The Alex Gadomski Cup 

The Gadomski Cup is an annual football game between The Hutchins School and St Virgil’s College. Now in its fourth year, the game recognises Old Virgilian Alex Gadomski. The two schools enjoy a rich history of playing football against each other, dating back to the College’s foundation year, 1911. There has always been a strong rivalry that exists on the sporting field, fuelled by the desire to be recognised as the leading boys’ school in Hobart. Hutchins’ games are simply unique and every Virgilian that pulls on the ‘V’ of St Virgil’s in a match against the magenta of Hutchins, instinctively knows this and the expectations that come with this honour. 

The story of Alex Gadomski follows this article.

Turning the Year 9 and 10 roster game into an event has been a fantastic move from both schools. By linking the game to such a worthy cause as the Alex Gadomski Fellowship, gives the boys representing each school an opportunity to raise money and awareness for such an important cause. Alex was an incredibly bright young man, who sadly died from Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome in 2017. Alex represented the College in many different sports. His brothers Jordan and Lachlan also attended the College, with Lachlan serving as the College Captain in 2016.

In 2021 the day was expanded with the addition of a Grade 5&6 game and a Year 7&8 game. The Grade 5&6 team commenced proceedings played the first game of the day kicking off the day in fine style for St Virgil’s with a gallant seven-point win. Grade 6 student, Henry Mansfield won the Courage Medal for the Best on Ground for SVC. He performed very consistently and exemplified the spirit of the day. We forward to watching him transition into the senior school in 2022, and hopefully progressing to the 1st XVIII as his father Damian did during his time at the College. 

The day received plenty of media exposure with the Channel 7 News crew and The Mercury conducting interviews with Captain Riley Ferguson and Head of Sport Michael Moschoganis. These added to the authenticity of the event as well as promoting the quality of each schools football programme. Riley, when asked about the importance of the game said, “It means a lot. There is a real rivalry between St Virgil’s and Hutchins, and even more for a game like this with the Alex Gadomski Cup. It means a lot to us all. It definitely has some benefit with tradition, keeping the greater traditions of the schools alive, and more importantly raising awareness for the Alex Gadomski Fellowship.” 

The Year 7&8 game was a monumental tussle between two evenly matched teams. St Virgil’s started strongly against a Hutchins team who had been playing together for the entire SSATIS roster. In contrast the SVC team was drawn from three teams selected according to where students live, these being Eastern Shore, Northern Suburbs and Greater Hobart/Southern teams. Whilst this spreads our talent for the SSATIS roster it maximises participation opportunities for boys which is a fundamental premise of the College’s renowned sporting programme. The opportunity to select our best Year 7&8 team certainly evened the contest and subsequently we entered the half time break with an eleven point lead. Jye Millwall was an unstoppable force up forward, towering above the Hutchins defence, kicking a goal and creating a contest to allow our small forwards to also hit the scoreboard.  

As the second half progressed, Lachie Davey proved to be crucial in the midfield. He was strong overhead and provided our forward line with numerous opportunities to score. The team always knew that Hutchins would respond and when it did it was Anthony Volta who marshalled the backline, repelling attack after attack from Hutchins who were controlling the midfield. He also instigated many of our attacking moves with excellent ball use. His influence on the game was highlighted during one piece of play where he lost the ball at our forward 50 after overlapping from defence. He then chased 60 metres back into defence to run down a Hutchin’s player who was steaming in to what seemed a near certain goal. It was plays like this that ensured the victory for St Virgil’s and saw Anthony awarded with the Courage Medal. The game was on a knife’s edge right up the final siren with St Virgil’s holding on for a hard fought one point win. Hutchins were left to lament their inaccuracy having kicked one goal and four behinds in the final five minutes of the game. 

