AUSTRALIAN ALL SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

On Saturday the 27th of August Matthew V and Finn M competed at the Australian All Schools Cross Country Championships at Oakbank Racecourse in Adelaide.

Results:

Boys U16 4km – Finn M 49th with a time of 14:59

Boys U18 6km – Matthew V 32nd with a time of 21:33

Congratulations to both Matthew and Finn on their incredible achievement. To represent your state is sensational. It is a testament to all your hard work and training runs behind the scenes. Well done.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Senior Boys AFL – Victorian State Champions!

Congratulations to the Senior Boys AFL side who, last week played and won their Grand Final against Grovedale at Tony Sheehan Oval, Latrobe University, the first team to do so since 2011.

The team lead by captain and best on ground, Henry S were never really challenged after Grovedale kicked the first goal of the game. Henry continually put his body on the line, often taking on and beating multiple opponents, he was hellbent on ensuring losing was never an option. Vermont kicked into the breeze in the first term and managed multiple goals whilst keeping the opposition to 1 goal, their eventual total of goals for the day.

Hayden L along with teammates, Ty G, Tommy B and Dru P dominated the defensive zone repelling continual attacks and in the first half and set up creative forward plays in tricky conditions. A hero of the semi-finals Aiden L started in the ruck and gave Vermont first use out of the centre continuously. Matt M combined well with Lachie B and Aiden C in the middle/half forward roles to ensure the ball stayed in our half. They all arrived with the energy required to set the tone, that nothing was going to get in the way of victory. Up forward Oscar D had some swagger and drive to win, as did Kalan P and the often-mercurial Mitch T and Jake M. Vermont had the wind in the second term and piled on another 5 goals and for many parents and spectators the game was over.

In the second half Grovedale matched the fight at times but they were no match for the class across the entire ground in the Vermont side. Grovedale still kicked 5 behinds with the breeze and threatened at times, but Vermont outnumbered and were tougher in the contest when it mattered.

That was the story of this group, they were rarely beaten in the contest. Once they got some confidence and belief out of defeating Lilydale in the EMR stage then beating Brentwood in the EMR Final, this group of fine young men had a sniff that they could be on the verge of something very special.

Being a very even and tall outfit that could play in swamp like conditions and in the dry, they were always going to be hard to beat. This was also matched with an amazing attitude and will to win, I personally couldn’t have been prouder.

Thanks to Peter Henderson for his extra set of wise eyes each week and thanks also to the sports department Amy Malander and Shaun Gillespie for organising the buses and washing some horrendous jumpers.

Sadly our journey together has come to an end. I have truly loved being the coach of this group but am so thankful that their efforts were rewarded with the title of STATE CHAMPIONS. Well done, you have made history for VSC and everyone was thrilled.

Senior Boys Australian Football Team

Henry S (C), Aidan C, Aiden L, Chad B, Cooper H, Dru P, Fletcher C, Hayden L, Hayden S, Jack W, Jake C, Jake M, Jaxon X, Kalan P, Lachlan B, Lachlan S, Mathew M, Mitchell T, Oscar D, Patrick C, Samuel R, Thomas B, Thomas W, Ty G.

Also thanks to Mitch D (runner), Hudson W and Dylan S (scorers/timekeepers)

Coach Seamus Billings and Assistant Coach Peter Henderson

Senior Girls Hockey

After a late call up due to another team pulling out, the Senior Girls’ Hockey Team were invited to compete at the State Finals at the Footscray Hockey Centre on the 16th of August after finishing Second in the Eastern Metropolitan Zone. Despite missing a few players and being physically delayed by a broken down tram on the drive over to the other side of the city, we had a really successful day out. After pulling up late, we had to rush on the field to play our first match against Suzanne Cory High School. The girls played an amazing match and came out victors with a 4-0 win. Our next match was then against MacRobertson Girls’ High, where we came from down 1-0 to clutch our second win 2-1. Lastly we played Balwyn High School to see who would top the Pool to play in the Grand Final. Balwyn High beat us at the Eastern Zone finals 5-0 and had many experienced players. Despite holding them to 0-0 at half time, we unfortunately ended up going down 4-0 after a rush of a few late goals. Despite this though, the girls should be so proud of their efforts – second in the pool at State Finals isn’t a bad effort, especially considering a number of our team had never played before! Special shout out to Sasha E (Year 12) and Meagan G (Year 11) for their leadership!

