NSW All Schools Touch Championships

Last Tuesday, Years 7/8 Boys and Years 9/10 Girls teams competed at Penrith in the NSW All Schools Touch Championships. What a great day! Both teams proudly represented St Joseph’s. Our students were told by other teams throughout the day that they displayed honesty, fairness, politeness and were well-spirited. We also displayed our great skill in touch! The match reports are below:

7/8 Boys

Straight out the gate our St Joseph's team was firing and on the ball. They nailed it in skill execution and teamwork in their first game against Xavier College with the score 8-2. The next game was against the Glen Innes boys where the middles/links worked hard and our wingers were fast, securing the win and scoring against them 5-1. St Joseph’s dominated Kildare CC with a score of 8-2, demonstrating again what good teamwork and trust they have in each other.

A rematch against Hunter Sports High followed - the team that knocked us out of the grand final at the last tournament. What a redemption! It was a tight game with tries being scored back and forth. After trailing right to the end, and having dealt with a few tough calls against them, the boys showed great determination and a positive mindset to focus on the task at hand and get the levelling try in the final minute. With HSH going on to win the tournament, it was an effort to be proud of! The boys narrowly lost to St Augustine’s, who were also in the grand final in another nail-biting game that ended up as 4-5. We finished the day with a win against Westfield Sports, again demonstrating our highly skilled boys’ team with a result of 6-3. The boys only missed out on finals by 1 point which was devastating but being the only team to really give HSH and St Augustine’s (the Grand Finalists) a run for their money is something to be proud of. What a fantastic display of touch, St Joseph's 7/8 boys!

9/10 Girls

A very fun and skilled touch group to take away to a tournament! The girls worked well together and showed true heart throughout the day, even when things didn’t go our way. It was a tough start against Tomaree High (who ended up in the grand final) but we were very happy to break through their tough defence and highly fit team and get one on the board against them 4-1. We were ready and hyped for our game against Stella Maris, it was a tight game, and the opposition loved a try line dive so the girls had to get creative with their moves and showed patience against them but we took the loss 3-2.

We were getting in the groove with our teamwork skills by the time we were due to play Armidale and we were inspired by the last game to take a couple of dives and get a little muddy (sorry parents about the shorts!). It was a well spirited game and many of the team “ate grass” to get some spectacular dive tries and we came away with the win 6-0. The team was getting a little tired as these are very fast paced games, but we pushed through and had a very even game with Kinross, a little mix-up with the score but we are counting it as a draw. Again, an even game against Westfield Sports which is something to hold in regard. They are a strong side, but we held our own against them and they pulled ahead slightly at the end for a 4-2 score. Mackillop was our last game, and it was a very tough fight for two exhausted teams, we persevered until the end but had a loss 4-2. There were many close games for our St Joseph's girls throughout the day that were brilliant to watch and the teamwork that these girls displayed was spectacular. Well done 9/10 Girls!

A brilliant display of the touch football talent at St Joseph’s. We are very proud of not only the talent but also the spirit in which both teams represented our school!

Thanks for a great day!

Miss Spooner and Mr O’Toole

Alison Tilse

Sports Coordinator

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