The 57th Exchange

The Avenues Exchange is an amazing event to have on our school calendar. For those involved both students and staff,  it is an experience you will cherish and long remember. I recently met a former Cheltenham High School student, who was a Sport Captain in the 1970s. When I said I worked at Cheltenham, their first response was to ask about the Exchange and tell me of their own experiences, so many years ago. 

Here is the Cheltenham Coordinators speech from the farewell assembly at Avenues College. 

To the students and staff of Avenues College, you have been fortunate to see the return of the Cheltenham Exchange on your home soil. Across the last 3 days, you have witnessed 28 events, 148 squad members, 57 years of history and a lifetime of memories being created.

Thank you to Avenues College students who showed their support to The Exchange, both on and off the field. We hope that you had many opportunities to cheer from the sidelines. Thank you for your crowd participation and for supporting your college, and ours. You don’t have to be named in the squad to be an integral part of this great Exchange. Led by Miss Angela Yiannis, we thank the Avenues College media team of Isaiah, Eloise and Denzel, whose hard work helped create an outstanding video presentation that both teams will hold dearly as a reminder of fond memories for years to come.

To “Squad 57” of both Cheltenham and Avenues, thank you for your commitment to The Exchange, for some, it was a foreign concept and for most of you, a new experience. Thank you for taking a risk. You were brave, you put yourself out there and I doubt very much that you have any regrets. You have all shown us the definitions of energy, enthusiasm, and determination. Most importantly and for the longevity of The Exchange, you showed great sportsmanship and fair play throughout this amazing experience.  

It was three years in the making but we finally got here. Thank you to the extraordinary Avenues College Staff. We thank the Principal, Mr McDonald for your hospitality here at Avenues College. We say thank you and congratulations to our friends and fellow Exchange Coordinators Mr Liddicot, Miss Duffy, Miss Stana, Mr Edwards, and of course Miss Sue Devine. We hope that everyone understands the lengths to which you have gone to make this week a massive success.

Your wonderful Miss Sue has been a part of your Cheltenham Exchange for 20 years, an amazing support to us at Cheltenham these last three years. The Chelt.Sec Exchange Coordinators and coaches both past and present thank you for your service to The Exchange and wish you all the best for your retirement next year.

Thank you with all our hearts to the families who opened their homes to Cheltenham students, without our billeting program our Exchange would not be able to continue. Our students will long remember your hospitality, home-cooked meals and genuine kindness.

We sincerely thank Avenues College, for hosting and making our journey to South Australia a truly memorable time. We would like to invite you to the 58th Exchange in 2025 to continue this extraordinary and special event between our two schools. For now, we will take home the shield until we meet again.

Awarded to a Cheltenham Squad Member who has displayed the True Spirit of the Exchange, Victoria Kevorkian is the 2024 recipient of The Ross Smith Medal. 

Thanks and appreciation

Karly and Paul would sincerely like to thank the following people...

The principals of both schools Mr Karl Russel and Mr Hamish McDonald. This is a huge event for both schools, it doesn't matter if you are the home team or playing away. This is a big impact on the school, that can not be done without your support. Thank you for supporting a project that your students and staff are so passionate about.  

Staff and coaches of the 57th Exchange although you did not get to attend the event your dedication was appreciated, Ms Arneil, Mr P Smart, Mr Rice, Ms Ferre. Thank you Brooke Matthews for making the journey across the border to kick off the games and Christian Meyer our music coach, with an outstanding, talented group of music students. What a fantastic win, we are so appreciative that you took personal time from your holiday and brought your family to witness all of the hard work and dedication paying off.

The extraordinary staff who traveled to Adelaide, what an amazing team - Smart, Knox, Mazurek, Allen, Beames, McIntyre. We could not have asked for a better support crew. We are a group of many talents and have added wrangling 72 excited, noisy, and sometimes very emotional students to our skill set.  We coached, umpired, photographed, nursed and time managed all of them. We even hugged, high fived, and wiped tears of joy (theirs and ours). No one is more proud of these awesome kids than us. Thank you for the time away from your normal life to go on this adventure. 

To the parents and family members who made the journey to South Australia. Thank you for joining our Support Crew and Cheer Squad. Kate and Jenny, since the closing of the 56th Exchange, we knew we had your support. Both former participants, you understand what it's all about and you were an amazing support to us throughout the week, organising gifts, taking photos, handing out food, or a trip to the shops. Nothing was too much for you. We also thank Danny Smith for his support and amazing photos and Wenona for braving some cold weather. Our music parents and families who flew in and then out, what an amazing event - The Hendry, Williams, Mackintosh, and Stocky families. 

Karly Hargreaves and Paul Sanders

Exchange Coordinators

Many, many thanks to everyone involved in the 57th Exchange. In the next edition of The Cheltonian we will hear from the squad captains and announce our team and individual awards.