Sport

It has been a massive term in Sport here at St Patrick’s College. I would like to thank the following staff that have Coached/Managed teams this term. Without them we can’t run the huge number of sports teams that we offer here at SPC.

Thanks to Jordan Verbeek, Liam Young, Kat Ward, Rebekah Curtis-Lester, Polly Durey, Daniel Sutton, Kirsten Rice, Steve Biggin, Michael Busscher, Peter Stonehouse, Tim Delaney, Brett Barfoot, Tess Jennings, Mike Kent, Josh Morris, Ryan Williams, Nathan Geaghan, Riley Booth, Liam Davie, Carly Twaits, Rebecca Gribble, David O’Doherty, Louise Macquire, Mark Stahl, Chris Gleeson, John Davey, Amanda Rossato, Shane Hayes, Damian Kinnersly, Andrew Chamings, Simon Dwyer and Paddy O’Brien. 

Swimming

It's been a busy fortnight for the SPC Swim team, competing in the ACC competition at MSAC on 26 March and the BAS Swimming Carnival at the Ballarat Aquatic Centre on 18 March.

At ACC, we swam in Division 1 this year. Competing against six other ACC schools, we won the Senior Division! 

1st: St Patrick’s College

2nd: St Bede’s College

3rd: Whitefriars

Overall, we placed third which was a mammoth effort considering this was our first time in Division 1.

1st: St Bede's, Mentone 564

2nd: Whitefriars, Mentone 551.5, Donvale

3rd: St Patrick's College, 496

4th: Parade College, Bundoora 486

5th: St Joseph’s College, Geelong 446

6th: St Bernards, Essendon 422 and

7th: Salesian 415 

Race placegetters: 

• 1st Open Medley Relay and 2nd Open Freestyle Relay – Ed Meddings, Jack Lanyon, Hugo Johnston and Hamish Fanning 
• 1st Ed Meddings (SPC Swim Captain) Senior A Freestyle, 1st Senior A Breaststroke, 1st Senior A Butterfly, 2nd Senior B Backstroke 
• 1st Miller Stott 16-Year-old Freestyle 50m, 1st Butterfly 50m, 1st Backstroke A, 2nd Breaststroke 50m  
• 1st Matt Mace 17-Year-old Freestyle 50m, 1st Breaststroke 50m, 3rd Butterfly 50m, 2nd Backstroke 50m 
• 1st Jack Lanyon Open Freestyle 50m, 1st Open Backstroke A 50m 
• 1st Bryce Scott 10 -13 Breaststroke, 1st Backstroke 50m A 2nd Bryce Scott Freestyle 50m, 2nd Breaststroke 50m A 
• 2nd Blake Scott 17-Year-old Freestyle 50m, 2nd Breaststroke 50m, 2nd Backstroke 50m 
• 2nd 17 Medley Relay and  2nd Freestyle Relay - Blake Scott, Matt Mace, Ollie Daykin and Angus Morgan 
• 2nd Open Breaststroke B Hugo Johnston 
• 3rd Noah Connell 15 Years old Backstroke 

Congratulations to all the team who swam at ACC and/or at BAS Swim one week earlier, where we placed third again!  

Year 7 – Bryce Scott, Bentely Molloy, Charlie Bursill, Xavier Smith, Sebastian Gonzalez-Zhu 

Year 8 – Elliott Stott, Joseph Knobel, Liam Weissenfeld, Lachie Barr, Harrison Lis, Jack Fraser, Xxavier Ballinger 

Year 9 – Noah Connell, Tyson Meek, Will Richardson, Jackson Kane, Theo Vanderkley, Kingston Kydd, Oscar Down 

Year 10 – Ethan McColl, Paddy Casey, Fred Foley, Lenny Ireland, Max Aylward 

Year 11 – Matt Mace, Blake Scott, Miller Stott, Ollie Daykin, Angus Morgan 

Year 12 – Ed Meddings, Jack Lanyon, Hugo Johnston, Hamish Fanning and Tom Urquhart. 

Two records were also broken at BAS and we congratulate the following students on this fantastic achievement:

• Open Boys B Freestyle Relay – Blake Scott, Tom Urquhart, Hamish Fanning and Hugo Johnston
• Boys Under 22 200 Medley Relay – Jack Lanyon, Ed Meddings, Miller Stott fand Matthew Mace

Well done team – I'm very proud of you ALL and look forward to the VSAC Swim on 14 May. 

