SSP NEWS

WESTERN HEIGHTS COLLEGE — VICTORIA’S NO. 1 SOCCER SCHOOL

We are officially Victoria’s No. 1 Soccer school. Western Heights College has reached new heights, with the school now officially recognised as Victoria’s No. 1 soccer school following a remarkable SSV tournament results that has seen our teams dominate school soccer across the state.

The rankings were confirmed after Western Heights secured its fourth SSV State Championship, with our Intermediate Girls producing a superb 2–0 win in the State School Victoria Final.

Earlier in the week, our Year 8 Boys were crowned Victorian Champions, producing exciting and entertaining soccer, all the way through to the final game.

Our Year 7 Girls were equally impressive. They cruised through every round of the competition before putting on a dominant display in the Victorian Final, continuing what has been an extraordinary year for our girls’ program.

And then there was our U/15 Boys...

After dismantling Maribyrnong 6–0 in the Victorian Final, the boys earned the right to represent Victoria on the national stage in the Bill Turner Cup. Western Heights defeated the best of Country NSW, overcame the ACT champions, and then defeated the winners of Northern NSW to book a place in the National Cup Semi-Final. 

In the semi-final, the boys produced one of their best performances of the year, thumping a Newcastle side 6–0. That set up a national final against Westfields Sports Academy. Victoria against NSW, Western Heights against one of Australia’s most renowned sporting schools. The boys were magnificent. They went into half-time leading 2–0, just 35 minutes away from being crowned the best schoolboy soccer team in Australia. Westfields fought their way back into the contest, eventually bringing the game level at 2–2 after full time. The final came down to a Golden Goal playoff where the next goal wins.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, luck simply wasn’t on our side.

To finish Australian Runners-Up after competing against the very best teams in the country is an extraordinary accomplishment. The boys represented Western Heights with enormous pride, showed courage throughout the tournament and gained an experience that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The performance was immense. The heartbreak was devastating. But the lessons, memories and experience gained were priceless. When we look at the results across the entire program, it becomes clear just how special this year has been.

2026 — WESTERN HEIGHTS COLLEGE SOCCER RESULTS

🏆 Year 7 Girls — Victorian Champions

🏆 Year 8 Boys — Victorian Champions

🏆 Year 9/10 Girls — Victorian Champions

🏆 U/15 Boys — Victorian Champions

🥈 U/15 Girls — Victorian Runners-Up

🥈 U/15 Boys — AUSTRALIAN Runners-Up

🥈 Senior Girls — Victorian Runners-Up

🥈 Senior Boys — Victorian Runners-Up

Four Victorian Championships, Four Victorian Runners-Up and an Australian Grand Final appearance.

These results represent far more than trophies. They are the product of thousands of hours of training, commitment, sacrifice and belief from our students, coaches, staff and families. Western Heights College has built something truly special. We are not just participating in school soccer anymore. We are setting the standard. We have also received 2 spirit of sports awards for the way the students, coaches and staff have behaved.

WESTERN HEIGHTS COLLEGE - VICTORIA’S NO. 1 SOCCER SCHOOL

Netball News

Well what an amazing term 3 in the Netball Program!!! Bronze medallists at All Schools National Netball Championships in our Debut at the championship event. Some excellent results through the Netball Victoria Schools Championships and SSV State Finals in both girls and boys and all cohort groups. Melbourne Vixens high performance day engagement experiences. Some fantastic athlete achievements in selection and significantly making our new Sports and Entertainment Areana (SEA) our permanent home for our court sessions. Wow its been huge!!

QLD Tour 

In our debut year competing in the All Australian Netball Championships, we sent 20 students to the tournament in the Gold Coast. Students stayed at the Gold Coast Performance Centre in Runaway Bay which is like a smaller scale Australian Institute of Sport, providing a fully supported high performance environment for students accommodation and needs.

Throughout the 3-day tournament, our 2 teams competed against schools from throughout Australia in the Intermediate Development and the Intermediate High Performance divisions. Our Intermediate Development side finished fifth with 5x wins, 2x losses and a draw. Our High Performance team took out the bronze medal and finished with 6 wins and 2 narrow losses to cap off a fantastic tournament. 

Students also participated in an elite training session with past Australian Diamonds player Rosalee Jenkce, who was also a three time premiership coach with the QLD Firebirds and current Netball QLD Development Pathways Manager. Students then hit the sand and surf to relax, and have some fun attending the Gold Coast Aqua park. Followed was some shopping at Pacific Fair and dinner out before returning home to Melbourne.

