From the Head of Sport

Well after a lot of disappointment as the ISA Semi-finals, it was good to see that we were able to take home some good wins at the grand finals.

Congratulations to the First VII Netball, 2nd XI Boys' Football and14 Years Boys' Football who took home a win last weekend. Commiserations to First XI Hockey and 13 Years Boys' Football who were unfortunately defeated in the finals. You all have achieved a number of successes this year and should be proud of your efforts. Train hard and come back next year with the determination to step up even further in your next season.

We now change hats to summer sport and I look forward to seeing the work our players have done in the off season to improve their skills.

Congratulations - Triathlon

Casper Larkin (Year 12) competed last weekend in Townsville at the Australian Multisport Championships. The top three place getters qualified to represent Australia at the World Championships in 2024. Casper placed 2nd in the Junior/elite Duathlon. The race was a 5km run, 20km bike then a 2.5km run. The world championships are in Australia next year which means Casper gets to compete on home soil and hopefully with plenty of supporters. We wish him all the very best at this event.

Congratulations - Netball

Olivia Harris competed at the NSWCIS Netball Championships this week representing ISA and was selected as a member of the NSWCIS team to compete at the NSW All Schools Championships on the 12th September. We wish her well at the championships.

Congratulations - Mountain Biking

Our mountain biking students have been keeping busy of late. Congratulations on the following successes:

Camden Valley Cycling Club – CX King and Queen of the Valley (Round 1)

Oliver Rutherford – 2nd in C Grade Open Men
Lucas Rutherford – 1st U15 boys

Western Sydney MTB (WSMTB) XC Round 4 2023

Oliver Rutherford – 1st in B Grade Open Men
Lucas Rutherford – 1st in U13 boys
Thomas Sheen – 3rd in U13 boys

WSMTB Gravity Enduro Round 2 - 2023

Fabian Boda-Tulogdi – 1st in u15 boys
Oliver Rutherford – 3rd in u19 boys

Illawarra MTB School Comp – Wollongong

Max Pilla – Year 7 completing in the 7-8 category = placed 61st out of 140 riders
Oliver Rutherford - Year 9 completing in the 9-10 category = placed 5th out of 93 riders

Presentation Evenings

Winter sport presentations are coming up and I would like to remind all team captains that they need to be organising gifts for coaches. Captains also need to be liaising with MIC’s to find out what needs to be done for the smooth running of the night.

Netball: 29th August, in Coote Hall from 5:30pm
Hockey: 30th August, in Coote Hall from 5:30pm
Football (Girls and Boys): 31st August, in Cuff Hall from 5:30pm
Rugby: This will be held in collaboration with Redlands Rugby on 16th September. See details below.

If you have any photos from the season that can be used for the presentation evening please pass these onto your MIC.

Athletics Carnival

The ISA Athletics Carnival will be held on 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 any issues regarding the events in which you are entered.

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

A 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 U13s BMGS were defeated by Chevalier College, 2-0

Despite sadly not having Thomas, “Golden Boots”, and Eli K due to illness, Ben because of REPS restrictions, and Paddy hobbling due to an injury, the team was in fine spirits. We had a long and relaxed warm up, with Nima helping us with breathing exercises, which to be honest were more to calm the coach than the boys, who were relaxed, keen and cautiously confident.

Positions had to be rejigged to plug the gaps left by the absence of Thomas, Ben and Eli. From the outset, Chevalier mounted determined attacks, which the boys returned, and it looked like becoming an even game, but gradually, it dawned that, not only did we have quite the big hole in the middle, but Chevalier were a different team, and I mean that literally. This wasn’t the same team that we played on 6 May and 27 July. People simply don’t acquire that much skill, in such a short period! Plus all the extra bodies on the bench. The Grammar Beasts put up a fierce fight, with Caspian capably keeping goal and stopping several, but unfortunately 2 got past him. The Steel Curtain fought like a man possessed, to deny many of Chev’s balls towards our goal, and undoubtedly saved us from a drubbing, to once again earn himself the Man of The Match trophy.

