Sport

The recent holidays were very busy for many of our students off playing representative sport at many levels across Australia as I reported in my last report of Term 3.

The following students – Mitzi Adamson, Charlie Johnston, Magnus Howells and Tyler Hately all represented the “South West Western Bulldogs Next Generation Academy” teams in the state regional championships in Gippsland and acquitted themselves very well individually and were part of undefeated teams across the games played for the week.

The inaugural “Adelaide Cricket Tour” for the school was a great success also. Departing Friday after school and not returning until the Thursday during week one of the holidays, the tour saw Year 7/8 and Year 9/10 cricket teams travel interstate to play against some of the leading Adelaide schools in the various styles of matches the sport offers. The players enjoyed the opportunity to play in beautiful weather on some of the most pristine grounds in Adelaide and against some very talented cricketers. A massive thank you to the Head of Cricket, Mr. Stephen Mirtschin, for all his efforts and the trip wouldn’t have been possible without the wonderful help during the week from the Austin, Roberts, McCure, Green and Jagger families!

Netball

Our 11 and Under College Jaguars netball team commence their season this week. Mrs Sharon Kelly is the coach and training will be held at Myrniong on Thursdays at lunch time. Players will need to bring their runners to school. A reminder that registration is to be completed online prior to the first game. Game times will be either 9.00am or 10.00am on Saturday mornings. Please note that grades/age groups are not locked in to the one timeslot this season.

This week the team will play against Hamilton North Gems on Court 3 at 10.00am.

Rowing

4 Day Dimboola Rowing Camp

Sports scientists say that rowing is the perfect team sport –it exercises every muscle in the body, it builds mental and physical strength and endurance in the person, promotes resilience and intelligent thought and builds camaraderie.

The 24 members of the College Rowing Team, who completed a 4-day Dimboola training camp last weekend can confirm this. We travelled home with aching muscles, blistered hands and bruised tail bones, but a huge sense of achievement for the improvements made and the friendships we had strengthened. Although still recovering, the great time we had meant we all fronted up again for their first official training session on Tuesday.

After a cold departure from Hamilton last Thursday the 24 rowers enjoyed perfect rowing conditions over the weekend – crisp mornings for 6am rises, 6.30am training starts, smooth Wimmera River waters, plenty of sunshine and appreciative audiences along the riverbanks as we rowed by.

Other activities included a run across the local pink Salt Lake, a 4.2 km morning run, skill development sessions, strength and flexibility programs and hotly contested individual ergo time testing.

On the Saturday, a notable number of kilometres were rowed to raise money and awareness for the Royal Flying Doctors. In total 251.8km were rowed, which was a fantastic achievement. Special congratulations should go to Jordy Brown who not only mastered the art of single sculling in one day, but also rowed 18.4 km as an individual effort. Poppy Austin also quickly learnt the skill of coxing the 3rd girls’ crew.

Over the weekend all the rowers displayed great improvements in their techniques and many of the newly formed crews came together cohesively. It was also great to see that we have some highly skilled contortionists in the team – we watched Harry Mould fold his 6’2” frame into the cox’s seat of the 2nd boys’ boat and some of us also got to witness the graceful manoeuvring of the first girls’ as they swapped positions in the boat while still on the water!!

However, apparently the most memorable moment was the look on the faces of the entire boys’ squad when they were given the penalty of 50 push-ups for having their boats on the water 10 minutes late – to be done after they had completed a 40km rowing session. Needless to say, they were and will never be late again!

Organisation was key to the success of the camp so a huge thank-you to Head of Rowing, Mrs Nettleton and the other teachers who attended. It was a great start to the season.

Our coaches were awesome in their commitment to supporting us. Simon Ross, Adrian Kelly and Daker Pern took charge of the girls’ squads while we welcomed new coach Josh Frichot who, assisted by “Beanie” Mould, will be coaching the boys’ crews. As a past National U23 rower and with 6 years on the Scotch College rowing staff, Josh brought with him a wealth of knowledge and an enthusiasm that was welcomed by rowers and staff. The commitment and drive of these coaches is hugely appreciated by us all and we hope our results reflect their commitment.

And most importantly we would like to thank the parents who supported us not only for this camp, but for every past and future event. You organise travel, transport equipment, supply food, cook meals, and support us every stroke of the way. Thank you so much.

We are now looking forward to a strong 2018/2019 season with our first regatta being in Dimboola on November 10. Trainings will be on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings. If anyone is interested in rowing and all the fun you can have, please contact Mrs Nettleton or rowing captains Nikita Cavill or Harry Beal for a rowing handbook, or come down to the lake and have a look!

