Boarding 

A number of boarders traveled to Melbourne last week for ICCES Swimming and from all reports they swam extremely well. What many people may not know about was the large number of boarders who played in the arguably more prestigious ICCES Table Tennis and Badminton competitions. For these athletes, the boarding house is not just a place to call home; thanks to the table tennis table in the common room, along with surround sound speaker system, the boarding house also serves as the ultimate training facility. While training in-house, players need to adapt to using ‘vintage’ racquets with limited grip, balls with dints and the constant interruption of other boarders entering the common room right behind their opponent. They also undertake psychological training by being constantly sledged by onlookers after any mishit.

The boys’ 10-12 table tennis team, made up of boarders only, took training to a new level this year and hardly left the training facility. Alec Jagger, Tim Gilling and Fitzroy Maclean were unlucky not to be crowned champions, but are already beginning preparations for next year with a program built mostly around upper body explosive power and head bands.

Lauren Richards, Chloe Andersen and Tayla Kennedy are three new boarders this year and were all members of the girls’ 10-12 table tennis team. Although their preparation wasn’t as extensive, they still played some great shots on the day. Other boarders also played badminton including Cole U Ren-Sze To, Gordon Zhou and Euan Sutherland, who all represented the College proudly.

Most boarders went home for the long weekend which made for a quiet one in the boarding house. Condolences go to the Pigeon Ponds Cricket Team which went down narrowly in their Grand Final on the weekend. College Boarders make up a large part of the team and they really did have a magnificent season.

This weekend we are stepping up the intensity with a trip to Ballarat for some Dragon Boat Racing. One of College’s instrumental teachers, Georgia Parry, has kindly offered to host and teach us a thing or two about Dragon Boats, which will surely make for a fun weekend.

Mr Alex Smith