the 1st XI who kick off on Cameron Oval at 12:15pm. 

Cross Country

Mr Mitch Reid (Cross Country Coordinator)

Cross Country Training

As we move closer to the AIC Championship date, it’s a really important time to continue our strong commitment towards cross country training. Each student should be aiming to complete two sessions between Monday and Thursday each week. Group long runs with Mr Reid are scheduled each Friday morning for students 14 years and above. 

House Cross Country 

Please note there has been a date change to the house cross country carnival which was schedule for Thursday 28 April. The event will now take place on Friday 6 May at the end of Week 3. More information with regards to how to nominate for your house will be communication during house meetings in Week 3. 

There has also been a change to how the College awards its Cross Country Age Champion. This will now be awarded to the first finisher in each age group at the AIC Cross Country Championships on 1 June. 

Cross Country Camp 

Over the weekend a select group of senior Year 10-12 cross country students attended a camp on the Gold Coast. The group departed Brisbane Saturday afternoon after the football and rugby trials. On Saturday night, the boys had the pleasure of meeting and listening to World XC Champion Benita Willis. Benita who is one of Australia’s greatest distance runners spoke about how she started running, what it’s like competing against the best in the world and also some important tips and strategies for XC running. 

On Sunday morning, the group participated in the Gold Coast Running Festival 5km race. This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to have a hard race as we move into the business end of the XC season. To finish off the day, the students enjoyed some team bonding time at the Brisbane Lions v Gold Coast Suns AFL match.

A big thank you to XC staff Mr Ward and Mr Lucas for taking the group away for the weekend. 

Gold Coast Running Festival 5km Results 

Swimming

Mr James Boyce (Head Coach - Swimming)

National Age Recap 

This year the MCA Swimming Club had our biggest team attend Australian National Age Championships. These athletes were. Hayden Barnes, Angus Bathe, Archie Bathe, Hannah Casey, Noah Coco, Jack Goyen, Lachlan Harney, Thomas Hicks, James Leigh, Luca Martinuzzi, Ryan O’Toole, Olivia Peck, Alex Pedroni, Darcey Salter, Kate Shield, Bailey Skinner, Lachie Vink and Ed Wild.

The club finished 15th overall in Australia which is an amazing achievement for our small club.

Throughout the week we had some outstanding performances from all athletes but special mention to our medallist and top 10 finishes. These were:

Hannah Casey

• Australian Champion Girls 15 years 200m Freestyle. Hannah also broke the Australian Age record and Australian All Comers Record in a time of 1:58.49 which is a sensational individual performance.
• Australian Champion Girls15 years 100m Freestyle
• Australian Champion Girls 15 Years 50m Freestyle
• Australian Champion Girls 15 Years 50m Butterfly
• Australian Champion Girls 15 Years 100m Butterfly

 Thomas Hicks

• Australian Champion Boys 15 Years 50m Butterfly
• Top 10 in the Boys 15 Years 50m Freestyle
• Top 10 in the Boys 15 Years 50m Backstroke
• Top 10 in the Boys 15 Years 100m Backstroke

Jack Goyen (Old Boy 2021)

• 2nd in the Boys 17 Years 100m Freestyle
• 3rd in the Boys 17 Years 50m Freestyle
• Top 10 in the Boys 17 Years 200m Freestyle
• Top 10 in the Boys 17 Years 50m Butterfly

 James Leigh

• 3rd in the Boys 15 Years 200m Freestyle
• 3rd in the Boys 15 Years 400m Freestyle
• Top 10 in the Boys 15 Years 400m IM
• Top 10 in the Boys 15 Years 100m Freestyle

Archie Bathe

• Top 10 in the Boys 15 Years 400m IM

 Olivia Peck

• • Top 10 in the Girls 16 Years 400m Freestyle

 Relays

• Australian Champions Noah Coco, Hayden Barnes, James Leigh and Thomas Hicks in the Boys 14-15 Years 4x50m Freestyle Relay. This team also broke the Australian National Age Record in a time of 1:36.36 which is an outstanding team effort.
• 3rd to Noah Coco, Alex Pedroni, Thomas Hicks and James Leigh in the Boys 14 – 15 Years 4x50m Medley Relay

 The MCA swimming club finished with the following;

• 7 Gold
• 1 Silver
• 4 Bronze

 Special mention must be made to all the parents and family members who made the trip to Adelaide to support all our swimmers. Your unwavering support of the MCA Swimming Club ensures that our swimmers are able to achieve their best performance at such a major meet.

Swimmers you all continue to go above and beyond to achieve such outstanding performances throughout such a gruelling week of competition. Our club continues to go from strength to strength on the back of your hard work that you put in throughout the season. It is also great to see you all supporting one another on each day of competition ensuring everyone felt like they were part of the great results. Our coaches are proud of all your results and the way you conducted yourself on pool deck.

We hope you all enjoy a well-earned break from the pool, and we look forward to seeing you all back over the coming weeks to prepare for the 2023 National Age Championships. 

Sport Canteen

Thank you to everyone who was able to get an hour done in the canteen on Saturday for the first week back.

This coming Saturday (30 April) is one of the biggest days of the year on the canteen calendar. We need SignUps from all year levels to make it work.

Please put your name in the SignUp before Friday. This helps the canteen to plan for the day, and also limits the need to spend time away from food preparation and service to locate volunteers at the last minute.

There are three choices to volunteer for - something for everyone:

• Grandstand main canteen: https://signup.com/go/PzbXSyg
• BBQ at the Grandstand: https://signup.com/go/VeoZFmY
• Flats Canteen: https://signup.com/go/WfFXePA