From the Head of Sport

Yesterday we were fortunate to have our first full College assembly in a very long time and we took this opportunity to present our 1st IV tennis and 1st V basketball teams to the College.

We congratulate Will O’Connor (1st IV Tennis Captain), Jack Brassington and Ryan Ellis (1st V Basketball Co-Captains) on their selections as captains and all boys selected in these team who are listed below. These boys began their AIC seasons last Saturday against St. Edmund’s College and including trials, played four matches across seven days. Now there are only three matches left in our shortened seasons and we wish them the very best, particularly our Senior students in this last term of school.

The next few weeks will undoubtedly be a very busy time in all aspects of college life and an extremely busy time in sport with 6 different sports crossing over each for the first time.

It was mentioned on assembly how this will be a time when students need to take care of themselves and stay organised. There are numerous sports all competing for the attention of our students. While there is no such thing as any sport having preference this year, it is important that students are not simply picking and choosing what suits them. Balance is the key here and clear communication is very important!

Communicate clearly with coaches and coordinators of each sport so that they know what commitments boys are juggling and so that they can work out the best way to support you. This is also an important reminder about the need for every student to check our main sources of information carefully

With more sport than ever before going at one time, we have been very organised with our information and it is important that you are paying attention to the following avenues of information:

• Sports newsletter
• College APP
• Noticeboards and emails

There is no excuse for you to miss information about when things are on. Everything is there for you so make sure that you regularly check.

Finally, please ensure that in the time spent away from training or games which is often more important than the training itself, that you are recovering well through good sleep and good nutritional habits.

This year it is more important than ever to be taking care of your physical and mental health through rest and recovery.

HOUSE ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

This week all students had the chance to nominate through their Houses for the annual House Athletics Carnival. As with everything else this year, the carnival has been unfortunately adjusted to only include students who will perform in the athletic events.

One of the best parts of this day has always been the rare opportunity to have all students and staff in what is always a great House event for the entire College and we look forward to returning to a full carnival in 2021. We will be still having a carnival that allows us to determine the winners of the House Cup for Athletics and also to determine our age champions.

PRE-CARNIVAL EVENTS

As usual there will be events held prior to the carnival. An important reminder to all Discus throwers and 1500m that your events are held on the days leading up to the carnival commencing this Friday with Open and 16 years discus. All discus is at lunch break so do not forget when your events are on.

GENERAL COVID-19 INFO

Firstly, it is important to continue to follow our College COVID-19 procedures that are in place for sport and everyone needs to be very clear to their parents about their exact game/training times and pick up times.

PADUA COLLEGE COVID PROCEDURES

We are travelling away for the first time this weekend so it is important that anyone dropping students off at Padua or Open parents attending as spectators are following the clear instructions provided by Padua College.

PARENT PICK UP REMINDERS

We are working on a 15-minute window at the end of games/training in which all students are to be picked up and leave so please arrange this with your parents so that you are not hanging around.

Simply and bluntly put – you train or play and then you leave.

Kind regards,

David Miles

Head of Sport