Sport News

With the covers away and the posts going up, we transition from summer sport to winter sport this week. Boys should by now have finalised their decisions and completed registrations, and be preparing the equipment they need for the new season. Do your boots still fit? Do you need a mouthguard or shin pads? Does the Marist shirt still fit you? These are questions you should be asking yourself and solving before the return to school next term. From Steve Smith to Billy Slater, Ian Thorpe to Ash Barty, our own John Eales to Tim Cahill, the one set of characteristics they all had in common as athletes is their preparation was meticulous, attention to detail perfect, and their organisation skills exemplary. We cannot all play like these champions, but we can take our cues from them by making sure our organisation, preparation, and attention to detail are at our highest level, allowing us to all play at our sport at our optimal level.

All players must be registered to play. It has surprised me that this is something that needs to be emphasised. I appreciate this is a relatively new process for us, but it is very important. Instructions on registering are on the College app in the relevant sport section.

The Term 1 sports conclude this week with the Term 1 Sports Dinner, where we recognise the achievements of our leading sportsmen in the summer sports. Congratulations to all boys who won awards and well done to all these teams on fine seasons. No Marist first team finished lower than third in Term 1, with two premierships, a second, and a third. We will recognise the individual award winners in a future newsletter.

On assembly this week, we are acknowledging our undefeated premiers from across the competitions. Well done to all the members of these teams. From Term 1, these are:

Cricket: 3rd XI; 6th XI; 6 Gold

Volleyball: 3rd VI; 10C; 9C

In the holidays, we have basketballers in Adelaide at the national Marist Schools carnival, rugby players going to Canberra for a tour, and footballers going to the Gold Coast for a camp. Good luck to all boys and staff on these exciting opportunities, have a great time, work hard, and represent the College with pride.

Have a great holiday, relax, recharge, keep fit, and come back raring to go for the winter sports.

Football (Derek Lennon- Football Coordinator)

Our football trials have started and it is great to see so many keen and talented footballers getting involved in the AIC season. We have a trial round for A-C teams on Saturday 15 April v St Joseph’s College- Gregory Terrace. Details will be on the College App this week, along with teams for these matches. The teams listed for these matches are a point in time only, and not confirmed A, B and C teams for the season. We will continue working through these in Week 1 and the trial round on April 22 v St Laurence’s College, with a view to teams being finalised by the start of Week 2. 

I am often asked about selections and how teams end up the way they do. Ultimately coaches can only select on what they see in the trials. As parents, we see our kids week in week out playing and training, we know how good they are, but in a coaching setting we have a number of hours and a lot of boys to see and grade. It is challenging. We do use club details and previous teams as a guide but they support our views not make them for us. 

The Football handbook and calendar are available on the College App for more information about the program.

Football Year Coordinators

AFL (Ms Tara Franklin and Mr Adam Earnshaw- AFL Coordinators)

AIC AFL Umpire Education Program

Congratulations to Connor Campbell, Julian Cassar, Lucas Cottam, Bryce Franklin, Owen Hair, Joshua Jones, Archie Powell, Jonathan Olesk and Sarah Steel (MSM) who participated in the AIC AFL Umpire Education Program. The students enjoyed the program and also commented it gave them further clarity about the rules of the game. We are excited to see these individuals officiate our games in the coming years.

Swimming (Mr James Boyce - Head Swimming Coach)

Although the AIC swim season has concluded, many of our swimmers are still in training and gearing up for a number of upcoming major meets.

This week the following boys will represent Met North at the QLD School Sport Swimming Championships held at Chandler:

Nathaniel Christison, Lachlan Harney, Sam Mapledoram, Nicholas Marco, Phelix Meehan, Nicholas Osborn, Max Russo

We wish these boys the best of luck.

During the second week of the Easter Holidays (April 9-16), 29 members of the MCA Swim Club will compete at the Australian Age Swimming Championships to be held at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre. This is by far the largest team the swim club has ever sent to a National Championships and the group of swimmers have worked extremely hard for the best part of 11 months to compete against the best age group swimmers in the country. The club is very proud of the remarkable number of athletes that have qualified, and we look forward to seeing you all test yourself and your abilities against the best in Australia. Congratulations to the following club members on this achievement:

Chelsea Adams, Archie Bathe, Talia Bellette, Hannah Casey, Xavier Clarke-Bates, Noah Coco, Emily Draper, Isaac Farrelly, Jack Goyen, Lachlan Harney, Tom Hicks, Jack Kelly, James Leigh, Noah Magoffin, Nicholas Marco, Luca Martinuzzi, Josh Mason, Archer Mellifont, Siana O’Callaghan, Ryan O’Toole, Olivia Peck, Jack Purcell, Max Russo, Makenzie Sharpe, Kate Shield, Bailey Skinner, Lachie Vink, Abby Wild, Ruby Wilson

We look forward to your events and posting your achievements in next term’s newsletters.

Swimming training and competition meets for the MCA Swim Club continue over the winter months for all levels of abilities. We are fortunate to have a heated pool on offer and over the Easter break, a 25m pop-up wall will be installed to allow the pool to be split in two. This will create greater space and provide swimmers with the opportunity to train in short course environment. For those interested in swimming over the next two terms, please email Christine Baillie (swim@marash.qld.edu.au) and she will be able to assist you with your enquiries.

