Sport News

Last Saturday saw the completion of the 2021 AIC Basketball, Rugby League and Tennis seasons. Subsequently, track and field remains the only major sport still to be completed for the year, with a newly introduced AIC touch tournament to be played on Saturday 23 October followed by our annual AIC water-polo tournament the following day. More details to come on touch and water polo at the start of Term 4, but we are really excited about the opportunity to introduce a touch team to play a one-day carnival with one team in each of the following divisions; primary, Year 7, combined 8/9 and combined 10/11, no Year 12 team, unfortunately. Water polo details are yet to be sent through and we will upload these to the College APP when we receive them from AIC. We will keep you posted on touch and water polo details as they come to hand. 

The rugby league season ended on Saturday against St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe. An interrupted season culminated with our Year 5, Year 9 and 2nd XIII teams remaining undefeated. A wonderful achievement in a very competitive competition. The season ended on a good note for most teams with victories in Year 5, 7, 8 and 9 with our Year 10 and 1st XIII finishing their matches in draws. We have a bit of work to do in our league program moving forward if we are to match it with AIC powerhouses, Iona and Padua. Ultimately, it was great to see the boys getting out an enjoying Rugby League in the AIC environment, for many boys leaving the College at the end of the year this will be their last experience playing Rugby League and we hope the opportunity afforded through the AIC and MCA is something you will reflect on fondly in future years. 

Our Basketball teams displayed a dominant reign against St Pat’s College to finish their season. Our 1st V basketball finished the season with back-to-back victories. Thank you and congratulations to coaches Mr James Lidstone and Mr Brendan Furdek for all the hard work put in this season, to finish the season with victories was a worthy indication of efforts put in by our 1st V basketball team this year. Congratulations to the 7C, 11B and 11C teams who finished the season with undefeated premierships. We also wish our 1st V Basketball team the best of luck as they compete in the CBSQ basketball tournament on the Gold Coast this Thursday through to Saturday. Good luck boys!

In Tennis, our teams also had a solid end to the season, winning 10 out of the 13 aggregate matches played. The 1st IV had a wonderful win to end the season and we congratulate them on their efforts over the past few years representing their College. Thank you to Mr Andrew Ward for all of his efforts in preparing the team for the 2021 season. Particular note to the 8B and 9B teams who won undefeated premierships. 

Congratulations to all students who represented Ashgrove over the past season and continued to maintain the high standards of MCA sport. We also congratulate our Senior students on the way they concluded their final Saturday sporting commitments. The 2021 Senior students can be very proud of their involvement in MCA sport and have been exceptional for the entire year. We look forward to wrapping up their year in greater detail next Term.

Yesterday was officially the end of the 1st XI Football season with our boys going down 3-2 against Westside Christian College in the quarter-final of the UHL Sport Cup. Whilst yesterday was disappointing for the boys their season should be reflected upon as a success after taking out the 1st XI Football premiership. 

Thank you very much to all of our coaches and staff who worked tirelessly with the preparation of our Term 3 sporting teams. Your efforts in working with our students are greatly appreciated.

In tennis, we thank Mr Chris Bathersby, Mr Laurie Boustead, Mr Andrew Ward and Mr Callum Rees 

who managed and coaches our tennis teams this year in a very professional and enthusiastic manner. 

Thank you to Mr Michael Connolly who coordinated the basketball program this year with wonderful support from Ms Jane Wilcox as assistant coordinator. 

Individual Achievements 

Congratulations to Patrick Tierney and Harry Gould who were selected in the U/16 Qld Reds trial teams. Two Queensland U/16 teams have been selected based on performances at school and club Rugby level and two internal trials at Ballymore over the holidays. We wish both boys the best of luck as they seek selection in the Qld U/16 Merit Team. https://reds.rugby/news/2021/09/07/queensland-u16s-teams-announced

Congratulations to Will Banner who was selected in the Queensland Triathlon Team. Triathlon Queensland (TQ) selects a Triathlon Queensland Team (TQ State Team) to support Queensland athlete development and representation at national and international triathlon events. The Triathlon Queensland Junior and Youth State Team program is designed to facilitate the exposure of young Queensland athletes to the triathlon racing environment. The program is outlined as such to replicate the requirements of elite racing, to prepare athletes for the demands of the sport, such as the competition, travel, and to build the athlete’s knowledge in areas such as goal setting, communication with stakeholders, and season planning. A wonderful achievement by Will! 