It was now time for the main event, the start of which also heralded the arrival of rain which had threatened during the Year 9&10 game. This would require a commitment to be first to the ball and play old fashioned ‘wet weather footy’! The Hutchins Cheer Squad were loud, and all boys were pumped for the contest. The first quarter began with Hutchins dominating most of the play, showing a clean set of heels in the slippery conditions. St Virgil’s despite some good passages of play remained scoreless up until the final moments of the quarter, when midfielder and one the best St Virgil’s players for the day, Lachlan Dare, took a strong grab and went back and kicked truly. Our boys trailed by nine points heading into quarter time. The weather really began to deteriorate as the second quarter wore on, and the boys really struggled to adjust to the conditions. As the half-time siren sounded, the Saints remained on one goal, not registering a score for the entire quarter. 

After a vintage ‘rev-up’ from the coaching team consisting of Mr Beck, Mr Webster and Mr ‘Kev’ Anders, the boys were fired up and ready to make amends for a poor first half. Vice-Captain Flynn Read and fellow defender Will Busch were leading by example in the backline, putting their body on the line to get to the contest first and were willing to put their fist to the ball to gain some valuable territory. The lack of scoring from both sides really took the ‘fizz’ out of the game, as the conditions made it incredibly tough to use skills with any surety. 

Whilst both teams managed a goal in the last quarter the final score was St Virgil’s 2.5 (17) to Hutchins 6.10 (46). Hutchins’ midfielder Josh Curtis was chosen for the Courage Medal and was quite clearly the best player on the field. 

A big thank you on behalf of the St Virgil’s College community to Hutchins for hosting the event. Thank you also to Paul and the Gadomski family for presenting the Alex Gadomski Cup to the winning teams throughout the day. It was fantastic to see such a strong showing from both Colleges, all teams displaying high level skills. 

We eagerly look forward to the event in 2022 and seeing the Cup return to St Virgil’s! 

ALEX’S STORY AS TOLD BY HIS MOTHER, JANET, AT THE ANNUAL ST VIRGIL’S FOOTBALL LUNCHEON

Hobart Grand Chancellor 5th July 2019

ALEX GADOMSKI  31.08.95 - 7.05.17   (SVC 2008-11)

The following is an address given by Janet Gadomski at the 2019 St Virgil’s College Football Function at the Grand Chancellor.  Monies raised were directed to the Alex Gadomski Fellowship.

"Two years ago Paul and I lost the eldest of our three sons, Alexander, to Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome.  This insidious disease is most common in 15-25 year olds, of which more than half of those diagnosed do not survive.

"I’d like to share briefly with you Alex’s five year journey with the disease which proved to be unrelenting.  Alex was a smart, very fit and healthy 16 year old who enjoyed playing football of rowing, having previously been captain of St Virgil’s rowing team, when he was admitted to hospital with appendicitis.  A routine blood test picked up an abnormality and he was eventually diagnosed with Aplastic Anaemia –  something we had never heard of.  

"The following months were filled with bone marrow biopsies, weekly blood tests and treatment until  he was finally diagnosed with MDS another Bone Marrow Failure.  Treatment was stopped as the only  treatment for MDS was a bone marrow transplant which would need to take place in Melbourne with a compulsory 100 day stay there.   The search for a donor began.  Alex’s two young brothers were tested but were unsuitable donors.  The wait began and after twelve months from his original diagnosis a suitable donor was found.  

"On 6th May 2013 Paul and I headed to Melbourne with Alex, leaving our two younger sons to be looked after by family.  Alex was always positive and got through the chemo and the transplant relatively well.  When he was well enough., he passed the time trying to keep up with his Year 12 studies.  You see, Alex wanted to study Medicine, something he had decided when he was only fourteen.

"We stayed the compulsory 100 days in Melbourne and returned home twelve days before Alex’s 18th birthday.  It was soon after his birthday that he began feeling unwell and was admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital.  He was diagnosed with Graft Versus Host Disease, a side effect of the transplant.  We knew little about GVHD, and little did we know that Alex would have to go through hell.  He was transferred back to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.  The new stem cells were attacking Alex’s organs.  He was to spend the next four and a half months as an inpatient, enduring treatment after treatment, losing weight and being fed through a tube.  He ended up as a shadow of himself.  Finally in January 2014, Alex was able to return home, to continue his treatment in Hobart and to try to build his body and strength up again.

