Sport News

I had the pleasure of speaking with prospective new families at our College Tours on Sunday. It was great to speak and share the message of the great things sport provides as a part of the holistic education of young men. It is nice to win, boys gain confidence and a sense of purpose from success. It is great to have so many prominent Old Boys who have gone on to have amazing careers in sport. However, these are not the only reasons that we play sport. As an educator myself, I value the life skills playing sports teaches our young men. One of those life skills is commitment.

Here is an example of why commitment is pertinent right now - since the start of the term we have had to collapse five rugby teams across various year levels. There are a number of reasons for this, injuries is one factor, but there are two other reasons for this that I would like to touch on. Boys have signed up to play, even turned up to trials, and then decided not to participate. Also, we have had week to week where players are making themselves unavailable as a one-off for a number of reasons, including long weekends, too far to travel, and not happy with the team they are in. Sometimes they tell us, sometimes they just do not turn up. Operationally this creates challenges for us. As an aside, this is one of the reasons we cannot release draws earlier than we do, as it happens across all the AIC schools). I am not worried about this from an operational perspective, much more importantly for us as a school, trying to teach young men, boys not honouring commitments is a life lesson opportunity missed. Making a commitment and honouring it, even if there are other, more appealing opportunities available is the mark of a man of commitment and good character. 

I am asking for parent support in talking with your sons about their sporting choices. Please have a conversation with your son before signing him up for a sport. Talk about the commitment that entails, two training sessions per week and a game at venues across South-east Queensland every week for eight weeks. Once he has signed up for a sport that then becomes the number one commitment. It may mean forgoing long weekends away, friends’ birthdays or the occasional club match or two. 

Speaking with our brother AIC schools, this is not a unique challenge to us, but I think it is something that as a Marist school we can do better. Community is such a large part of our identity that I would like to think boys would recognise they are letting their teammates down by leaving the team short. 

FOOTBALL - Mr Derek Lennon (Football Coordinator)

Back to Banyo proved to be a challenging environment for our football teams to play. It was great to play games in front of an active a loud crowd and a motivated opponent for their “big day” on their sports calendar. What was great to see was the Marist football teams were able to rise to the challenge and perform well. 

Our young 1st XI team played very well to secure a 2-1 victory and learnt some valuable lessons that they will grow from as a team and as young men. Padua were brave, committed and determined and we were able to withstand a late fight back and hang on for a valuable three points. Congratulations to our open teams who were undefeated on the day. Team of the day goes to primary: 6 White (9-2) and secondary: 8C (6-1).

This weekend sees us taking on Iona who have a very strong football program so our focus this week will be on making sure everyone knows their role in the team and can execute their duties effectively and with minimal fuss.

Track and Field -  Mr Richard Graham (Director of Rugby / Track and Field)

The John Nunan Track and Field precinct is almost complete. The new tartan track has been laid, the lines marked and the new jump boards are being installed. We hope to be training in the precinct in the next 10 days.

This is a wonderful investment by the College and will be a fantastic training facility for the College students. 

Sunday Sessions

A reminder ANY students wishing to be involved in the Marist College Track and Field program, Sunday afternoon sessions will begin this Sunday 14 May.

Head Coach, Mr Rob Martin will oversee the start of the College’s preparation as a lead in to the House Carnival and the Track and Field season.

When: Sunday afternoons (May 14 – 1st session)

Where: Hayden Oval

Time: 3:15pm-4:45pm

Dress Code: Marist sport clothing

If you have any questions, please contact Mr Richard Graham.

Rugby Union - Mr Richard Graham (Director of Rugby / Track and Field)

Round 2 vs Padua

Well done on another big weekend of rugby union. The College had teams playing across four venues and the feedback from the games was extremely positive. 

Thanks to all the Marist teams who contributed to Padua’s “Back to Banyo” day. It is a special day in Padua’s calendar and the College teams helped create a wonderful atmosphere.

In what was a very competitive day against Padua, the College won 9 of the 14 aggregate games contested. I would like to recognise all the Year levels for their improved performances. As an example, the last time we played Padua College, we didn’t win an ‘A’ fixture against them. Over the weekend our 5A, 6A, 8A and 9A teams won and we had strong results across all the year levels.

Thanks to Mr Reid for organising a game against St Columban’s College in the Year 7 level. The College is investigating as many different competitions as we can to provide games to our teams to avoid Marist vs Marist games. We want to ensure the students play in competitive fixtures, and remain engaged and stimulated by the new challenges each weekend.

Round 3 vs Iona

Finally, a home game! Another enormous day of rugby union this weekend when we return to the College for our first ‘home game’ of the season.

The students will be joined by Old Boys of the College. The Old Boys’ Sports Day is set to be a huge day celebrating the College and the Old Boys returning from the ‘3’ years ie. 1963, 1973, etc.

Please join us in being part of a great day of rugby! 

Tennis - Mr Andrew Ward (Director of Tennis)

What’s on at the courts this week?

With the cold weather arriving we are seeing the truly dedicated arrive for training in the mornings. It is mind-boggling to see the number of students turning up in the morning with no jumper or track pants. I am sure that these were invented to be able to be taken off once you have warmed up, and the body is producing and regulating its own heat through exercise. Why would you not wear these? But as I get older, I must be missing something that this younger generation knows that is a mystery. Coming to think of it I was the same at that age so it looks like everything goes around in circles and could be a mystery that may never be solved.

On a more serious note, we are now well into the terms coaching and we are starting to see some real improvement with some of our up and coming stars of the future across many of our year levels. We are excited to see how our AIC year level teams look like and our final Open teams. 

AIC Trials 

These will commence for all year levels in Week 6. Two weeks to go and a day and time for each year level will be announced next week. These are a little ahead of time and students only need to turn up on their designated days of trial. All students will have to nominate their intention to play through the sign-on page through the normal channels.

Fixtures

All fixtures are in full swing and if any students are looking to get more match play before trials, I would highly recommend coming along and playing while having a lot of fun at the same time and meeting new friends.

As always if you have any questions relating to tennis, please contact myself via the email or feel free to call.

Email : MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au

Phone : 0437 449 523 

See you on the courts.

Student Achievements

Congratulations to Joseph Cervetto, Sean Bright and Angus Cope who represented Met North at the recent Queensland Secondary School State Titles, finishing as Plate Champions. 

Round 2 Results

Chess

Football

Rugby Union

Round 3 Draws

Football

Rugby Union