DIVISION ATHLETICS

On Thursday the 18th of August 150 of Vermont’s finest athletes competed at the Waverley Division Track & Field event at Knox Athletics Track. Despite the wild wind which saw cancellation of the hurdles, it was most certainly good to be back after a 2-year hiatus!

Vermont started the day strong, narrowly leading the points after the morning session of track and field events.

Special mention to the following students for filling events in age groups above their own: Grace G of year 7 competed in the U20G 800m, Olivia D of year 9 competed in the U20G 400m, and Mackenzie E of year 11 competed in the U20G 1500m. Your efforts meant that we were able to remain competitive

Team Vermont finished the day as overall winners, as well as taking home the senior and intermediate shields.

WINNING RELAY TEAMS:

U13G – Yana T, Felicity L, Lila D, Sophia T

U14B – Ryan S, Derek K, Josh C, Jeth W

U15G – Samantha P, Ella D, Madeleine G, Taya C

U15B – Usman U, Thomas L, Mohammed H, Sam G

U16G – Evie P, Ruby D, Eva C, Jemma K

U20B – Lachlan S, Jack W, Mitch D, Noel J

U20G – Paisley S, Joey W, Jasmine N, Vicente W

AGE GROUP CHAMPIONS

U13G – Olivia M

U15G – Samantha P

U16G – Evie P

U17B – Jordan D

U20G – Joey W

U20B – Mitch D

Thank you to staff members Mike Stevens, Shaun Gillespie, Matt Squire, Cara Macfarlane, Cathy Dwyer, Greg Sutherland and preservice teacher Mel Donald for their assistance running events on the day. The Eastern Metropolitan Region Track & Field event will be held on Monday the 10th of October at Knox Athletics Track.

INTERMEDIATE ROUND ROBIN

Girls Hockey

On the 9th of August, the intermediate girl’s hockey team had the opportunity to compete in the Waverley Division comp at the Hawthorn Malvern Hockey Club, in Malvern. After a scramble for mouthguards and shin guards, we had our first game against Highvale SC.

It was a slow start but eventually we started to get the ball rolling and finished the game with a fantastic 2 – 0 win. Straight afterwards we had our second game against Mount Waverley SC, and a chance to get some fresh players on the field and to also implement new strategies and tactics. Though it was a difficult game, everyone settled into their positions wonderfully and our game plan worked wonders resulting in a well deserved 1-0 win over Mount Waverley.

Since we had won both our games this immediately put us in the finals. After a well needed break we got back onto the field with unbreakable spirit. In the finals we faced Mount Waverley SC. We put all our efforts but for majority of the game we stayed down 1-0, until we managed to get in a sneaky but brilliant last-minute goal putting us and Mount Waverley in a tie at the end of the match. As a result, we went into a penalty shootout. We had 5 players shoot in the penalty, scoring only 2 out of the 5 but our amazing goalie managed to keep 4 out of the 5 that Mount Waverley hit resulting in a fabulous win in the penalty shootout 2 – 1. Spirits were high and unbreakable at the end of the day due to our grand final win. Though we put our team together quite last minute, what won our games was our teamwork and dedication. Thank you to Mr Gillespie for organising/coaching this event and buying some mouthguards as well.

Next round Tuesday the 11th of October

Report written by Areeba S.

Boys/Mixed Hockey

The Intermediate Boys Hockey Team had a really good day out at the Hawthorn Hockey Centre. We started off with a relatively inexperienced but eager team who were keen to put their best effort on the field. We started off against Mount Waverley SC who had a star Victorian player which was hard to nullify, and we ultimately lost 5-0. Next up we redeemed ourselves with a hard fought win over Highvale SC 1-0. That meant we met Mt Waverley again in the final, and we had a much improved game only losing 3-0, with the score remaining at 0-0 for the majority of the first half!