We wish Will Nickelson, Frank Piper, Sam Lewis, Louis Morris and Jack Thompson the best of luck at the Met North possible verse probable U/15 Met North Cricket trials being held today. 

Track and Field – Mr Jon Fitzgerald

As we move towards the business end of the season, it is only three and a half weeks remaining until our team is selected. With two weeks of holidays and then only one week in Term 4 to get ready, our organisation is very important.

Holiday Training

Within these last three weeks, our preparation is always disrupted by the upcoming holidays. Yes - holidays are awesome and we definitely need to enjoy this time off from being a student and also teaching!! While we are having our holidays, however, it is still possible to at least maintain our hard-earned fitness for the upcoming championships as well as have plenty of time to enjoy ourselves.

In the previous years, the attendance at holiday training was excellent and we hope to see heaps of boys attending again this year. The training schedule has been posted on the College APP and emailed to students.

Track and Field Camp - Thursday 16 September - Saturday 18 September

Best wishes to the students and staff attending this weekend’s camp. It is great to see so many boys committing to the camp ahead of the break and we hope they enjoy themselves immensely. 

Important information for those students attending the camp:

• Transport Information - Students are to meet to meet at the Marist bus shelter no later than 8:30am this Thursday.
• Dress code for departure this Thursday - Marist Sports Gear only (No House jerseys, shirts, shorts or non-MCA apparel please)

Selection

As track and field is a performance-based sport, the major selection methods for our final team will be through performances at all meets this season (Training, mini meet, UQ holiday meets and AIC competitions). All students involved in the program have been superb with juggling their commitments to training and this season has continued the growing enthusiasm of recent years. With only a few sessions remaining you cannot afford to be missing any training!!

As part of your selection in this squad, you are expected to attend all training sessions outlined in the training calendar on the App for your events unless you have notified your coaches of a prior important engagement. Boys away during holiday training and meets must contact Mr Fitzgerald and Mr Martin to discuss options.

Final Selection

Final selections will be based on performance, consistency, attendance at training and what is in the best interest of the entire squad (e.g. some boys may be asked to do events they are not necessarily training for and they are the best we have).

There are 138 events contested at the AIC Championships and over 90 students will compete for Marist College Ashgrove at this competition. Every student’s contribution is extremely valuable and as a result, any improvements we can make over the remaining four weeks are vital to our chance of success.

Consistent Performance

It should be noted that many selections are made during this holiday period at these upcoming UQ meets after regular holiday training and so all athletes should be seeking to train and perform throughout the holidays to achieve their goals and confirm their position in the team.

Good luck to all students for the remaining weeks of training and competition.

UQ Holiday Mini Meets Thursday 23 and 30 September with other AIC Colleges

These meets are part of our preparation and we would like all available athletes to attend if they hope to be part of the final squad. We usually have the majority of the team attend these meets and we hope to do the same again this year. There is NO COST for boys in this meet as we cover that through the College. 

Details of the UQ Mini Meets are as follows:

UQ Mini Meet 1 with Padua and SEC Thursday 23 September – Years 5-12

and

UQ Mini Meet 2 with SLC and St Pats Thursday 30 September – Years 5 - 12

• Transport Information - The bus will depart from MCAat 7:45am from the Marist Bus Shelter (Need to be there by 7:30am) and return to Marist by 12:45pm on both Thursdays.
• Dress code - College athletics singlet and Marist shorts only (No House jerseys, shirts, shorts or non-MCA apparel please)

Both UQ Meet commences at 8:45am and will conclude by 12:pm.

AIC Track and Field Full Team Training at QSAC Tuesday morning 5 October 

There will be a compulsory training session for all athletes selected in the MCA Track and Field squad competing at the AIC Championships at QSAC on Tuesday morning 5 October. Details of this training session are as follows;

• Transport Information - The buses will depart from MCA at 8:00am from the Marist Bus Shelter (Need to be there by 7:45am) and return to Marist by 12:00pm.
• Communication - An email will be sent to all athletes in the second week of holidays after the final UQ meet to confirm attendance at this full team training session.
• Dress code - College athletics singlet and Marist shorts only (No House jerseys, shirts, shorts or non-MCA apparel please)

Our team is working extremely hard to achieve our best possible performance. Hoping that all boys chosen will support their teammates with regular training and meet attendance over the coming weeks.