– Louise Macquire, Swimming Coordinator

ACC Cricket: Victory for SPC

On Tuesday, 25 March the St Patrick’s College 1st XI Cricketers created history when they became the first St Pat's side to win an ACC title.

After losing the toss we were sent in to bat and five early wickets had us in big trouble at 5/62 after 17 overs, only Lachlan Rea showing any solid resistance to be 22 not out. Once he was joined by Max Bunworth in the middle the match started to turn in our favour. A match-defining partnership of 79 from only 70 balls swung the momentum our way. Max was dismissed for his highest score for the season of 33 from only 30 balls, and then Lachlan was dismissed for his highest score of 68 from 96 balls to have us at 8/146. A late cameo from Lachy McPhan helped push the score to 8/160 from our 35 overs. A sensational recovery in the final 18 overs to set St Joseph’s a significant total to chase.

In response, St Joseph’s made a slow and steady start and it wasn’t until the 10th over that the skipper Linc Koliba claimed the first wicket. Jack McMahon then claimed his first wicket as he maintained his excellent opening bowling spells. St Joesph’s had progressed to 2/55 and were looking quite comfortable. However three quick wickets - two  to Harry Sutherland and one to Armi Wakefield - reduced them to 5/60, a very similar position to what we were in at drinks. Following the drinks break the boys stepped up a gear and in the next seven overs took 5 for 15 to seal a comprehensive 85-run victory.  The Vice Captain, Armi Wakefield who missed out with the bat, was inspiring in the field with three catches and three wickets. He was well support by Harry Sutherland and Lachy McPhan who each took two, before the skipper Linc Koliba claimed the final wicket to also finish with two. 

Overall, a wonderful finish to a season in which the boys were undefeated. A great team result with all players contributing in the Grand Final.

2nd XI Cricket

In our final game of the BAS 2nd XI Cricket for the 2024/2025 season SPC Blue faced Ballarat Grammar in the final for 3rd and 4th. Unfortunately, the lateness of this game meant that Cricket came a poor second to Football and Soccer training, and thus we were only able to raise 5 available players. This meant that SPC Blue now finished in fourth place but it has still been a fantastic season of cricket. Instead, we created a scratch match between the two sides, and I wish to note the performances of our 5 boys on the day. 

Ben Brodie scored 2 before spooning up a hard struck ball back to the bowler and with the ball he captured 1/13.

Will Eeles scored12 before he was bowled and he kept for the whole innings, taking a fine catch behind the stumps.

Ujjwal Gambhir scored 3 before he was bowled and with the ball, he took 1/6

Raghav Anand scored a magnificent 25 before being runout attempting to win the game in the final overs and with the ball, he collected 1/12

Zephyr Niehus scored 11 Not Out and helped lead his side to victory, whist with the ball he bowled with pinpoint accuracy with 1/3

Congratulations on everyone who has played for SPC Blue 2nd XI this season and all the very best moving forwards with your cricket careers.

Mr Busscher

SPC Blue 2nd XI Coach

Junior Cricket

SPC Blue

This week we were on the road again for our final match of the season against Ballarat Grammar Blue at Ballarat Grammar. SPC Green batted and made a very competitive 4/158 from our 20 overs. Azaad Madahar made 30 retired, Mitch Kane 27 retired, Lachie Hill 26, and Harry Clark made 13 retired. 

On the bowling side, SPC Green kept things tight, restricting Ballarat Grammar Blue to 4/128 from their 20 overs. Jacob Snowden took 2/9 from 2 overs, and Cooper Daly took 2/25 from his spell. All the boys fielded well, and were very positive and backed up their teammates.

Another good win to the Green Machine, which topped off a very good season, with our team winning most of our games, and importantly, playing in a positive and enthusiastic manner.

Well done to all the boys who played, and thanks to all the staff in the Sports Department for making the games possible. Also, a big thanks to Mr Tim Delaney for his efforts scoring and managing the team each week.

Yours in Cricket,

Mr Peter Stonehouse SPC Green Coach

SPC Gold

Round 6: SPC Gold 5/187 def BG Gold 6/134

Gold Captain: Jack Costigan

Manager(s) Mr Kent/Mr. Morris

SPC Gold met Ballarat Grammar Gold on a lightning fast out field at Vic Park 1 and 2 grounds.  Conditions were very warm and sunny once again. Starting with 14 players we were slightly undermanned. Nevertheless, our boys maintained a good standard in the field showing good endeavour and concentration.

