ICCES Winter Sports Tour 

On Thursday 16th June 4 soccer teams, 4 basketball teams and 3 netball teams headed off to Shepparton for the annual ICCES Winter Tour. Girton competed against 5 other Country Independent schools from across Victoria in this high-calibre sporting event. ICCES is undoubtedly the biggest event in the school sporting calendar, providing a great opportunity to not only display individual talent but also build a sense of comradery and connection with each other.

The 3 netball teams persevered through the cold and wet courts to have an outstanding first day with the junior and intermediate girls putting up a fierce fight whilst the senior girls won all games finishing top of the draw. The Juniors, unfortunately, fell short in the preliminary final and ended up 3rd and the intermediate girls lost in the semis coming 4th. The senior girls' netball won the semi-final by 1 goal against Goulburn Valley Grammar School and met them again in the grand final in a very tight game, again, winning by 1 goal to win the senior netball.

The senior basketball teams came out firing, winning their first games comprehensively. This was the first winter tour for most people in the 2 junior teams, but despite lacking experience, they competed hard and represented the school with great sportsmanship. The major stories for the basketball would have to be the junior girls; who didn’t win a game on day one, but under the careful guidance of Mr Smalley redeemed themselves on day 2 to finish second overall. On top of this awesome effort, the senior boys also fought hard throughout the tournament, finishing top after the first day and losing narrowly in the grand final by just one point. 

We had a very successful two days with the 3 boys' soccer teams and the girls' team. 

On Thursday the open girls' soccer team had a smooth day winning all 3 games without conceding putting them top of the table for Friday. Winning the first final on Friday placed the girls into the grand final, where they displayed a fantastic performance beating Bacchus Marsh 6-0 taking home the shield for 2022. The junior boys having no experience at the ICCES winter tour played with a high level of teamwork and ability also finishing first for day 1. The junior boys competed in the grand final just coming short of victory. The intermediate boys and senior boys both played an outstanding two days that assisted in bringing home the overall ICCES Winter Tour Cup. The intermediate boys as well finished top after the first day and were able to bring the shield home on Friday. On Thursday the senior boys finished 3rd but turned it around on Friday winning the grand final in penalties thanks to an awesome team effort

We would like to thank every single staff member who organised us, coached, took photos, provided first aid or even just supported us over the course of the two days. In particular, we would like to thank Ms Speed and Mrs Canobie for the enormous effort they put in, collaborating with other schools and organising every athlete and team from Girton to help make the whole event possible. 

Congratulations to the following teams for finishing in 1st place

Intermediate Boys Soccer

Senior Boys Soccer

Open Girls Soccer

Senior Girls Netball

The points won through every game played by each of the Girton teams means that we are proud to announce that Girton Grammar is the overall winner of the 2022 ICCES Winter Tour. 

Congratulations to all students and staff for bringing home the cup. 

Phoebe Radford (12 Riley) & Emily Everist (12 Aherne)