Stories of MECS

Sport has often been a part of MECS and has taken various forms over the life of this school. As we have entered the 50th year, we have been able to celebrate students' God given sporting gifts and abilities through a variety of opportunities throughout the school's history.

Sport has been a constant part of the curriculum through Physical Education classes, which have also transitioned in their format and content over the years as new research, ideas, and facilities have been available. Each decade saw growth in the area of Sport and the involvement of MECS students through varied programs and opportunities. For example, Girls football has grown in popularity over the last 10 years, in particular, however, Girls football opportunities have occurred since the 1990s, demonstrated in the history and archives of MECS. Growth in Sport started with the addition of the Gym building in the late 2000s. This building, with a state of the art Rock Climbing wall, created further opportunities for students to be involved in Sport.

By this time, MECS has had involvement with Southern Eastern Independant Schools Sport (SEISS) for many years which finished in 2020. For many years, we had a strong connection with the schools in this competition and had a variety of opportunities ranging from many of the common team sports we currently have and some other sports such as Touch Rugby or Futsal. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, there was a steady and gradual growth in the interschool sport opportunities and connections developed here at MECS. We have also had involvement in games with schools such as Lilydale High School that challenged our students in the sport of AFL for both our boys and girls.

This growth and support from the community has led to the school making the transition to the Christian Schools Events Network (CSEN) in 2021, which sees students participate in a fortnightly competition against other schools in this network. This has been a great opportunity to develop new networks whilst continuing some partnerships in sport with schools that transitioned with us from SEISS to CSEN. This has led to students also having the opportunity through the interschool Swimming and Athletics carnivals to compete at world class venues in Melbourne, including the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre and Lakeside Stadium. We look forward to the continued growth of MECS and CSEN and where sport will take us over the next 50 years as it is a great opportunity to be a witness for our God through our actions on the sporting field.

Many teachers have been involved in growing our sports program to what it is today. Thanks must go to all these teachers and coordinators over the years, including Jack Merx, Bob Stevens, Stuart Welsh, Jason Riding, Anne-Maree Forbes, Luke Knoll, and  Stephanie Sutton.

Chris Noy

Secondary School Sports Coordinator/HPE Teacher