Shoutout to the leadership from Niklas H who was fantastic with his skills and explaining of the game play to his teammates. Well done to all involved!

Table Tennis

Vermont’s Year 9 A Boys, A Girls, B Boys and B Girls team made their way to Kilsyth Sports Centre for a fun day of Table Tennis. The teams arrived ready (and cold) to strive for victory against Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, and Highvale.

With great enthusiasm, the Vermont Girls B team won all their matches and were the overall winners for the girls B team. “It was a great experience to play against other schools” one of the B team winners stated. After a tough and difficult fight, the Vermont A Girls team came close but was not able to defeat the other schools. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to play and make friends from other schools.”

The Vermont boys B team and A team both played well, with the boys B team just losing against the other teams. After a consistent determined effort throughout the day, the A Boys team made it to the Finals against Glen Waverley. There were some well-fought matches and tension was high on both sides with VSC pulling through to move on to the next division."

Boys/Mixed Basketball

The Inter boys basketball teams were both brilliant in the recent tournament. The B team had a rather interesting day with three very close matches, including a delayed nail biter in game two. They ended the day with one win, one draw and one loss. There seemed to be some controversy in the B tournament though, as some schools had players playing in both the A and B team for their schools. This caused quite the uproar from all involved.

The A team played brilliantly across the three matches, winning all games by double digits. First up, was a comfortable win over Glen Waverley with the boys pressing on defence to cause multiple turnovers and score some easy baskets in transition. It wasn’t always easy, though, with Highvale and Mount Waverley both coming out hot against us. What was great to see was that the team never got caught up in the bravado of some of the other teams. Despite being undersized and mostly a team of year 9s, the boys played well and will move onto the next round.

Well done to all involved – it was a great day!

Next round Friday the 14th of October

Girls Basketball

Inter girls Basketball teams had a fun day out, and the two teams had wildly different experiences. Our B team were dominant, scoring at will. They won all three of their games by 20+ points, sharing the ball around and having some fun. Olivia D must have averaged over 20 points per game, scoring 30 points against one of the schools.

Our A team had a much more competitive draw, unfortunately not getting through to the next round despite every game coming down to a “Collingwood like “close finish. We had a habit of starting very slowly being 10-15 points behind at half time in all three games, then coming back to win one game and loose the other two by very slim margins. All games were played in good spirits, and everyone left pretty happy with their efforts. Mr B.

YEAR 8 ROUND ROBIN

Table Tennis

Vermont's Year 8 A Boys, A Girls, B Boys, and B Girls teams spent the day playing table tennis at Kilsyth Sports Centre. Everyone arrived thrilled and nervous to compete against the competing schools' Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, and Highvale. Vermont A Boys advanced to the finals but were unable to progress despite some heated and close games. The A Girls team also advanced to the finals but were defeated by Glen Waverley.

All of the teams appreciated the intensity of the tournament and were pleased with their overall performance.

Congratulations to all of the schools.

Written by Amy R Yr9

On Monday the 28th of August, some Year 8 students went to Kilsyth stadium to play table tennis and compete against other schools. It ended up being a very surprising, yet fun day. The teams were split into 2 groups, the A and B teams. The girls and boys in the A teams then had a shot at qualifying for the finals. Throughout the day students got to explore their table tennis skills while competing with students they didn’t know. While the competitions commenced, coaching in the match was allowed. For the girls’ A team, they had 2 Year 9 girls giving helpful tips to increase the chances of getting to the finals. It was tough with many challenges including having to play against very talented table tennis players, but in the end, all the hard work paid off with the girl's A team qualifying for the finals. Even though the boys A team missed out on the finals by only 1 point, which was a very close match, the boys performed with incredible effort with their matches and sportsmanship towards all the other teams. The girls then ended up not winning the finals but still had a lot of fun and were grateful for the chance to play against other students. At the end of the day, the year 8 students had a lot of fun and did an awesome job at showing the school values and sportsmanship towards the other staff, students, and community.

