Clontarf Academy

It’s been an action-packed fortnight for the St Pats Eels with the boys enjoying a host of activities.

The big highlight was the Victorian Clontarf Cup held at City Oval last Wednesday. The carnival kicked off on Tuesday evening with a briefing at the Central Wendouree Bowls Club, the members welcoming our boys from all over Victoria and taking them for a roll before a BBQ dinner and a brief of the day to follow.

Wednesday turned on the sunshine and the St Pat's Eels were represented by our Year 8 cohort for the AFL9’s carnival and our Yr 10/11’s represented for our senior game. Both teams performed admirably, playing great team-first footy, bringing home the cups in both divisions. While footy was the focus, these days are about much more. Our senior boys spent time in the morning with our partners, conducting Mock Interviews and completing Graduate Employment Plans. 

Our partners give a lot to our program and to have so many on board on the day to share their knowledge and experience is invaluable for our boys. As well as supporting in the employment space on the day our partners were running water, umpiring, timekeeping and providing food for our boys. 

The way our boys carried themselves on the day was terrific and the bonds they are developing with Clontarf boys from around the state is great to see, highlighting the importance of these days. Keep an eye out in future editions of the Crest for more photos of the footy action.

We followed up on Thursday by hosting the visiting Japanese students from Shibuya High School. Wullaki Holloway, Requan Taylor, Joseph Wesley and Aiden Shields hosted the group, sharing their stories and culture. A highlight was the spear throwing demonstration on the oval. The boys each had a go at using a ‘woomera’ and learnt first-hand how difficult a skill it is to master. The weather drove us back into the Clontarf room where we shared a meal of kangaroo burgers.

Our visitors enjoyed the experience and for our boys, it was another opportunity to show off their leadership capability’s while proudly showing off their culture.

Over the last fortnight we had our two final sessions of AFL Umpire Training. The boys have really engaged in the program, and it will be great seeing them running around local footy leagues earning some cash on the whistle. Thank you to Ben Rofe, Steve Keating and Joshua James for delivering such a great program for our boys.

Two of our boys entered works into the Flanagan Art Prize Clontarf Award. We are grateful for the support of St Patrick’s College for opening up a specific prize for Clontarf students nationally. It was great to see artworks come in from Clontarf students right across Australia. After speaking to a number of young Clontarf artists that entered work, this will only grow legs. The pride these boys have after selling a piece of artwork is immense and shows that this can be a legitimate pathway for those willing to commit. St. Patrick’s Clontarf Academy member Trevor Wortley was the winner of the Clontarf prize for his work ‘Bundi’.