Senior School Sport

SPORT REPORT 

As we move to the end of this term, our governing bodies will meet once again to review current restrictions on College sport. Any decisions made by NSW Health, CSNSW and MCS will be passed onto the College community as soon as possible. Hopefully, the College can return to MCS Sports competitions in Term 4 and students can represent the College in our weekly sporting competitions.

College sports selections have never looked so strong with droves of students electing to trial for MCS Basketball and MCS Cricket. The Coaches for the upcoming summer season have been reviewing student talent, effort and behaviour and have been making isolated cuts where necessary. Students are asked to frequently check Daily Notices to remain updated with team changes and also venues for upcoming trials.

With Year 11 examinations taking place in Weeks 9 and 10, Senior students will need to make the most of the remaining time to demonstrate the necessary skills for selection.

Our College Sports program has gained another valuable sports provider with Stand Strong Boxing joining the ranks. Current UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker trains out of the venue when preparing for upcoming bouts. 

The students who attended Revolutions Gym were put through a rigorous Spin Session last week. The students look engaged and very fatigued after a hard session.

Years 7 and 8 House Sport have benefited from Sydney FC coaches coaching the students over the last two weeks. Sensational weather and great student participation have made this activity very worthwhile so far!

Mock Trial

The 2020 Mock Trial team took on William Carey Christian School on Tuesday in the 3rd round of the NSW Law Society Mock Trial Competition.

This year, the trials have been conducted via Zoom (posing many challenges, in particular when your 40 min ‘free trial’ ends and shuts the meeting down mid-trial) and the boys have been quick to adapt to the different setup.

Yesterday, we were assigned the plaintiff in a dispute over a will, in which two cousins were competing for the inheritance of a 3-million-dollar estate from their Aunty.

Our first Barrister (Declan Foran) gave an excellent opening address, before the first witness (and new College Captain) Lachlan McInerny took the stand to describe how close he was to his late Aunt, and how he has cared for her for 5 years whilst she lived with them and her health failed. Under cross-examination, he then proceeded to describe how he enjoyed family time, without her, before backtracking and detouring, explaining her love of penguins, and how he enjoys taking his own children to the movies as they are big fans of Frozen, even dropping a few lines in song! Needless to say, the opposing side was quite lost in their line of questioning throughout, as he did his best to take them on tangents and use up the time limit for the cross-examination.

Second witness James Macri played the role of the late Aunt’s Doctor, and dressed for the part (although the tattoos were probably a little overboard!), he was excellent in the recital of his script, before being put under pressure in cross-examination by a Barrister who believed her knowledge of medication was better than his. James kept his cool and explained he received his qualifications in Harvard, before being questioned again on whether that qualification was valid in Australia. After a little back and forth on largely irrelevant facts, our case was complete, and it was time to cross-examine the other side’s witnesses.

Both Declan and second Barrister Riley Anderson were fantastic, sticking to relevant issues and areas of law, and were rewarded on the score sheet. They did their best to push the fact that the respondent was nothing but a money-hungry relative, who gave no attention to his Aunt until she began to lose her memory and took the opportunity to have her sign another will, knowing she could not read or write English. Riley Anderson then gave a considered and logical closing address, relating the facts of the case to relevant pieces of legislation and case law and wrapping the case in excellent detail.

Whilst we did not win the ‘case’, the boys did win on the important scoresheet, ending the season with a well-deserved win.

In a year of limited co-curricular activities, they took the opportunity to have a go and were a fantastic group to work with and it is a shame that the shortened season means they won’t progress to the knock-out rounds.

MCS Summer Sports Trial Information

Senior Basketball will be held throughout Term 3 from Weeks 1 to 10. The squad has been selected with final team selections taking place this week.

Senior Cricket trials will commence in Weeks 6 -10 on College grounds. Students trialling for these teams will be eligible to represent the College in all Senior Cricket competitions throughout the 2020/2021 seasons. Team Morrissey vs Team Farias will take place this week to assist in finalising the 1st and 2nd XI’s. 

Students who are not selected for summer teams in Term 3 will need to return to House Sport or select a Recreational Sport option.

Junior Basketball will take place from Week 6 to Week 10 of Term 3. The venue for these trials will change between the College Hall and Minto Stadium, pending age groups and College examinations.

Junior Cricket trials for MCS teams will take place in Week 1 to Week 6 at an indoor facility then move to College grounds in Weeks 6 to Weeks 10. This will ensure all students who trial, will get adequate time to display their skills, talents, attitude and behaviour throughout the term.

The Sydney FC Sports program is going very well with students participating in the games and training. This program will run until Week 9 of this term. The program will aim to keep the students engaged in an active program whilst learning the fundamentals necessary to play football.

Thursday Sports

Due to circumstances out of our control, Grange Old School Boxing has closed its doors and will no longer be offering a Thursday sports activity. Thanks to Mr Cave who has secured a replacement venue in Stand Strong Boxing in Leumeah. Robert Whittaker, Australian and UFC Middleweight Champion uses this facility and strike coach Justin Fitzgerald will be overseeing our training. We will welcome Justin to our service providers.

House Cup

It is that time of the year again when our College sport and Co-Curricular activities roll over to another year. Even with COVID-19 severely hindering our participation in so many sports and activities, the College will finalise individual and House points so we can acknowledge students for their efforts throughout the year.

If parents can log onto their child’s Sentral portal and check to see if their Co-Curricular activities are accurate for this current calendar year. If there are any errors or oversights, please contact the College to have this changed before the end of year assemblies.

Latest Sport Information

To ensure you remain up to date with the latest sport news, please use the following link to access the Catholic Schools NSW Sport website.

CSNSW website - https://csnsw.sport/news/events-suspended

School Sport Australia website - http://www.schoolsportaustralia.edu.au/blog/2020/03/23/ssa-announces-cancellation-of-2020-championships/

Yours in Sport

Jamie.Cook@stgregs.nsw.edu.au