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Sports Excellence

"You can't improve what you don't measure."

 

As part of the Sports Excellence Program, students are subject to a number of tests throughout the year. Below is a brief snapshot of the tests completed as part of our program.

 

Years 5 to 8 Emerging Athlete Program

Over the next week, we’ll start looking at students' height and weight, which will enable us to determine a student's Peak Height Velocity (PHV). PHV refers to the period during adolescence when an individual experiences the most rapid growth in height. Typically occurring around the age of 12 for girls and 14 for boys, this phase marks the climax of the pubertal growth spurt. The acceleration in height during PHV is primarily driven by the growth of long bones, particularly in the limbs, and is influenced by hormonal changes associated with puberty. Estimating and monitoring PHV is crucial in understanding an individual's growth pattern and predicting their final adult height. We collect this data as it influences students' programming inside the gym; if a student is going through a growth spurt, we remove or modify the high-impact plyometric activities from their program because students suddenly lose the ability to coordinate muscles (think a baby giraffe with their long limbs). It also gives parents a fairly good indication of when their food bill is set to double!

 

Years 9 to 12 Strength and Conditioning 

Every athlete deserves to see the fruits of their hard work. We test our athletes across the five domains that matter: movement quality, strength, power and speed, fitness and injury risk. The old saying goes: “What doesn’t get measured, doesn’t get improved.”

 

Through no fault of their own, athletes are rarely provided with the objective feedback on their athleticism that they need in order to improve their sporting potential. Our programs in the Senior School help aspirational athletes stand out so they can emerge as champions no matter what sport they play. Measuring their current ability is the first step.

 

Over the course of this performance testing experience, we help our athletes:

  • pinpoint the weaknesses that are holding them back
  • identify blind spots in their performance and discover how to turn them into opportunities
  • reveal their X-factor and what they’re already doing well.

The comprehensive performance testing we do with all our athletes helps us to create a game plan that sets up athletes for long-term success. By the end of the testing session, we will know exactly what the athlete needs to become more athletic for their sport.

 

Here's an outline of some of the testing completed last week using our new VALD performance gear. This is often seen in university-level gyms, and we’re incredibly fortunate to provide this to our students.

  • Isometric Mid-Thigh Pull (IMTP) is an effective and safe way to test angle-specific maximal strength. The test provides data on peak force, relative force and rate of force development to correct asymmetries. The results can then be used in programming to develop athletic qualities, strength, power and tendon stiffness.
  • Countermovement Jump (CMJ) measures an athlete's lower body power, ability to utilise SSC (stretch-shortening cycle) and performance readiness.
  • Squat Jump (SJ) measures an athlete's explosive power (speed-strength) and ability during slow SSC/low-stretch loads.
  • Drop Jump Test measures an athlete's reactive jump capacity, how they cope with the increase in muscle-tendon stress, and reactive jump height. It is also used to monitor performance readiness in return-to-play situations.

This data will continue to evolve over the course of the year to help us get a better understanding of each athlete's strengths and weaknesses. 

 

Girton Tennis Tournament

 

Each year the Girton Tennis Tournament takes place on the day before the first day of school at the Bendigo Regional Tennis Centre. Players are entered into either the boys’ or girls’ competitions in one of the following sections: Junior (Year 7 and Year 8), Intermediate (Year 9 and Year 10), and Senior (Year 11 and Year 12). The tournament is played in a round-robin format followed by finals to determine the winners for each section. The results from this tournament are also used to select players for the Girton representative tennis teams.

 

This year Tuesday 30 January, 49 students came along to enjoy a day of tennis and catch up with friends before the school year commenced. This was a great turnout, with numbers well up on the previous year. We were lucky to have beautiful weather although towards the middle of the day it was getting quite warm for the players out on the courts. The competition was really strong across all sections, with many evenly matched sets played on the day.

 

Congratulations to the following students, who were the winners of their sections:

 

Junior Boys: Benjamin Bowles (7 Riley)

Junior Girls: Willow Kelly (8 Jenkin)

 

Intermediate Boys: Max Henderson (10 Millward)

Intermediate Girls: Shanali Wickramasinghe (9 Riley)

 

Senior Boys: Ruben Christie (12 Aherne)

Senior Girls: Amy Jacobsen (12 Jones)

 

Congratulations also to the students who have been selected to represent Girton at the Girton versus Goulburn Valley Grammar School sports day. Players selected for the Sandhurst division competitions will be informed soon.

 

Playing in the Girton Tennis Tournament is a great way to start your school year. While each year there are some very good players competing, this tournament always attracts a wide variety of players and provides a friendly and inclusive environment to play a few sets of tennis. So if you enjoy playing tennis I would encourage you to come along and join in next year.

 

A big thank you to Ms Eenjes and Mr Whitsed for organising and supervising the day. Another big thank you goes to Stephen Storer who has had a long association with Girton and each year designs and runs the Girton Tennis Tournament. Stephen’s encouragement and enthusiasm is always appreciated and adds to the friendly atmosphere of the tournament.

 

Sarah Witham (11 Millward)

Tennis Captain