Mr Morris set up the cones and stumps before we arrived once again. This allowed us to get though our overs in good time, finishing at about 5:20pm. Thanks Mr. Morris.

NB: Matteo Spurgo played despite being unwell. He managed to carry himself well and contributed with bat and ball. Well done Matteo, this was an outstanding selfless effort. Also, Armi and Belinda Wakefield collected the boundary hats from both grounds after the game. Thanks guys.

Highlights for SPC Gold:

Batting: H Williams 48 ret., M Wheelahan 26 ret., J Smyth 16 ret., E Mason 14 ret., E Wakefield 14.W James 44 runs, J. Costigan retired 34 runs, H Williams 26 runs retired.

Bowling: J. Costigan took 2/ 7 from two overs with a wicket each to W. James, L. Anderson and M. Wheelahan. 42 Sundries were conceded this week. 

Fielding: The wicket keeping was solid again with L Anderson and E. Wakefield sharing the duties. It was an uneventful day with the gloves. The ground fielding was much improved this week with very few blemishes.

Again, our batting dominated the outcome with Henry Williams leading the way with an outstanding effort. Henry making 48 including eight boundaries and a ‘Tommy Mix’ from twenty deliveries. Our bowling was adequate again without being outstanding and the fielding and field placings served the team well. 

Today’s result was a good team effort with contributions from all players particularly with all members of the team batting or bowling. Mr. Morris and I are very pleased to witness the lads enjoying their cricket, gaining invaluable experience in the SPC cricket/sports program.

The game was played in good spirits and a healthy respect for the opposition was evident again this week. Also, it was very pleasing to see the lads combining and play as a team. Congratulation boys.

Good cricketing,

Mr Kent & Mr Morris

Football: Respect Cup

St Patrick’s College 8–8–56 defeated St Joseph’s College 5–14–44

Goal Kickers: Kade Hilton 3, Tashaun Wright 1, Armi Wakefield 1, Charlie Elliott 1, Harvey Lewis 1, Riley Hiscock 1

Best Players: Ethan Drever, Kade Hilton, Jake Abrams, Fraser Molan, Lincoln Koliba, Tessie Liem

On Wednesday, 19 March, St Patrick’s College 1stXVIII played in the annual Respect Cup match against St Joseph’s Geelong. This is a very important game on the calendar and coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8. The day also offers an opportunity for the boys to support our ‘sister school’ Loreto College Ballarat in their game against Sacred Heart Geelong.The boys played first in extremely challenging conditions in the middle of the day. The temperature would have been pushing 35C in the direct sunlight. 

The first quarter didn’t start well for the Paddy boys, St Joey's fast paced style of football caught our boys off guard, and we were quickly a goal down. We won the very next centre clearance through Ethan Drever, and Charlie Elliott who had followed the ball forward after winning the ruck tap kicked a great running goal to get us on the board. However, we were quickly back to one goal down as Joey's kicked a goal from the very next centre clearance. 

Whilst we were doing well in the contest, Joey's were penetrating our D50 with fast, aggressive ball movement. Jacob Martin, Jake Abrams and Tessie Liem were under a lot of pressure with the ball coming in so fast. They did a great job considering the amount of ball that was coming their way. We went to the quarter time break down by 15 points. Fraser Molan kicked an absolute dart early in the second quarter to find Riley Hiscock who kicked truly from 25m out on a tight angle. The second quarter was a bit of an arm wrestle as we tried to stifle their ball movement with greater pressure. As with most SPC teams, we were very strong in the contest and our tackling was impressive, however we were struggling to move the ball on the long skinny GMHBA ground. Each team would kick one more goal for the quarter and we were down by 10 points going into half time.

Second Half

We made a couple of positional changes at half time that paid dividends immediately. Lachie Squire was moved to half back with Taj Bowman and Kade Hilton was moved to the midfield rotation. All three would become pivotal to us having a much stronger second half. 

Kade Hilton was the most influential player on the field in the second half with a couple of goals to go along with multiple goal assists. Tesloach Lual along with inside-mids Ethan Drever, Fraser Molan, Lincoln Koliba and Kade Hilton continued to drive the ball forward from stoppages and we started to get control of the game. Some boys started to cramp in the stifling conditions, and we had to rotate very heavily to keep fit players on the ground.

