Sporting News

Physical Education Unit 1 & 2

Surf Camp was an extremely enjoyable camp, one that I felt like helped me to become closer to a lot of people. From the beginning, to the return home, everything was really relaxing and fun, a perfect distraction from school.

The trip to Phillip Island was quiet, as I was on the bus with 8 people, and Mr Jose. The only person I could hear talking being myself and my friend. Mr Jose was an excellent driver for his first time in the minivan. We headed straight to the beach and had our first surfing lesson, which was…interesting. You had everyone at the start of the lesson struggling to catch a wave, then by the end most people were able to complete the goal for the day – to successfully lay down on their boards with their back arched. It was obvious everyone had enjoyed it though, smiles and laughs were amongst students, teachers, and coaches. A lot of people had water stuck in their wetsuits, and they looked like the Michelin man from their waist down. We then headed to the campsite which took me by surprise; especially how clean the bathrooms were. I was expecting a bunch of dead insects and bugs, a feature from a previous camp experience, but it was spotless. We had free time, where everyone basically either explored the place, rested inside their cabins, or played volleyball and other sports. Barbeque dinner was served around 6:30. I helped out with the cooking, but with my stroke of luck, my grill wasn’t working properly, so I had to use my friend’s one after he was finished, so I am very sorry if you had to eat an overcooked sausage. After dinner, everyone basically dispersed into their cabins, and my friends and I watched a very s t r a n g e movie. Still funny, nonetheless. Around 10:30, we were all dead tired from surfing and fell asleep fast. Someone snored though, so we played detective to find out who, but no one would admit to it. I don’t think it was Mr Jose sleeping in the room next to us.

On the second day, we got to wake up late, and had your average breakfast of cereal and toast, but my friends and I found a little function room that we got to watch TV on while the others had to sit outside :) We then went to Woolamai back beach and played some games, one of which was where you had to dig a hole big enough to fit yourself and your partner so that the teacher wouldn’t be able to see you. Of course, some people were eliminated immediately, but for the others who remained, they had to switch to a new hole before the teacher turned around. Eventually, it was my friend Pasan and I competing against a group of two girls. We lost :( BUT, in my opinion it was not a fair game because the two girls were much smaller than us. We also boogie-boarded on the sand dunes, and there were some hilarious faces that were made during the ride. At 12.00pm we had our second surfing lesson, and this time we had the goal of being able to stand up on our surfboards. It was a pretty daunting challenge considering that we had only started learning the day before. A lot of people managed to stand up on their boards, and it was amazing to see everyone gaining confidence in themselves. A lot of people also managed to get hit by another person’s board (sorry Ian), but thankfully no one was seriously hurt. Later, we ate our packed lunches and then had some free time. Despite our ball games nothing was broken (except for when Eric threw the ball at Raine that MIGHT have hit the window; poor Raine’s head absorbed all of the impact). Dinner at Cowes was delicious, my friends and I had some pizza, and someone spilt Sprite on their shorts. Everyone coincidentally met at the gelato store. We then went home, and as everyone was exhausted from another day of surfing (excluding the Year 10 boys who somehow never ran out of energy), went to bed.

On the final day, we had to wake up a lot earlier than the day before, so many people looked like they hadn’t slept for a few days. After breakfast and a strange encounter with a bird that found itself trapped in the function room, we headed off for our final surf lesson of the camp. I could feel the excitement of everyone as the waves on that day were much larger than the days before. We all worked hard to not nosedive, but to catch some good waves and completely make it to the end of the wave’s cycle. Everyone had managed to stand up, and some were even able to begin steering. I attempted to, and successfully steered into the back of Mr Jose’s leg to knock him over (sorry sir). He wasn’t hurt though. At the end of the final lesson, when everyone had to remove their wetsuits for the last time, the sadness in the air was evident. It was obvious that people didn’t want the camp to be over, but it was time to go back to the camp and pack our bags. I still somehow cannot roll a sleeping bag properly. The packing up of everything went well, and we managed to leave on schedule. This time, on the way back, the people in my bus were conversing with each other, and it was nice to see how the camp had brought people together. Mr Jose again did a great job driving our group back home (I think – as we all fell asleep straight away), and afterwards, camp was over. People headed home, some popped into their classrooms to say hi to their friends, but it was the perfect way to end the outing. Everyone had to catch up on three days of missed homework though (unless you brought your laptop to the camp – Ian), which was the only major downside of the camp.

Thank you so much to Ms Vanstan for planning such an amazing trip, and thank you to Mr Jose, Ms Zhang, and Ms Cilia for supervising us, we hope you didn’t have to suffer too much.

Lachlan Trinh

Year 11

Nossal Sports Star

Harkirat Singh Bajwa

Year 12

Australian U/19 Cricketer from NHS

Interviewed by Ms Chantelle Pumphrey

Nossal High School Sport Coordinator

What are your top Sporting Achievements?

Getting picked to represent Australia in U/19 Cricket to play in the Junior World Cup in the West Indies in 2022
Winning U/15 National Carnival for Cricket, representing Victoria

Which Cricket Teams you’ve played for?