EXCEL Sports Program

Australian Institute of Sport Trip (Canberra)

On Monday 22nd October, the Year 9 EXCEL Sport class embarked on an exciting five day journey to Canberra. The students experienced life as an elite athlete at Australia’s premier sporting facility, the Australian Institute of Sport. Throughout our stay, the students trained and dined alongside Olympic and National athletes. Many facets of being the best were covered, including strength and conditioning, recovery, nutrition and psychology. The students were given an opportunity to use many of the facilities and appreciate what life as an elite athlete looks like. A fantastic experience for both staff and students, which consolidated much of the learning of the past three years of the EXCEL Sport Program. A special thank you to Mr. Clark for giving his time for the week.

Hockey Clinics and Game Simulation

Over the course of three weeks, the Year 7 EXCEL Sport classes participated in Field Hockey clinics under the guidance of Joe Hill, an experienced hockey coach at Monash Peninsula Hockey Club, Frankston. For most of the students, hockey was a new sport but they picked it up quickly and used their game sense from other invasion sports with good success. Many of the students had the opportunity to use these skills in the Year 7 Interschool Sport competition, with both boys’ and girls’ teams narrowly missing out on progressing to the next round. Thanks to Joe Hill for putting the students through their paces.

Tennis Lessons

Over the course of 3 weeks, the Year 9 EXCEL Sport class were given the opportunity to have 3 tennis lessons from Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat and other coaches at Long Beach Tennis Club. Dianne is an Australian former professional tennis player who reached a highest singles ranking of world No. 4 in 1979. The students improved significantly throughout the three weeks, with many of the students clearly impressing Dianne with their natural talent. A fantastic experience to be coached by a highly credentialed former athlete.

Ms Ando Allan

Excel Sport Coordinator