Sports Report
Year 7 WMR Badminton Finals
A sensational group of year 7 boys have been training hard and recently competed in the Western Metro Badminton finals at Werribee on Wednesday 22nd July. The team were a little dispirited, after losing all of their first matches to Williamstown High. After a team debrief the players were able to recognise their weaknesses in that first game and there was a strong emphasis on relaxing, enjoying themselves and playing to their strengths. In the next important group game our number 1 seed Harry Nguyen (7I) came from behind to win the first of the singles 21-19 to kick St Albans into gear. Eventually, St Albans won that round against Braybrook and in a flying finish to the group stage, St Albans thrashed Rosehill college 6-0, all 4 singles and two doubles games were victorious. The boys were very proud to qualify for the semi-finals and drew Maribrynong Secondary College. An elite sports school with a badminton academy, they proved far too strong for St Albans. However our boys didn’t go down without a fight. Maribrynong ran out eventual winners very convincingly and progressed to the State finals. Congratulations to the team; Harry Nguyen (7I), Jacky Lam (7I), Harman Nagi (7D), Kalin Hui (7F) and John Pham (7I). We hope to see you back on court next year.
Mr Simon Lynch
Coach
Intermediate Boys & Girls Basketball
On Friday the 15th of July, both the intermediate boys and girls basketball teams played a round robin competition at Altona Sports Centre. It was a big day for Basketball with 30 games being played between 10:00am and 2pm. St. Albans was in pool C and played games against Taylors Lakes and Gilson College. During the games both the boys and girls displayed sportsmanship towards other teams, teamwork between one another as well as displaying consistent skill. Unfortunately, in both the girl’s and boy’s competition, Taylors Lakes and Gilson College were too strong for St. Albans and the students did not make the semi-finals. Despite this, they played very well and their efforts should be commended for the time they put into their training and their performance on the day. Congratulations to all students and a special mention to Nadia Gavrilovski, Quiajrah Beazley-Folomu and Toby Collins-Smith for their leadership skills both on and off the court on the day.
Ms Meaghan Hocking &
Mr Brendan McFarland
Intermediate Girls Badminton – Mr Owen McIntyre
On Monday the 25th of July the Intermediate Girls Badminton Team headed off to Eagle Stadium in Werribee to compete in the regional badminton competition. The team of Tammie Nguyen, Mimi Nguyen, Tina Huynh, Wendy Zhao & Thao Nguyen having done limited preparation due to work experience commitments were very rusty in the first game against Laverton.
We paid the price for our rusty start, losing on countback, by just a single point after 6 full matches. This result came back to haunt us at the end of the group stages as we missed out on the semi-finals because of that loss. We did very well in the remainder of our games beating Rosehill Secondary College being the highlight.
The girls should not be discouraged by this as they competed very well throughout the day. We now turn our eyes to next years tournament where the girls will need to complete a much more thorough preparation as they move up into the Senior Girls division.
Senior Girls Badminton – Mr Owen McIntyre
On Tuesday the 26th of July the Senior Girls Badminton Team of Linda Nguyen, Manuella Soma, Fai Srikhum and Christina Yakovlev competed in the regional badminton competition. After a short road trip to Werribee the girls were very nervous to find out our draw and to sus out the competition.
We got off to a great start, comfortably beating Point Cook to open our account for the day. The celebrations were short lived as we hit a brick wall in the form of Footscray City College. With the exception of Linda Nguyen, who was brilliant playing as the number one seed for the day, the rest of the team struggled against a seemingly better opponent. After the Footscray City loss the girls rallied and won the last game against Buckley Park to qualify for the Semi Finals.
The Semi Final against the locals Werribee Secondary College was a great battle. Christina Yakovlev proved the difference winning her singles match to get us over the line in a countback and propel us into the Final. With the winner of the final to qualify for the state championships there was a lot at stake. Unfortunately, Footscray City College were the team waiting for us. As they had comfortably beaten us earlier in the day the girls were understandably not confident. To their credit they battled hard, but were unable to defeat our better opponents.
The girls represented themselves and our college to the highest degree and although they were very disappointed to not qualify for the states they should remain positive. Runner up in the regional badminton competition is the best result we have achieved in recent history and it is a credit to their hard work. The girls have assured me that next year they plan to win the competition so I will start making room in the trophy cabinet.
Well done girls.
Mr Owen McIntyre
Coach