Tennis (Mr Andrew Ward - Director of Tennis)

As we hit the last week of training before the term ends, this week has seen great numbers turn out for trials for AIC open teams and the beginning of our process for picking the 1st X squad to train for free during Term 2.

A reminder that there is no squad on this week, only private lessons or makeup lessons for those who have missed them during the term.

Holiday Clinic

We are holding a holiday clinic for all levels on 11-13 April from 8:00am-11:30am. Parents can pick up their children from the pool at the conclusion of each day. The cost is $150.00 per student for the 3 days.

Bookings for Term 2, 2023

We are currently taking bookings for Term 2 in both Squads and Group coaching. Please contact us at MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au or call 0437 449 523.

Fixtures Winners for Term 1

Div 1

Winner: Joel Ephraims

Runner-up: Ryan Mendes 

Div 2

Winner: Roy Power

Runner-up: Frankie Hain 

Div 3

Winner: Noah Newman

Runner-up: Connor Henderson

Congratulations to all who participated in this term's fixtures and well done to all the winners who we hope really enjoyed their prizes.

Open Trials during the Holidays

These will be held on the 11-13 April at 3:00-5:00pm each day.

Multipurpose Sport Shorts Update

The College wishes to advise parents and guardians that the Uniform Shop may experience a shortage in some sizes of the Multipurpose Sport Shorts prior to the end of Term 1 and into the beginning of Term 2. If a specific size is out of stock, it may be placed on order online or in-store. Backorders for these shorts will be received in early Term 2.

Marist Track and Field

Mr Rob Martin – Head Coach, Track and Field

Over the weekend, at least five Marist senior school athletes travelled to Townsville, representing various Northside Little Athletics centres to compete in Track and Field events for this junior pathway at the Little Athletics Queensland State titles. The results were as follows from Marist athletes:

1. Perry Croft (14 Years) – 1st 1500m (Gold), 3rd 800m (Bronze), 8th 400m
2. Lee Martin (17 Years) – 1st Javelin (Gold), 1st Shot (Gold), 3rd Discus (Bronze)
3. Connor Campbell (14 Years) – 2nd 200m (Silver), 2nd 90m Hurdles (Silver)
4. Charlie Campion (13 Years) – 4th 90m hurdles, Triple Jump (14th), High Jump (16th)
5. Shea Caminiti (12 Years) – 90m hurdles 3rd in heat (10th overall), Shot Put (15th overall)

Well done to these athletes, many of whom are now preparing for the National Titles in Brisbane with others in the squad over the April holiday period.

Marist Rugby Union

Mr Richard Graham – Director of Rugby / Track and Field

Marist Rugby Union Trials

Congratulations to the 700-plus students who turned out for the rugby trials on Saturday. In what turned out to be a very hot and humid start to the season, it was great to see so many Marist men wearing the bumblebee jersey.

Participation, maximum touches, and maximum involvement are key objectives within our rugby program. The large majority of students were able to play 50 minutes of rugby in their first outing of 2023.

This week, we have more training and trials. Other trial opportunities include the Marist Rugby Easter Camp and a full school trial in Term 2 against St Laurence's College. Every student will have the chance through training and games to put their best foot forward for selection.

The Year Level Coordinators and the coaches have been busy working through the teams and will continue to do so until Round 1 of AIC versus Villanova.

Rugby Year Level Coordinators

Director of Rugby: Mr Richard Graham - grahamr@marash.qld.edu.au

Primary Head of Sport: Mr John Lambourne - lambournej@marash.qld.edu.au

Opens Coordinator: Mr Peter Gaiter - gaiterp@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 10 Coordinator: Mr Peter McIntosh - mcintoshp@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 9 Coordinator: Mrs Liz Walsh - walshe@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 8 Coordinator: Mrs Sharon Davidson - davidsons@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 7 Coordinator: Mr Damien Nelson - nelsond@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 6 Coordinator: Mr John Lambourne - lambournej@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 5 Coordinator: Mr Anthony Graham - grahama@marash.qld.edu.au

Rugby Selection Policy

Rugby teams at Marist College will be selected using the following criteria: 

• Ability and skill level 
• Attitude 
• Attendance at training/competition 
• Team composition

The selection process is committed to maintaining consistency and fairness. Team changes will only occur based on performances after Round 3 of the AIC season and on a week-to-week basis if there is an injury or unavailability.

The promotion or demotion of players will occur after a meeting is convened by the age group coordinator between the coaches in each specific age group. The coach or age group coordinator will make every effort to give players appropriate and constructive feedback as to the reason for demotion and promotion.

In relation to a student's selection, the College has a clear grievance policy for students:

• If a parent/guardian wishes to discuss any concerns relating to the selection process, they must first contact the Director of Rugby. Under NO circumstances are parents/guardians to make direct contact with the coach of a team about this matter.

Where possible, the coaches will announce the teams at the first training session each week. The final team lists will be posted on the Marist app every Friday morning once all teams have concluded their training sessions.

Marist Medics

A big thank you to the Marist Health Centre and the team of medics stationed around the grounds on the weekend. We were fortunate to have very few injuries; however, it is great to know that the boys are cared for so well.

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Sam Wilcox and Charlie Wilcox on their selection in the Metropolitan North Boys Softball Team. Sam and Charlie competed in the Queensland School Sport Boys Softball State Titles for Met North at the Brisbane Softball Association Diamonds, Downey Park earlier this term.