Sport News

As I reflect on my first year at the College in this role I am amazed at the depth of the program, the breadth of offerings in sport and the commitment of so many staff, coaches, parents and boys to represent the college. It is nice to win, and we have a strong history of success but we also play sport for the opportunities it provides boys to grow. It forms a significant part of a boy’s education, and for many it is the area where they shine and gain confidence in themselves.

Over the last few newsletters I have outlined the changes within sport that we will see rolled out over the course of 2023 in our programs. The intention of these is simply to offer a better product for the boys and our Marist community. The key pillars of the initiatives are better communication, more consistency within sports and across sports, higher expectations of everyone, players, coaches, staff and supporters, more training, better training and integrated training so boys can successfully compete across multiple sports and get the balance with other co-curricular and academic demands and ensuring we find meaningful competition for as many boys as we can across the entire college.

Term 1 provided a number of highlights including our very successful swim team who were pipped by St Peter’s Lutheran College but again produced an extremely high level of performance across the entire program. We were interrupted somewhat again in Term 1 with COVID-19 and weather, with multiple rounds lost in cricket, AFL and volleyball but many boys were able to put on great performances, highlighted by our 1st XI cricket team who went down to the last over of the last match with a chance at winning the premiership.

Term 2 saw our successful Cross Country team defend their AIC championship, winning their sixth in a row. Football and rugby had mixed seasons and our chess boys performed admirably within major honours.

Term 3 saw us defend our Track and Field championship in impressive style with a 130 win over second place for their eighth title in a row, and rugby league and basketball provided an opportunity for many boys to represent the college. Our tennis team, much like our cricketers, went down to the last day with a chance of winning the premiership but it was not to be. Hockey provided an opportunity again for boys on Friday nights and we also had touch and E-sports in Term 4 where Marist won the inaugural championship.

It has been another huge year and there are many people to thank for their contribution.

Firstly our co-ordinators

• AFL - Mr Brett Gillett
• Cricket - Mr Mitch Reid
• Volleyball - Mr Adam Knight
• Swimming - Mrs Christine Baillie and Mr James Boyce
• Football - Mr Derek Lennon
• Rugby - Mr Mitch Reid & Mr Corey Lucas
• Cross Country - Mr Mitch Reid
• Chess - Mr Dan Bull & Mr Tim Humphry
• Tennis - Mr Andrew Ward
• Rugby League - Mr Ryan Apps
• Basketball - Mr John Lambourne
• Hockey - Ms Kathryn Badini
• E-Sports - Mr Chris Forster & Ms Justine Natoli
• Touch - Mr Derek Lennon
• Track and Field - Mr Derek Lennon

I want to also thank all the coaches and staff who are involved in these programs for who without the boys would not have the opportunity to participate. Head Groundskeeper Mr Callum Clark and the services team for preparing the facilities and putting forward one of the very best playing surfaces in Queensland each week. Thank you to the volunteers who man the canteens, and the leadership of Ms Rebecca Jorquera who makes it all happen. The Sports Office do all the organising behind the scenes to make sure the equipment, draws, information and organisation is taken care of, so thank you to Mr Mitch Reid and Mr Corey Lucas for your dedication to the sport program, and for going over and above so regularly to make sure everything happens smoothly. Thanks to Mr John Lambourne, the best Primary Head of Sport in the business. Thank you to our Strength and Conditioning team of Mr Simon Price and Ms Nadine Bradley for working hard to prepare our boys physically for competition. Thank you finally to all the boys, parents and supporters who make Marist the school it is.

Good luck to our cricket team in Canberra, our track and field team in Adelaide and our volleyball team on the Gold Coast for their upcoming competitions in the holidays. 

Tennis

Xmas Holiday Tennis Clinic 

Dates:        December 12th, 13th and 14th

Times:        8:00am to 11:30am

Cost:           $130.00 or $50.00 per day

Holiday Clinic:

• All standards welcome
• Stroke correction and analysis
• Fun and games
• Prizes
• Meet new friends
• Day finishes with a swim in the MCA pool.
• Students to be picked up at pool each day.

2023 Term 1 Coaching

Coaching term starts Week 2 of Term 1. 

For all bookings including the Christmas Holiday Clinic contact MCA Tennis Club via email on: MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au.

National Schools Challenge

After a successful AIC season in which the Track and Field program claimed a record 8th successive title, the athletes are continuing to challenge themselves against the best in the country. Head Coach, Mr Rob Martin will take a squad of 7 athletes – Lee Martin, James Prole, Joel Drew, Xavier Simms, Ben Caughley, Asher Parkin and Isaac Roach – to the National Schools Challenge in Adelaide to compete against the best in Australia. 

The Athletics Australia National Schools Challenge is a team-based competition for school students and will be conducted in 2022 as a National Final. The Marist athletes will contest the intermediate (U17) competition in an exciting format (see below) where the strength of the team is important. 

Track 

100m (2 per team)200m (2 per team)400m (1 per team)800m (2 per team)Swedish relay (100m, 300m, 200m, 400m) 

Field

Javelin (1 per team) 

Shot Put (1 per team) 

High Jump (1 per team) 

Long Jump (1 per team) 

We wish the boys all our best for the 1-day event held on the 12th December.

We would also like to acknowledge Lee Martin, Joel Drew, Asher Parkin and Zac Milligan who are competing at the Australian All Schools Track and Field Championships in Adelaide. All have been training hard since the AIC carnival and we wish them all the best.