SSP NEWS

Netball 

It has been a busy but exciting start to the school year in the Netball Specialist Sport Program. On Saturday 17th, February we facilitated an Advanced Netball Clinic for Year 6 Students in the region. This experience was created to expose potential student athletes to our SSP Netball program and more advanced coaching. On court the players received specialist coaching in their specific positions and then headed back to WHC for an introduction into strength and conditioning in the gym, a proprioception program on the wobble boards and beam and then an education and analysis session in the classroom. We are hoping this gives potential students greater insight into what the program has to offer. The Western Heights College Information Night on Wednesday 28th, February and the Specialist Sport Program Information Night on Wednesday 20th, March will be an opportunity for new students and families to further explore being part of the SSP Netball Program. 

We have also seen our Male High Performance Program kick off with high energy and enthusiasm. The player athletes have been put through fitness testing and are being introduced to on court coaching sessions and strength and conditioning sessions with our S&C staff. In such a short period, we have already seen significant improvement in their speed, agility and movement. They will also be lucky enough to have a specialist session with Australian Men’s Player Alastair Punshon and other great experiences along the way via the program. 

We are thrilled to have Zanna Woods as part of our specialist coaching team. She is a very talented player who has come through local pathways and represented Victoria at underage level, played for Collingwood who took out the Australian Netball Championships in 2023 and Zanna currently plays Championship Division in the Victorian Netball League for Geelong Cougars. She is a smart, agile and accurate goaler who will be working closely with our shooters over the year. 

We are looking forward to our first Netball Camp down at Anglesea on 4th- 5th March for the Year 9-12 students and our Year 7 and 8 students will be attending a day camp on 12th March.  This will be a great opportunity to bond as a group and enjoy the activities and opportunities on offer.

Kind regards,

The SSP Netball Coaching Team

AFL

The SSP AFL program is off to a flyer in 2024.  We are loving the enthusiasm our incoming students have shown for their new environment and way they have embraced the work load.  For our returning students there has been a noticeable lift in intensity and support for their teammates.

This year the program adds 2 high quality female coaches, AFLW player Georgie Prespakis and GWV Rebels assistant coach Katie McAloon.   WHC is immensely proud of our female cohort, their courage and effort is awesome. We are passionate about growing the AFLW component of our program. 

It is great to have 2023 year 12 students Edan Ibbetson and Zac McInnes return to us as coaches 2 day a week while developing their own footy.  A big part of the program is to develop young leaders and we will continue to educate the students through the month of March.

We are looking forward to continually pushing students to find a new level in their fitness, skills and work ethic as we settle into what is a new “standard” for our students.

Photos: Year 10 and 11 Cohort (Mondays session 4) and Year 10 stretch session

Susie Robinson, AFL Program Coach

Soccer

With the warm weather continuing it hasn’t slowed down the soccer program…In fact it is on fire with the new year 7’s leading the way.

The enthusiasm and desire to get better each session, there is a tremendous energy and culture forming with this cohort. They have embraced the college values and are determined to lead the way in becoming model students.

We are concentrating heavily on skill acquisition and speeding up the student’s speed of execution. This is a slow process, but the wheels are definitely in motion, and we are already seeing massive gains in this space.

We have also began teaching the kids the importance of analysing their own games and looking for various themes in games. Spatial awareness is key, as too is playing the ball up each section of the field and through different lines. Finding the ball level and outside their opponent was looked at as well as finding pockets of space in between the lines of play. This is an extremely valuable tool to have in order to become an intelligent soccer player. It will increase their soccer IQ and make the players more aware of spaces and lines in soccer games.

It has been such an enjoyable start of the semester and we are delighted with the kids we have in the program.

Joey Didulica, Head of Soccer Program

Basketball

2024 has started with a bang for the basketball program. 

Head Coach Kaleb Sclater put in a mountain of work at the end of 2023 finalising a partnership with Hoop City for our senior programs and it is now beginning to show dividends. Being able to provide our senior athletes with a chance to individualise and take ownership of their own program, it's truly allowed us to maximize each session on and off the floor. 

Our new Year 7 athletes have hit the ground running, having completed YoYo Tests and gym inductions, their work ethic and attention to detail has been impressive thus far. 

All of our athletes have come back after the break with great attitudes and are ready to get to work.

It's going to be a big end of Term with 3XCUP and the rest of our physical testing to take place. 

Let's get it!

Kris Blicavs, Director of Basketball, Athlete Development and Performance