Boarding News

We had the first of our 2025 boarding regional trips last weekend with a visit to Chinchilla which is about three and a half hours west of Brisbane. This trip intentionally coincided with the well-known Melon Festival, which is held every second year. This community event draws many tourists and is reported to be the largest festival in regional Australia. 

Four of our Year 12 boarders travelled out on Friday morning to participate in many of the events at the Festival, including melon skiing, the chariot race, the Melon Dash For Cash, the Melon Bungee, the rodeo and the street parade. These events are colourful and lots of fun, with many people entering just to be part of the atmosphere. I am grateful to Finn Brennan, Liam Farrelly, Wiley Gordon and Matt Lyons for getting involved and representing Marist College Ashgrove well over the three-day event. 

Marist Boarding also hosted a rugby league clinic at the Chinchilla Junior Bulldogs Club on Sunday morning. We were delighted that the clinic was attended by 51 local children and they were put through their paces by a number of our staff, including Dallas Williams, Kierran Moseley and Brad Winchester. Our Marist boarding students assisted with the coaching and helped make the experience at this clinic a memorable one for the children. In addition to the clinic, we played an exhibition rugby league game against the Chinchilla Junior Bulldogs. We sent out a team of Under 15 boys to play against their country opponents, and the game was played in excellent spirit, with both teams playing good, open football. Marist ended up winning the game 40 – 26, but for much of the game, it was quite a close contest. The 17 boys in our team deserve mention for the respectful way they carried themselves during and after the game. They represented the College very well.

The trip to the Chinchilla Melon Festival was a very successful venture and resulted in some very positive exposure for the College in this regional community. We have a number of other regional visits and events planned through the rest of this year and look forward to these opportunities to assist in regional areas and promote the opportunity of boarding at Marist College Ashgrove.

Thanks to those parents/guardians who attended the Boarder Parent Network Meeting online last Wednesday night. I think we had a record number on this Teams call which certainly helps to ensure clear communication between our parent body and the boarding school. I remain very grateful for the support of all boarding parents and this meeting focuses on ensuring there is excellent care for all boarders. Thanks to the BPN Coordinator, Susan Shay and the Year Level Representatives who do a great job of connecting parents and ensuring everyone is in the loop with what is going on in boarding. 

Chinchilla Melon Festival

Rugby League Clinic and Game

Boarding Recreation

Mr Blair Whitlock - Boarding Recreation Officer

The Hive was out in force on the weekend as we supported the AFL 1st XVIII and Volleyball 1st VI in their games against Ambrose Treacy and St Peters respectively. It’s great to see so many boarding students and staff playing integral roles in these premier teams and the boys always enjoy supporting their peers. On Friday evening a group of 20 boys headed down to the cinemas at Southbank to watch the latest Captain America movie. Most of the movie went over my head but the boys enjoyed themselves and chowed through spectacular amounts of popcorn and Slurpee! Back at Marist the pool was open for a night swim which is always a popular way to wind down on Friday evenings ahead of a big day of sport on Saturday.

The boarders headed all over Brisbane as usual on Saturday for their games of AFL, Cricket and Volleyball. It was a hot day and an afternoon swim was followed by an hour in the gym to round out the evening. On Sunday morning the La Valla and Montagne boys started with the Ashgrove Park Run before a group headed over to Aqua Warrior in Redcliffe for a two-hour session on the inflatable wipeout course. It’s become a favourite activity for many boys and it’s a beautiful spot for a little BBQ on a Sunday afternoon. With many boys out on leave and a group out of Chinchilla, it was quiet around the grounds on Sunday and I’m sure many boys enjoyed the chance to have a slow day after a busy start to Term 1.