Elisha Nettleton

Head of Rowing

Adelaide Cricket Trip

In the first week of the school holidays, two combined Year 7 & 8 and 9 & 10 cricket teams toured Adelaide, embarking on a week of cricket against some incredibly talented opposition.

In the first matches, against Mercedes College played on their picturesque oval set in the Adelaide Hills, both teams had strong wins, with many players doing well with both bat and ball. On Sunday in the second match, the opposition was Scotch College. Both teams were involved in compelling games of cricket where the result came down to the wire; however, unfortunately both narrowly went down. On Monday, we took on Adelaide High School, who had two very strong sides that provided a great challenge for both our teams. The Year 9/10 team had the privilege of playing on one of Adelaide Oval’s reserve cricket grounds. It was in pristine condition which certainly lifted the excitement levels. Although both teams lost, there were some great performances for each side. Our last game was on Wednesday where we played against Pembroke School. The Year 9/10 side again had the privilege of playing on an incredible ground, this time Sir Don Bradman’s old home ground. This was an experience no one will forget and should certainly cherish forever. The Year 7/8 team came very close to their second victory for the week, as the Year 9/10 team lost in an extremely competitive match. Later, all players were fortunate enough to participate in a training session held at Adelaide Oval under the guidance of Ex-Australian Test coach, Tim Nielsen. He was able to impart his knowledge and offer some valuable feedback to each player which only added to such a positive experience for all in Adelaide. All in all, the experience was incredibly enjoyable for all and we can’t thank everyone who made it happen enough. A massive thank-you goes out to families who came along and helped to get everyone through the week with a particular mention to Jim and Jo McCure, John and Di Austin, Stuey, Brooke and Charlie Green and Fiona Jagger. Lastly, another massive thankyou goes to Mr Mirtschin and Mr Alexander for not only coaching the teams, but for their work behind the scenes to make all of it happen.

Some of the better performances were;

vs Mercedes College

Year 7/8 Dougal Doery 21 not out, Henry Bensch 2-9.

Year 9/10 Max Green 28, Riley Alexander 28, Hamish Cameron 2-7Ben McCure 2-9.

vs Scotch College

Year 7/8 Maddie Green 2-24 Tobe Adamson 1-12, Jack Austin 39, Henry Bensch 30, Jock Barrie 23, Charlie Keiller 18

Year 9/10 Ben McCure 40, Euan Sutherland 20, Jock Keiller 2-15, Eliza Jagger 1-12.

vs Adelaide High School

Year 7/8 Maddie Green 15, Henry Bensch 14 and 3-36.

Year 9/10 Ben McCure 5-25, Riley Alexander 44

vs Pembroke School

Year 7/8 Ben Potter 2-2, Maddie Green 11, Jock Barrie 10.

Year 9/10 Riley Alexander 52 not out, Lachie Craig 1-17.

Riley Alexander and Ben McCure

Cricket Captains

Cricket News

A flyer was sent home with details of the ‘Woolworths Junior Blasters’ programme to all junior students at Myrniong. This programme is a rebranding of the Milo In 2 Cricket competition which has been running for a number of years. College’s programme is set to start on THURSDAY 18TH OCTOBER. More information can be found on the flyer attached. If you would like to know any further information please get in contact with Mr Mirtschin.

Stephen Mirtschin

Head of Cricket

Hockey

During the holidays, Isaac Hocking and Phoebe Russell (both Year 7) represented South Australia and Victoria respectively in their age group at the National Hockey Championships. Phoebe was named her team’s “player of the tournament” and Isaac was a strong contributor to his team’s performance also. Phoebe’s team finished second and Isaac’s eighth (of twelve). In addition, Chloe Andersen (Year 11) was selected to umpire during the championships, a most noteworthy achievement.

Well done to Chloe, Phoebe and Isaac!

(With thanks to Elke Hocking for the photographs)

In addition, we have asked students in Years 9-11 to indicate if they are interested in being involved in the South West Games Hockey Competition on Saturday 10 November in Hamilton. We have had some responses so far but need more if we are to enter a team in the mixed competition. Please ensure your son or daughter lets us know if they are keen to be involved early next week so we can determine whether to enter a team or not.

We understand that an Under 13 team may also be entered – Mr Nelson is looking at arrangements.

Neil Maclean and Kristen Waldron

Heads of Hockey

Connecting with the Community

Workshop @ HIRL

The Farmers Place