"Alex missed Year 12 but as his Year 11 results were good, he was offered the opportunity to study a Science at UTAS.  It wasn’t what he wanted but it was a pathway to get to study medicine – it was just going to take a bit longer. 

"Alex worked hard in 2014, trying to build himself up and always studying with the focus of becoming a doctor.  Later in the year he was again knocked down with the GVHD flaring again – this time attacking his skin.  For the next few months his skin constantly shed from his scalp, his face, his body., arms and legs; his feet and even the palms of his hands .  To put this into some context, his bedding would need vacuuming every morning.  How he endured this while travelling back and forward to Melbourne every week for treatment with people constantly staring at him. Somehow he rose above this, and made himself get out of bed each day, studied whilst having treatment, constantly keeping his specialist on their toes asking question after question and always checking on his own treatment.  After several months his GVHD was brought under control, although it left his body with permanent scarring.  The trips to Melbourne went from weekly to fortnightly, then back to monthly again.

"The start of 2015 Alex was able to change his Science degree to a Medical Research degree, something he began to get interested in, still with the focus of eventually studying Medicine.  This year saw Alex back in hospital for a few weeks with pneumonia.  Whilst he was able to remain in Hobart, he was unable to get back to Uni for some time, so he studied as much as possible at home.  Once he had gained enough strength to drive again, he attended lectures and did his contact hours.  He found some of the subjects he studied quite easy – he was living what they were studying.  He had all the answers.

"2016 finally Alex seem to be getting on top of his health issues, although he was still required to take more daily medication than any of you would believe, he was going out with his mates, attending festivals, travelling inter-state to see bands, and landed his dream job, albeit an interim one, as a croupier at Wrest Point Casino.  He loved the job, working through the night and meeting different people.  All was going well until that October when the light we thought we had seen at the end of the tunnel proved to be a train heading straight for him.   Once again his organs were being attacked by GVHD.  He was admitted to hospital again, where he remained on and off for the next few months.

In January 2017, Alex was transferred back to Melbourne.  He was on high doses of numerous medications which seemed to be holding his condition but not improving it.  Alex was losing weight again and basic day to day chores were getting harder.  He managed to return to Hobart for a short time but once again transferred back to Melbourne.  He became weaker and weaker to the point where he was unable to lift his head off his pillow, was unable to eat, was enduring incredible pain, and was faced with setback after setback.  There was never any good news.

On 2nd May 2017 we had what we now know was to be the final meeting with Alex’s medical team.  The news was grim.  The only thing that Alex wanted to say to his doctors that day was, “I just want to live”. 

"We knew that this wasn’t to be the case.  There was no treatment that was left in the entire world that his doctors hadn’t tried already.  We returned to Hobart where Alex passed away five days later.  It was exactly five years all but a day that Alex had travelled to Melbourne for his transplant.

"This has been a brief outline of what Alex endured during his last five years.  It doesn’t begin to reflect any of the physical or emotional side of what he endured, and certainly doesn’t describe the incredible pain he endured especially over his last six months.

Alex was posthumously honoured with his medical research degree, graduating the week before Christmas 2017.

"In February 2018, Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision announced a Tasmanian Research Fellowship in Alex’s name.  The “Alex Gadomski Fellowship”.  The first fellow was announced in March this year (2019) and research has commenced at the Menzies Centre in Hobart to try to find a cure for Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes.

"Alex isn’t here to put his degree to good use, but we are, and we can raise funds to put into research to find that cure so that other young adults get the chance to live".

Funeral notice inserted in the Hobart Mercury following his death.

GADOMSKI, John Alexander. 31.8.1995 - 7.5.2017 

Deeply loved son of Paul and Janet, big brother to Jordan and Lachlan, passed away peacefully at RHH on Sunday morning with his family by his side. 

Alex was respected, loved and trusted by all of his friends and people he met along the way. He was known for his polite and caring nature which shone through even in the very tough times. 

A gorgeous young man whose smile will never be forgotten. 

Sleep peacefully now the pain and battle is over. We will always be a family of 5 with you in our hearts for eternity. 

Until we meet again, 

rest in peace.