Basketball Skills Clinic – Mr Michael Connolly 

Congratulations to the students who attended the Basketball Skills Clinics on Thursday afternoons this term. The boys who attended had fun whilst learning the skills of basketball from two of our very dedicated coaches.  I would like to thank Mr James Lidstone and Mr Josh Edwards for their expertise in coaching the boys during these sessions.  The players who signed up are to be commended for making the extra effort, in their own time, to make improvements in their game.

I hope that all boys enjoyed the sessions and thank them for taking up the offer of getting better at basketball. I look forward to seeing all these boys working on their basketball skills in the lead up to the 2022 basketball season. Good luck boys!

Tennis – Mr Andrew Ward

What a perfect day to play our last round of this year’s AIC Championships. Our 1st IV team playing at Coops. We say welcome to our newest member Josh Waite who has been training solidly and being left-handed though it may add some spark to our team with a position made possible through illness.

We started off with some very close doubles matches but with results not going our way we regrouped and came out on top in the reverse doubles. At 2-2 in matches it was now down to the four singles matches. Great wins by Kyle and Pat first and also to Blake and a very close loss to Josh in his first and only match in the top level. Our boys winning the tie 5-3 and securing their second win of the season and a huge improvement in patience and court smarts.

All our other teams played solid tennis and finished strongly winning 12 of a possible 17 matches. Well done boys very proud of your efforts and dedication to bringing you’re a game each week. 

Special mention to our 8A and 9B teams both undefeated for the season.

In the final wash-up of the season, from a possible 119 ties across all year levels we completed 88 matches due to weather, COVID-19 and some schools not being able to fill teams across all year levels, we won 55, drew 1, lost 32 matches. This is a fantastic achievement seeing that we lost 14 to a full-time coached St Peters with a lot of very close matches and some even closer line calls. Even if bad.

During the season we used players from our Shadow team to not only fill positions that were vacant from players who could not play for whatever reason, but also to use these boys to make up the 3rd iv open team. All boys have improved immensely but a huge congratulations to Ben Mead, as a Year 8 student playing all season in the 3rd IV team finishing undefeated against much older and physically stronger boys, but this didn’t stop him with a will to never give in saw him come from behind several times to overpower his opponents and win the match. 

Here is the wash-up of where we finished for the season. Well done boys.

• 1st IV = 5th
• 2nd IV = 3rd
• 3rd IV = 6th
• 11A = 2nd
• 11B = 4th
• 10A = 3rd
• 10B = 2nd
• 9A = 3rd
• 9B = 1st
• 8A = 3rd
• 8B = 1st
• 7A = 4th
• 7B = 4th

As most students are aware we are trying to turn Marist into a full-time tennis program and happy with the numbers who have taken up the invitations to join our squad program. We are nearly full and if you were thinking of joining please don’t leave it to the last moment as once full we will be unable to take any more bookings for Term 4.

I would like to thank everybody from coaches to coordinators and also our Head of College and his two sons Noah and Fin for cheering the boys up with their youthful enthusiasm when they visited each week. A huge thank you to all the parents who tirelessly made sure their sons made it to each training session and games on weekends. Without your help and dedication to your sons sport we would not be able to do this. Please enjoy your sleep-ins now.

September Holiday Camp

We are holding a Tennis Camp for three days in the second week of the holidays for any boys wanting a little extra tennis and some fun. We are currently taking bookings now. 

Cost is $100.00 for the three days or $40.00 per day if not attending all three. All bookings please contact MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au or 0437 449 523

Term 4 Fixtures

We are also taking bookings for Friday afternoon fixtures. These will run every Friday of term from 3:30-6:30pm and all players will a sausage sizzle each week included in the price. This is a great way to hone their skills in matches and learn to implement what they learnt in their coaching classes. Cost is $100.00 for the term for members. All bookings please contact MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au or 0437 449 523

Please note that the Tennis logo competition cut-off date for submissions has been extended till Wednesday 13 October.

Results and Match Reports

Basketball

Rugby League

Tennis