We battled on to level the score at three-quarter time. We felt that we had a bit of momentum as the Joey's players started to really tire. After a couple of early misses from us, Joey's kicked the first goal of quarter. Even though the players were tired, the intensity around the contest lifted, with the stakes of the game becoming extremely evident.   We kicked the next goal to tie the scores again at 43 apiece. Tashaun Wright got on the end of a deep entry from impressive newcomer Archie Elliott, but he narrowly missed to the near post. Kade Hilton took the advantage from a free kick to Tashaun Wright off a deep entry and we were up by seven with five minutes to play. Kade then had another very smart piece of play where he was able to get behind the defence and smartly centred the ball to Tashaun who kicked truly under immense pressure.

Jason Lappin

1st XVIII Captain

Respect Cup Captain's Speech:

Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak on the significance of this day, the Respect Cup. 

We come together to celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March. We gather to honour the achievements, strength, and resilience of women worldwide. It’s a day to reflect on the progress we’ve made and the work still ahead in creating a world where women are treated with equal respect, opportunity, and dignity.

In the fight for gender equality, football has emerged as a powerful vehicle for change. Traditionally seen as a male-dominated sport, football is now increasingly becoming a platform to promote inclusivity and empower women. From local leagues to AFLW to the Respect Cup, football has provided women the opportunity to showcase their talent, challenge societal norms, and break down barriers.

Through the game, we see how respect for women can be fostered and celebrated. Football unites people, regardless of gender, and offers a space where both men and women can thrive equally. It teaches teamwork, leadership, and perseverance—values that are essential in the ongoing fight for equality.

On this day to celebrate and remember International Women’s Day, let us reflect on how football, as a universal language, continues to drive change. Let’s commit to ensuring that every woman, on and off the field, is respected, empowered, and given the opportunity to succeed. Together, we can create a more inclusive world for all.

Fraser Molan

2025 1st XVIII Captain

BAS Senior Volleyball

This term, a select group of students from St Patrick’s College had the privilege of participating in one of the most dynamic and technically demanding sports Victoria has to offer: volleyball. The team, composed of both seasoned players and enthusiastic newcomers, embraced the challenge with determination and gusto.

Although the time available for training was limited— confined to weekly lunch sessions— the boys made the most of every opportunity to improve. Through consistent effort during training and matches, the players quickly applied the valuable feedback provided by their coaches to build upon their technical skills and game sense.

A key factor in the team’s growth and success was the outstanding leadership of their captain, Gabe Bristow. Gabe’s calm demeanor, thorough understanding of the game, and previous experience in volleyball proved invaluable, especially during challenging rallies. His leadership helped foster a cohesive and resilient team spirit.

The St Patrick’s boys are to be commended for their dedication and commitment throughout the competition. Although the Term 1 competition has concluded, their eyes are already set on future opportunities. We wish them the best of luck in potential upcoming matches and encourage any students interested in joining the volleyball team to stay tuned for updates. We look forward to seeing even more of our students join this exciting sport in the future.

Daniel Sutton & Kirsten Rice

BAS Senior Volleyball Coaches

Communication

The best form of communication we have with parent/guardians is via the Parent Access Module (PAM). Students require permission to participate in all sport. Parent/guardians will receive the information through a PAM activity permission. Please ensure that you read the information prior to giving permission and that you also talk to students about the information. 

The daily messages are one of the best ways we can distribute information to students about sports that are on offer and where sign-up meetings will be held. Students should check the daily messages regularly.

Once students have signed up for a sport, we will be adding them into a MS Teams group where they can communicate directly with their coach. Students must communicate with their coach if they are unavailable for a match so we can find a replacement to ensure we have a full team for each match.

If students are unsure of how to sign up for a sport or want more information, they can visit sports staff in the gymnasium. 

SPC Sport Uniform

All sport uniforms can be purchased at Dobsons Uniform Shop, located in Mair St, Ballarat. Students need to ensure they are in the correct uniform to participate in Sport. We have a fantastic uniform, and students should wear the Green, White and Blue with pride. 

The general sport uniform is the navy blue polo top, navy shorts and white socks. Certain sports will require very specific clothing e.g. 1st XI Cricketers require SPC Whites, SPC cricket shirt and SPC cricket cap. Students should check with their coach as to what is required. Also remember to wear sunscreen at all times.

I wish all students and coaches the best in 2025. Always play the game in the right spirit, wear the correct uniform and respect the facilities, home and away. St Patrick’s College is steeped in sporting tradition and 2024 was an historic year for Sport at SPC. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me (jlappin@stpats.vic.edu.au) or our Sports Administrator Mr Simon Dwyer (sdwyer@stpats.vic.edu.au) at the College with any questions.