All should be commended on their engagement participation and conduct throughout the experience.  

Tournament State Championship Events

Netball Victoria School Championships

JR Girls State Semi Finalists

Intermediate Girls – withdrawn due to being in QLD tournament

Intermediate Boys STATE CHAMPIONS!!!

SSV Tournaments

YR 7 Girls 3rd SSV State Finals

YR 8  Girls 3rd SSV State Finals

Intermediate Boys State Semi Finalists

Intermediate Girls WMR Runners Up

Senior Girls WMR Runner sUp

Melbourne Vixens High-Performance Experience

Our Yr 9-12 Students travelled to the State Netball Centre and attended a Melbourne Vixens High-Performance day appearance as part of our Netball Victoria/Melbourne Vixens Community Partnership. They participated in a session taken by Melbourne Vixens Assistant Coach Kate Upton and Australian 21&U player Lily Graham. Students then hit the Gym for an S&C Session before recovery pools and lunch. After the lunch break students discussed careers in sport with a Deakin University representative. 

Sports and Entertainment Arena

The Netball Program has settled well this term into its new home at our state of the art high performance training facility on site at WHC. The venue boasts elite grade timber flooring, a high performance gym, and a recovery centre including compression boots and capacity for yoga & mobility sessions. To have all these resources accessible on one site has been a fantastic benefit to all of our specialist sports programs in providing flexibility of sessions and experiences for student athletes. 

Athlete Achievements

Congratulations to the following students on their recent selections:

Victorian 12&U Girls Netball Team - Avery Pulepule 

Victorian Indoor Netball Team 14yrs Girls - Isabelle Meadon, Alyssia Ransfield and Iris Chan Chui

High Performance News

Levi Tabailagi (Modern Pentathlon – World Championships): 

Levi has recently returned home from China (Guiyang) competing against Senior Pentathletes, including former Olympians. It was very hot and high humidity for his competitions, with periods of heavy rain requiring re-scheduled competitions and even Levi’s first bout of drug testing – like many elite athletes all over the world.

The following write up was included in the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) for the Pentathlon World Championships

"We know that the Pentathlon World Championships can throw up surprises and age is less of a barrier than ever before. So it pays to do a quick check on the colts and debutants who will come seeking experience and potentially leave with something more tangible. On the men’s side, Levi Tubailagi of Australia is among the most precocious. The 15-year-old turned heads last month at the UIPM 2026 Pentathlon U17 World Championships with a 24sec Obstacle Racing performance and now will taste senior heat for the first time"

Modern Pentathlon Australia’s post event statement.

At just 15 years of age, Levi Tubailagi is the youngest member of the Australian team and produced a determined performance in Men’s Qualification B, finishing 27th overall with 1305 points

• Fencing: 3 victories – 140 points
• Obstacles: 24.81 – 371 points
• Swimming: 1:10.88 – 246 points

• Laser Run: 12:32.50 – 548 points

   

Levi’s obstacle performance was a highlight, with his 24.81-second effort contributing strongly to his overall result.

For the young Australian, competing against senior international athletes at a World Championships provides invaluable experience as he continues to develop and build his international career.

Please see the photo (taken by a UIPM photographer) of Levi in action.

The second week we moved to Beijing for the UIPM World Obstacle Championships, with the following results:

U17 400m                       11th

U17 100m                       11th

U17 3km Individual       5th

Open 3km Team           (not yet published?!)

U19 4x100m relay         2nd

The Australian Olympic Team even featured Levi on their Instagram story, which was pretty cool!

Massive congratulations Levi, we are so proud of you.

Blake Gullock – Pentathlon World Championships

We also had a Year 7 student Blake Gullock represent Australia at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships, where over 75 nations were represented. Blake persisted through the tough conditions (heat and humidity) to finish 10th on the 400m obstacle course, missing out on the finals by a mere 2 seconds. For the 100m Obstacle event, Blake had smooth runs for both his attempts, and he improved his time by 5 seconds between first (71sec) and a second (66sec) attempt.

In the 3km event, Blake had his best result, completing the 3km run with 20 obstacles in around 18minutes, finishing in 7th place for U15 boys – an incredible achievement given this is a world class event.

Competing internationally is an inspiring and a humbling experience. It's amazing to be able to meet athletes from all over the world as well as watch and learn from them.

Huge congratulations Blake, we can’t wait to see how your journey continues to progress.