Year 6 Hoop Time

On the 25th of August, the majority of the Wellington district participated in a schooling event called Hoop Time. It was a basketballing tournament, and everyone was separated into groups of at least six to seven people. Our group, personally, participated in four matches all together. Yasmeen was well adjusted after the first match, and she was always open and away from her player, and she had no problem getting involved and having a go at shooting. She even got a chance to shoot a few times with the help of Sean who would pass the ball back to her after a rebound to assist her. On the court Valentina was amazing at defending and blocking the ball from the other team and not letting them get it near the goals. She always tried to get the ball to the best player and help out whenever she could. 

I would say that on our team, Sean was definitely the player that stood out the most. We made him our team captain because he gave us so many inspirational talks and he kept telling us to believe and give it our 1000%. He helped everyone out so much during a game, and he made it a lot more fun. 

Overall, we think that Hoop Time was really fun, and we loved participating and playing with our friends. It was so cool to verse other schools in such an involving sport.

Valentina and Yasmeen 

6MP

On the 25th of August 2025, the Year 6’s were lucky enough to compete in ‘Hooptime’ at the State Basketball Centre. Before the day we were put into five various teams; two ‘All Stars' (boys and girls) and five ‘Rookie’ mixed teams. 

We got there around nine o'clock and started going to our areas for the day, each game was sixteen minutes long so we wouldn't be tired playing our five games. I was lucky enough to be playing for the ‘All Stars’ boys team, who ended up winning the Grand Final and will be moving on to division, playing sometime soon. Throughout the day we learned how to work as a team, improve our communication and our basketball skills. 

In conclusion it was a really fun day for all of us, we all had a lot of fun spending time with our friends playing basketball.

Lachlan

6EL

When we arrived on a fresh, bright Monday morning, the 25th of August at the State Basketball Centre, we felt a mix of uneasiness and nervousness, which was expected as we had no idea what the other schools did, or what their tactics were. Though we were anxious to start, we were also excited as this was a rare opportunity we could participate in. We knew it was going to be a great experience to preserve in our memories for our years out of primary school.

Our school versed four other schools; St. Leonards, St. Justins, Brandon Park, Mulgrave Primary, and even another team from our own school to finish the day. There were seven teams from our school; the All-Star Boys, All-Star Girls, and five Rookie teams numbered 1 to 5 We proceeded to let down our bags, and we were given an overview by our group’s teacher or instructor about our upcoming matches. As there were a couple spare courts, some groups began practising their shooting and aiming. Our confidence was reaching good heights, as score after score piled in those meagre minutes. Rather soon, we were called in, and we prepared ourselves to stretch our abilities to the furthest. The basketball bounced with the rate of our heart as determination fueled our strengthened limbs.

During the short, eight minute halves we were patiently waiting to begin the games and we were all elated and ecstatic as we didn't know what to expect. After a fair few matches we won occasionally and felt tired and our feet ached but we were not going to give up. We had plenty of time between matches to drink water and refresh, use the bathroom and communicate with our fellow teammates.This break also could include sharing our ideas or tactics to our teammates who were not as experienced at basketball than others or did not like the sport, and giving them tips. We were sweating continuously as we were trying our very best to communicate and talk to those we may not usually talk to. As well as that, we attempted to keep our distractions to a minimum as we knew our fellow year six students were also participating and we were anxious to see their results

After those gruelling matches, exhausted but triumphant and proud, we went on to the last match; the All-Star Boys versus another school. When this exhilarating match was won, we celebrated with pride, and many other Good Shepherd teams brought on this greatness. 

Overall, that day in Hoop Time was especially memorable, with many achievements like beginning to become better at sports and communicating and gaining good sportsmanship. Things like this can surely help us build character and skills moving towards secondary school, and we can be more cooperative and adhesive to teamwork and school friendships. This excursion was absolutely wonderful, and we hope we get more enjoyable activities like this in the near future. Thank you to the teachers for supporting us through wins and losses, and helping us refine our basketball skills the best you could.  

Evelyn and Ivy

6NB