Marist College Ashgrove has a long and proud tradition in sport. One only has to look at the honour boards, talk to an Old Boy or see the names that are on our facilities to recognise that. I recently put together a list of Old Boy athletes that went to the AIC in preparations for the 25th year of the Associated Independent Colleges next year and as a newcomer to the College this year I was blown away by the sheer number of athletes who have gone from MCA to elite honours in sport.

Sport plays a vital role in the development of young men of character. This is the single most important reason we play sport in schools like ours. It is nice to win trophies and no one is prouder than I am of the students I have worked with in my career that have gone on to sporting success, but schools are here to educate first and foremost. For every John Eales and Matthew Hayden, there are tens of thousands of students who have played sport at Marist for the camaraderie, the memories, the growth as young men and the opportunity to represent their school. As a College we have two key responsibilities to all the boys who want to play sport. First and foremost, we need to provide opportunities for them and, secondly, we need to challenge them to be better, better athletes, better team mates, better men. In my view, if we take care of these two factors the winning part takes care of itself in a boys’ school. Provide the opportunity and provide the knowledge and experiences and the result takes care of itself.

The first point is topical because of the challenges we face as a large boarding school in an association of schools with different sizes, strengths and weaknesses. We want every boy to play a sport. That is a key value of the college. However, not every sport every year can cater for every boy who wants to play. It is unfortunate that all the options in Term 3 have capacity limits for varying reasons. For some of us this is the first time we have faced this as Term 1 offered unlimited numbers in cricket and volleyball ran an internal competition for those that missed AIC teams, and Term 2 had football and rugby which were unlimited and we fielded over 70 teams across the two codes. Unfortunately, this term tennis, rugby league, basketball, hockey and, to an extent, track and field have a capacity on them. The challenge is recognised and solutions are being worked on.

The second point, about challenging the boys to be better, is important as well. I have loved working with the boys, their enthusiasm, dedication to their school and passion for sport really shines at Marist. There are an awful lot of people on staff as well as external coaches and Old Boys who go over and above for the college and the boys. They do really terrific work in developing the boys skills in games and growth as young men. I have been thoroughly impressed with the approachability, friendliness and commitment from the staff. They really do care about the boys and the college. Just in the holidays we had good numbers of staff at Confraternity and our first in recent memory holiday basketball clinics for boys. Where I can see growth for us is in everything being a little more joined up, a little more consistent across each sport and across the sports and by asking a little more of ourselves, by that I mean all of us, in our approach and our standards and expectations.

Who knows how many boys amongst us right now will be our next Olympian, Wallaby or Socceroo?

Confraternity Shield – Connor Lyons

The College enters a rugby league team in the Confraternity Carnival each year, an event that brings together over 1000 players from nearly 50 teams across Queensland. This year the carnival was held in Mackay, where we took away 6 staff and 22 players, who all had a great time, and should be commended on the way they represented the College throughout the week. By the end of the carnival, the boys came away with three wins and three losses after getting knocked out in the semi-finals for the Bob Linder trophy, a good effort considering our first game together this year was actually in Mackay. A huge thank you must go to Miss Orcher, Mr McIntosh, Mr Conn, Mr Treleaven and Mr Bailey for all the effort and support they put into us throughout the week, and of course to Mr Apps who organised every little detail and made the trip enjoyable for everyone. Special mention must also go to Jasper Barry, who handled himself very well as the only Year 10 on the trip and more than held his own on the field, and to Daniel Witt, who was awarded the Best and Fairest award for Ashgrove.

Track and Field – Mr Derek Lennon (Track and Field Co-ordinator)

AIC CHAMPIONSHIPS - 12 WEEKS TO GO

Our track and field squad have started training in earnest for the assault on the 2022 AIC Championships. On the back of the cross-country success, we know what it will take to be successful - there are no shortcuts. It is hard work and commitment from every boy. Our real strength is in the depth of our squad so we must make sure the whole ship is going in the same direction. It was great to see so many boys training last week.

The training schedule is available on the College App including weekly changes with our specialist coaches so make sure you are checking in regularly to know what you need to do and where you need to do.

Track and Field have dedicated strength and conditioning sessions and all boys in the squad are recommended to attend these sessions.

Boys who are track and field athletes and playing basketball, tennis or rugby league need to make sure you are getting to athletics sessions on a regular basis- every boy and every point is vital. Speak with myself or Head Coach, Mr Rob Martin if you are unsure.

Coaching Staff

Co-ordinator: Derek Lennon

Year 5/6: John Lambourne

Head Coach: Robin Martin

Throws Des Davis

Josh Mulligan

Lee Martin

Corey Anderson

Jumps Eric Brown

Paul Kearney

Laurie Boustead

Meagan Cook

Maddie Spann

Sprints/Relays Cam Pfeffer

David Meehan

Carl Martin

William Burkett

Jeremy Davis

Gavin Hunter

Dan Drew

Middle Distance Bill Prole

Harry Hunter

Brendan Saunders

This Wednesday 20 July- all boys to meet at the Grandstand at 3:20pm before training.