Written by Emily W Yr8

Boys/Mixed Basketball

On Monday, Both A and B teams had a great day on the court. The Bs, with some expert coaching from Archie and Koby, won their first 2 games comfortably. They came up against Glen Waverley in their last game. It was close leading into the 2nd half, with Glen Waverley only up by 5 points. Unfortunately, we couldn’t turn the game around losing by 15 points in the end.

The A Team played brilliantly with 3 great wins on the day. Glen Waverley gave us a bit of a scare in the last game. Through great leadership and teamwork, the boys turned the game back our way and won convincingly. Special thanks to Arwyn C and Aria W for assisting on the day.

Next round Friday the 21st of October

Year 7 Girls Basketball

Vermont’s A and B teams played at Dandenong Basketball Stadium on Monday. The girls did an amazing job with the A team falling agonisingly short of progressing by losing one game and the B teams beat every team by over 30 points. Thank you to Evie P and Millie H for coaching and all the girls for giving their best efforts. Great work girls.

Boys/Mixed Hockey

1st game

First game we played Mount Waverley which was a great game. They had 3 players that played hockey so we knew we had to bring our best and we nearly got them. They scored in the second minute of the first half and we knew we had to step up our game to stay in it and we did, the rest of the game the ball was in our half and we had multiple opportunities to score but we just couldn’t convert. Special mention to a couple of players who stood up: Max R, Jai H, Hamish K, Finn H in the end the final score was 1-0 Mount Waverley wins.

2nd game

In the second game we played Highvale which we stepped up and won. It was a tight 1st half with a 0-0 at halftime. A rev up speech from Mr Gillespie was delivered, and we came out roaring. The end result was a 2-0 victory which put us through to the final against Mount Waverley.

The Grand Final

In the final we came up against Mount Waverley again for a tough rematch. We went in hard expecting it to be a tough game and knowing it would be close. We didn’t realise how close though. The entire game there were near misses and close calls, and with a brilliant goalie performance by Harry G we ended the game with a score of 0 to 0. The next round was on the line as we went into a penalty shootout. Finn H flicked the first shot to the right hand side with a save from the MW goalie. Mount Waverley then cut through with a shot that unfortunately slipped through the defence of Liam W. We then broke through for a tie score by Jai A. Mount Waverley hit a foul slap and Will S attempted another shot to the right and missed. Mount Waverley finished the game with another masterful stroke.

Summary

The boys all played so well and we were super happy with our efforts. Even with the unfortunate loss we got to know the game better, gained experience, and we had fun. A VSC champion hockey team is certainly on the cards for next year.

GO VERMONT!!!

By Will S, Year 8

Girls Hockey

The Year 8 girls had their hockey competition on the 29/8. We had two opponents on the day, Highvale and Mount Waverley. Our first match was against Highvale, which we won 3-1 thanks to back-to-back goals by Lucy early on. Highvale fought back in the second half and made us work to protect our lead. We played the next game against Mount Waverley, aka the sunflower seeds. It was fairly even, but they scored from a short corner at the end of the first half to win 0-1. They went on to defeat Highvale in the third match of the day, meaning Vermont and Mount Waverley would face off again in the final. Fortunately, we were rested after having played in the first two games of the day.

In the first half of the game, no-one scored, but our awesome goalie, Grace, saved a goal from a short corner. In the second half, Mount Waverley had several more short-corners, but was unable to penetrate our miserly defence. On the last of these, goalie Grace kicked the ball away very hard, and sent it halfway down the pitch. Lucy, with her amazing running, got the ball and ran the rest of the way down the field. Mount Waverley managed to win the ball back, but Ottie came in and stole the ball back and took a strong shot at goals. Their goalie stopped it with her foot then, thinking her job was done, watched the ball spin back and roll into the goal.

Following the goal, we managed to control the ball and played keepings off as the clock ran down. While a few players have been named here, it was a solid job by the whole team, especially the way we defended and prevented our opponents from scoring on most occasions. We’re now looking forward to a few more training sessions before heading off to regionals.

Report by Grace and Mr. Paragreen

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