SSP NEWS

FREE Parent-Carer Evening: Performance Psychology Session

We are excited to be facilitating our Term 4, Specialist Sports Program parent-carer event.Please join us to hear about supporting your student-athlete through the lens of Performance Psychology.

When:  Wednesday the 13th of November

• 5.30pm: Arrival for light refreshments and mingle with SSP community.
• 6pm-7.15pm: Presentation

Where: Performing Arts Centre (PAF) - Western Heights College, Vines Road.

Event Theme: Supporting your student-athlete through the lens of Performance Psychology.

Cost: Free

Guess Speakers:

David Williams - David specialises in sport and exercise psychology, and is the current president of the College of Sport and Exercise Psychology in Australia. David is also the lead Psychologist for the Geelong Football Club and AFL players association and has worked internationally with FC Barcelona, Manchester City Football Club and the Malaysian Olympic Team. David will provide valuable insights into the neuroscience of high-performance sports psychology.

Rhiannon Sund - A provisional sports psychologist with experience in helping athletes achieve peak performance and mental resilience. Rhi specialises in performance anxiety, disordered eating, injury recovery, team dynamics, skill development, and performance profiling, and has worked with athletes at all levels, from youth sports to professional teams.

Nick Richardson - David and Rhi will combine their knowledge with our High-Performance Manager, Nicholas Richardson. Nick also has a host of professional experiences as the former High-Performance Coach for the GFC (AFL and AFLW), Port Adelaide FC, the Australian Boomers and Adelaide 36ers. Nick will discuss the context of the performance psychology program, specifically within the context of our Specialist Sports Program.

We have a capacity of 120 tickets, and we anticipate the event will fill quickly – so please be prompt in your registration so that you don’t miss out! Please remember that all Specialist Sports Program and Aspiring Athlete Parent-Carers are welcome to attend.

Please register via the link: https://compasstix.com/e/kiyp5croki

AFL

Term 4 is well and truly underway, and the program has enjoyed some nicer weather than what we finished off Term 3 with!

This term the program is focusing in on developing a high level of skill development and fitness both in the gym and out on the track. We have set the weeks up to include 2-3 solid days of training for our cohorts, where students complete some gym-based training preparation, conditioning (running) and skills rotations. On the other days, we look to reduce the intensity and look to have some fun and break the week up a bit by sampling different sports such as Gaelic, Basketball and different variations of drills.

The kids as a collective have come back full of energy and have approached the training that's been put in front of them with great vigour and engagement. It is no illusion to us as coaches that the level of training our kids are completing is that of a high level of challenge and complexity but we could not be prouder of the effort that they are putting in.

A fortnight ago we took our female cohort to GMHBA Stadium to observe the Geelong AFLW side train before their momentous win against the reigning premiers in the Brisbane Lions. The girls also got to tour the facilities at the club and hear from various staff members from all aspects of the organisation such as Media, Executive Team, Events, Operations and Coaching. This was a great insight into the broad range of opportunities at the feet of our female students if they desire to follow their passion for football into a career later in life. The girls were also lucky enough to speak to two members of the team in Georgie Rankin and Bella Smith, where we ran a bit of a Q&A style session. Speaking to Georgie and Bella afterwards, they were amazed at the depth of thought and quality of questions from our girls and were grateful for the opportunity to talk to them.

We’ve been lucky enough to have former Richmond Football Club legend and AFL All Australian, Matthew Knights coaching our AFL program here at Western Heights College. Matthew has recently returned to the Geelong Region after many years coaching in the AFL system, both as a head coach and assistant coach. We are looking forward to Matthew spending some more time with us over the course of Term 4.

Heading into the back end of Term 4, we will continue to focus on developing the skills and conditioning levels of the kids and continuing to do our best in supporting them to relish their time in the program.

Basketball

Our basketballers have recently been competing at the Western Metro Regional competition. The student-athletes have been terrific in representing WHC and the SSP with pride. Please see the results below;

Grand Final Results 

Intermediate Boys: Lost 48-43 (To Maribyrnong Sports Academy)

Intermediate Girls: Lost 38-35 (To Maribyrnong Sports Academy)

Year 7 Girls: Won 51-14 vs Williamstown – Our Year 7 girls will now compete in the State Finals on the 19th November. We can’t wait to see how they go, so watch this space!

Netball

Busy busy last couple of weeks with loads of experiences for our Netballers. Our Junior/Intermediate students headed to the Victorian Institute of Sport where they completed a Performance Nutrition Module and participated in a tour of the elite facility, home to Victoria’s elite National and International Athletes.

We hosted Bendigo SESC last Friday in a series of friendly matches against them. All girls program levels participated in the event and there were some strong performances through the day. We look forward to continuing the relationship with Bendigo in 2025 and heading up the Highway. Well done to all who played, umpired, and participated in a very successful day. It was also great to see many families and friends come and support students and engage in the experience. There will be more opportunities ahead to watch students as we head into Fast 5 Netball across all levels, whilst we eagerly monitor the World Fast 5 World Cup held in Auckland NZ early November. Players will learn and participate in an intra-school tournament style day. Fast 5 is a growing modified version used as International Pathway for both the Diamonds Program and Australian 19&U for the Youth Commonwealth Games. This will be a focus on court and in education over the next month.

Speaking of International Netball, a group out of our netball program were very fortunate to attend the Australia vs New Zealand Constellation Cup Test match at John Cain Arena. It was international netball at its best - a fierce contest in front of a vocal sell-out crowd...the atmosphere was absolutely amazing!! We must have been the difference as the Diamonds took out the 4th test. Our students were also able to witness the Australian Men’s Kelpies play, including WHC Netball specialist Coach Alastar Punshon who had a great game and dominated his series. Such a great experience for students to watch and learn from the best in a sport at International level and be apart of a great night. A big thankyou to Netball Australia for assisting this experience and staff involved to make this happen for our Netball students.

Finally, a couple of congratulations & Best wishes. Well done to Year 12 Students Evie Christopher and Alex Konidaris on completing the YR 12 Netball Program it has been great to see both of your journey grow in your time in the SNP. We will see you are in session till years end but a huge well done!

Congratulations to Nevaeh Peta who has been selected in the Victoria U/15 Team for the Australian Indoor Netball Championships in Perth in February 2025. Also, best wishes to Levi Tubailagi a part of our Yr 8 Boys program who is heading to Nationals Next week for Ninja Warrior!!

Soccer