Tom’s absence upfront was keenly felt, as was Paddy’s injury, despite Eli S, Silas, Max and Jensen working hard to put us ahead. Tempers started to fray towards the end of the second half as frustration set in and I had to calm nerves and encourage the boys to be kinder towards each other. Olly got a couple of great runs and ended with the goalie to beat. One shot was saved by the keeper’s fingertips, much to his frustration, and the other aimed for the far post, missed the post by this much, with nobody to finish it, again much to his teeth-grinding frustration. He was very hard on himself, but he has been our Captain Valiant all season, and has been inspirational many, many times. One difficult game, under impossible odds, doesn’t erase all he has done, nor does it erase all that the team has done to get to this moment. A 2-0 loss is very different from the outcome we had hoped for. But the combination of missing key people, and a Chev team of 19 players, proved to be an unbeatable obstacle despite everyone giving their absolute best. A Silver Medal isn’t anything to be ashamed of. It’s worthy of celebration. We had a great season, and were extremely unlucky at the Grand Final. There’s nothing we could have done, with what we had, to achieve a different outcome.

Zen Nzula, Coach

BMGS U14s BMGS defeated Chevalier College, Won on penalties

BMGS went into the game as the underdogs, as we had lost both of our regular season games to Chev. Before the game we talked as a group about how a grand final is a different game and that this is our opportunity to turn the tide. There were the usual pre-final nerves but the boys got on with the job as soon as the Referee blew the whistle.

Fortunately we had a team of fifteen on the day, meaning we could rotate players to ensure there were no tired legs out there. Dante was assistant manager on the side lines, providing tactical ideas and positive support for the boys as he was not 100%. As to be expected against tough opposition, the game was end to end with both teams creating opportunities to attack. Our defensive unit held strong though and repelled each wave of attack, opening up space and feeding the ball forward for our attacking players to stretch the opposition. Deep into the first half the boys won the ball back in the opposition half, Xavier Stephens grabbed control and made a run into the box and was taken out off the ball. Penalty! Xavier confidently took control, grabbed the ball and took ownership of the penalty. He lined it up, picked his spot and coolly slotted it in the bottom left corner. BMGS were up 1 nil. This was also the first goal we had scored against Chevalier this year. The first half continued with the same trend of end to end play with BMGS getting the better of the opportunities. A halftime talk combined with snakes and oranges kindly provided by the support crew helped the boys get ready and focus on the job at hand in the second half.

Chevalier came out hard in the second half and the tempo of the game lifted with each challenge becoming more and more physical as the game went on. Unfortunately a Chevalier player had to be carried off following a fair 50/50 challenge (we all send our wishes that that he is recovering). A Chevalier corner was whipped into the box and in the ensuing play to clear the ball it deflected past our keeper into the goal. BMGS 1 - Chevalier 1. This did not deter the boys and they did not lose their focus, throughout the second half, BMGS continued to push for the winner and created the majority of the chances to snatch the win. The second half ended 1-1 meaning extra time was required. Five minutes each way was played with the same trend of BMGS creating the better opportunities but we were just not able to slot one away to close out the game. As the game moved towards the end of extra time, we made a tactical change based on our practice at training with Luke going into goals. Soon after this change, the referee blew the whilst for the end of extra time. The game was going to penalties. Before the penalty shoot-out we all sat down as a team and discussed how amazing an achievement it was to push a team we hadn't beaten all year to the end of extra time. I talked to the boys about penalties and we agreed as a team on who would take the penalties and in what order they would take them. We also re-enforced with each other that whatever happens we played an amazing game and everyone should be really proud of their effort. Jimmy won the toss for penalties and chose to go first, meaning that if we scored it would put the onus on the opposition to make sure they scored to remain tied with us. Cheered on by a very vocal group of supporters, the boys coolly slotted the first four penalties, Chevalier were to miss their last two penalties meaning BMGS won! It took a few seconds following the last Chevalier penalty for it to sink in that we had won. The boys showed their outstanding sportsmanship by first congratulating the Chevalier team on their season and then the celebrations began. The boys had won and deservedly so. They showed grit and determination throughout the whole season and this result was a reflection of all the hard work they have put in. I would like to thank all the boys for the season. I have loved coaching you all and have learned to embrace all the names that I have been called throughout the year from Mr Johnson, Sir, Ma'am, Coach through to Chris and even Chrissy!

Thank you also to all of the parents for your unwavering support for the boys and myself throughout the year, we could not have done it without you. I would especially like to commend you all on your approach when attending games and how you are always so positive. Shout out to Jimmy's parents for hosting and to all the parents for providing food and drink as we celebrated the season together post-game. A big thank you to Ms Stammer for all of your support throughout the year and for taking over when I have not been able to be there. Well done again Under 14s, you have won the Grand Final!! How good is that!

I look forward to celebrating with you all on Presentation Night.

Mr Chris Johnson, Coach