Last week I had the pleasure of travelling to Perth for the School Sport Australia National Championships, as I am manager of the NSW All Schools 16 Years Girls' Basketball team. The team was successful in bringing home gold which was great to be a part of their journey and their success at this Championship.

The sporting pathway to nationals is available to all our students in many sports. As I said at Assembly this week, for those of you who are active in sports other than those covered under the ISA umbrella, please let me know about it.

Some sports may not be ISA sports, however, they do start at the NSWCIS level. If you are unsure about your sport’s place in the schools pathway either come and see me or go to the NSWCIS site where all the sporting pathway sports are listed.

Congratulations - Swimming

Noah Erne continues his success on the swimming pathway. Last week he attended the School Sport Australia National Championships where he represented both BMGS and NSW All Schools.

Noah competed in the 15 years and under age group (as a 12 year old with special permission).

He placed 5th in the 50m Butterfly (new PB), 7th in the 200IM (new PB) and 3rd in the 4 x 50 He was selected as a member of the Medley Relay Team that achieved 3rd place with Noah swimming the Butterfly leg and 4th in the 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay Team where Noah swam last, and anchored, with a massive new PB.

Congratulations, once again, Noah on your continued success in the pool!

Snow Dogging

Miss Kaczmarczyk (Senior School Reception) has come back from her ‘snow’’ holiday where she competed on a sled with her huskies. This year unfortunately there was no snow, so the dryland Kick Bike was used instead. In the two dog heat at the 2023 Dinner Plain Sled Dog Challenge there were 18 Competitors where Miss K placed 10th with an average speed of 16km/h.

The following week she was in Canberra running her dogs again this time in separate classes. Miss K and Loki were in the Open Class with fourteen Competitors and placed 8th with an average speed of 19 km/h. Miss K and Indie ran in a non-compete class with ten competitors and came in 4th with an average Speed of 21 km/h. Congratulations to Miss Kaczmarczyk on her ongoing success on the sled/scooter.

Presentation Evenings

Congratulations to all students who received awards at the Netball, Hockey and Football presentation evenings and thank you to Miss Stockley, Mrs Hyslop, Miss Stammer and Ms Naumann on the organisation of each of these evenings.

Our last presentation is Rugby, to be held in collaboration with Redlands Rugby on the 16/9/23 All students who have advised the school that they will be attending have had tickets purchased for them. Please see Mr Michielsen if anything changes.

Athletics Carnival

The ISA Athletics carnival will be held on the 12th September. The team list is on the sports noticeboard and notes have been distributed via MyBMGS. Please come and see me if there are issues regarding the events that you are entered in. Any students who currently participate in triple jump or hurdle events through Little Athletics can come and see me at the sports office for further information.

If you do not have a BMGS basketball or athletics singlet you will be required to hire one from the uniform shop. All athletes are to wear navy shorts or tights to compete.

Mountain Biking

Interest in mountain biking is increasing at BMGS. Please see below upcoming WSMTB events. Use the links below to get event information and to enter. Remember if you are entering any of these events you must notify me of the date and the event.

Western Sydney MTB Club event and registration page - https://entryboss.cc/calendar/wsmtb

Fantastic event. For all levels and skills. Next events in Canberra, Orange and Cooma.

Link to upcoming events https://rockytrailacademy.com/

More upcoming events (lock in the dates !!)

Mrs Megan Harris

Head of Sport

Match Reports, Saturday, 19th August - Boys' Football Finals

BMGS Second XI - Grand Final Match Report; BMGS defeated Chevalier College, 2-1

Having earned their place in the final up against the comp winners Chevalier, our BMGS boys knew what was at stake and were ready for the task at hand.

Chevalier had been the toughest opponent we had faced all season as they had dominated the rest of the competition week in and week out. Having played Chev twice previously, we had taken a loss and a draw in our last two meetings, with Chev remaining unbeaten. The boys were eager to change the script. The whistle sounded and the game was on. Both Chev and BMGS came out hard and fast with both teams looking to take control. Callum Knussen was loud and clear as always in between the posts as Ben Delaney, Nathan Hilder, Cooper Mackie and Otto Umbers made up our backline with Jem Sullivan, Laurits Leraand and Jed Ackman taking control of the midfield with Skipper Charlie Mannes, Thomas O’Connor and Monty Darwin as our attacking trio. The first minutes were packed full of intensity, with both teams displaying equal levels of hunger, early chances came and went on both sides of the pitch. BMGS were putting up a strong fight but Chev were looking dangerous as a string of events in quick succession saw Monty leave the field injured, leaving us down to ten men. This allowed Chev to capitalize on the advantage as they were awarded a free kick from a loose set of play. Taking the lead right before the end of the half, Chev managed to score the free kick.

The halftime talk was simple but needed as the boys let out their frustrations but kept a positive outlook as they planned a way to get back in the game. Skipper Charlie’s words kept the dream alive as he encouraged the team to keep their heads and keep fighting. The boys were going to give it everything for what was going to be their last half of football of the 2023 season.

The second half was on as the whistle came and BMGS kicked into gear straight away, doubling their first half efforts from the kickoff and applying the pressure on hard. BMGS took control and were now starting to play their game with confidence and skill. Individual efforts from Tom and Jem in our attacking third started to show the cracks in Chev’s game as they were forced onto the back foot. Ben and Cooper were on a roll as the pair’s efforts in defence were keeping Chev’s attackers away from goal. Nathan and Otto linked up to increase our defensive efforts, Jed was working tirelessly as he stuck to his position as a roving midfielder leaving no room for Chev’s Number 10 to have any time on the ball. BMGS were in the driver’s seat and showcasing a brilliant effort but it was a silky string of passes back and forth between Laurits and Charlie that saw Charlie assist a brilliant strike from Laurits that was smashed into the back of the net to get us back on level terms. All square now, BMGS weren’t stopping there as they came out even stronger winning the ball back off Chev from the kickoff. The level of intensity had risen dramatically as the clock was ticking towards full time, Chev still having the advantage of fresh legs as they had a full bench ready to take the field and BMGS still only having 10 men on the pitch gave Chev the upper hand as their substitutions gave our oppositions attacking efforts a boost, but our brick wall Callum Knussen was there, pulling off a truly spectacular 1v1 save to see the score remain level as the full time whistle came.

Our second half efforts kept the dream alive as we had earnt the equaliser to take the game into extra time. The first 5 minutes of extra time saw BMGS take control and dominate coming so close to taking the lead but Chev held on to see the changeover level. BMGS kicked off the final five minutes of extra time, giving it everything they had left. Chev hit back hard but despite their efforts they were no match for Callum as he pulled of another two heroic saves from what should have been certain goals. BMGS were starting to break through Chev and a long ball over the top saw Skipper Charlie Mannes through on goal, Charlie got up and just as he was about to get the final touch the Chev goalkeeper struck Charlie down with both fists to his head completely missing the ball. Charlie had put his body on the line for the team and had taken a horrible and illegal hit that saw him have to leave the field taking us down to nine men. Charlie's heroic sacrifice saw us awarded a penalty. With only two minutes remaining and the scores level and with Charlie, our penalty taker, off injured, it was up to Lauritz to take what was the final chance at goal before time was up. Loritz stepped up, and smashed home the spot kick to see the game finish BMGS 2 - CHEV 1.

Well done lads; we are so incredibly proud of you, words can't not describe how much you have achieved this year. What a year, what a season, what a team. Champions at last!

Man Of The Match - Charlie Mannes

Mr Cameron Flaherty, Coach

From the Visual Arts Department

2023 Art & Design Awards - Save the Date!