MINI MEET THIS FRIDAY 22 JULY-3:30-4:30PM

Get a result recorded - this will help with our Met North selections.

Events: 100m/800m/Long/Triple/Shot Put/Javelin

Track events- Primary & Secondary; Field events - Secondary only (Primary field recorded at training).

Tennis - Mr Andrew Ward

What’s happening at the courts this week?

This week we are in full swing with all teams training for our first match against ST. Laurence’s College. This will be a step up in quality from our trial game and I hope all boys make their respective training sessions for this week.

Reminder for all boys who are representing AIC year levels that there are Friday matches for those who want some extra play under the guidance of one of the coaches giving you tips on how to improve your game.

1st & 2nd players are reminded that this is expected of you as part of your team training. Unless you have a good excuse.

Trial v St. Patrick's College - 16 July

Years 5-7

Ms Jen Little & Mr Raj Khawas - Match Day Managers

Matches were played in great spirits with our boys having no problems under the Guidance of Ms Little. Our boys won all matches which is fantastic to our boys as we faced a very spirited team. Congratulations to our Year 5 boys who did not lose a set in either A or B teams both winning 8-0.

Years 9-10

Ms Christine Baillie - Match Day Manager

Our Year 9 and 10 teams recorded straight wins for both teams of each year levels. Our 10 B team giving us a nail-biting finish with Marist needing to keep them to 2 or less games to secure the tie, our boys delivered with a 4-1 win to secure it. Well done boys. All boys played in true Marist spirit and was a great day.

Year 8

Ms Katelin Earle - Match Day Manager

Our Year 8 team is not so lucky, but with the addition of some unavailable players, next week we will be better off and much stronger. Our boys were not disgraced; some matches were close and only a few points, either way, made the difference in the end. The match was played in great spirits and was wonderful to meet all the parents of the boys playing. Thank you for being so welcoming in and it was nice to feel the warm Marist spirit and how we all work together. We have yet to see the best from these talented boys.

Opens Teams

Mr Andrew Ward, Mr Callum Rees, Mr Ben Webb - Match Day Managers

Our opens teams played very well with our opponents are known for their depth throughout all their opens teams.

We had good wins in our 1st IV and 2nd IV teams a tie in our 3rd IV team and a loss on count back by one game for our 4th IV team. Some of these boys playing their first match ever so was pleasing to see the boys get stuck in.

A great combination is forming with our First team with Blake Harrold and Louis Morris playing extremely good tennis and complimenting each other as a team to get some great results. All boys had a great hit out in their singles matches as well and congratulations to both Louis Morris and Lachlan Braithwaite both making their debuts for the 1st team and winning their singles matches. Was a shirt ceremony with a great feeling of pride and admiration to be chosen to wear it. All players who represent the school will be given their shirt at the start of the match to symbolise the respect they should have for wearing and playing for the school. They will then get to keep that shirt as they have earned the right to say, they are a member of the first tennis team.

We would like to thank the staff at St Pat's for the warm welcome and great spirited day of matches and also Br Chris for his generous hospitality and how well he runs the day. Thank you from all of us who were there; I know the boys really appreciated the lunch packs.

Marist Doubles Championships

Just a reminder that we are taking names for this tournament in both opens and division 1 categories. All players from Year 7-12 can nominate for the open draw; Division 1 is only available for Year 7-9 who do not think they will go well in the open division.

All matches will be played 3:30pm-7:30pm, Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 August the week of the Ekka. Finals will be last matches on the 9th.

There will be no coaching of any type during the week 8 - 12 August.

As always if you have any questions please contact us at MCATennis@marash.qld.edu.au or call 0437 449 523.

See you at the courts.

Hockey

Last Friday afternoon, the Open Hockey team had their first game against Brisbane State High School in the Schoolboys Hockey Competition. The final score was 6 – 1 with five goals coming from Nick Keir (11) and one from Oliver Shinkel (10) on a short corner; a very promising start for what is bound to be a very exciting season. This is now the tenth year of the competition, and we have managed to keep the shield since 2019. As is tradition we have a mixture of boys from 7 – 12, including club players and boys who are completely new to the sport. On this note, congratulations should go to our newbies - Spencer Sharman (who did a great job in goals; including a slide tackle that completely saved a goal), Bailey Russo (who has added some pace to our wings) and Sebastian Karamihas (who managed to get a Penalty Stroke – which is a good thing in Hockey). This week, we take on St Patrick’s College which will likely be a harder game.

Student Achievements

James Milner will be representing Queensland at the Under 15 AFL Nationals next week. We all congratulate James on this fine achievement and wish him well at the championships.

Father Son Camp

Mr Ben Webb