EXCEL Sports Program
TOUCH FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
On Wednesday March 24, the Year 7 EXCEL Sport students competed in the Year 7 and 8 Girls and Boys Touch Football School Championships at Frog Hollow Reserve, Endeavour Hills.
Patterson River Secondary College entered one team in each age group for the Plate Division. The format of the championships was a round robin with the highest placed teams playing for finals at the end of the tournament. The girls team worked hard throughout the day and improved their game sense and skills with each match. The boys team played five preliminary games throughout the day against both Plate and Championship teams who were mostly bigger bodied Year 8 students. Patterson River Boys finished third on the ladder and played against Hampton Park in the State School Championships semi- final. After leading for most of the game the boys had a narrow 4-3 loss. This meant Patterson River would play in the Plate division grand final where they were convincing winners 4-1 in the grand-final to be crowned the Year 7/8 Boys Touch Football Plate School Championship winners. A fantastic effort in their first EXCEL Sport competition. Thank you to Mr. Clark for assisting and coaching throughout the day.
On Tuesday March 23, the Year 9 EXCEL Sport students competed in the Year 9 and 10 Girls and Boys Touch Football School Championships at Frog Hollow Reserve, Endeavour Hills. Patterson River Secondary College entered one team in each age group for the Plate Division. The boys team had a disappointing day and were unable to progress through to finals. The girls team played five preliminary games throughout the day against both Plate and Championship teams who were mostly bigger bodied Year 8 students. Patterson River Girls played off in the Plate Division grand final against Hampton Park. It was an extremely tight game with Dakota Lehner holding the team together throughout the day, regularly breaking lines and scoring tries. The final score was 2-1 meaning Patterson River would be crowned the Year 9/10 Girls Touch Football Plate School Championship winners. A fantastic effort. Thank you to Ms. Robbins for assisting and coaching throughout the day.
TRIATHLONS
On Sunday, March 21, the Years 9 & 10 EXCEL Sport classes competed in the Enticerfest Triathlon at Safety Beach. The students spent 6 weeks training for the event in class time under the expert guidance of our resident Ironman Mr. Clark.
The race consisted of a 150m swim, 6km bike ride and a 2.5km run. It was an outstanding day with the school being represented with distinction in the community by our EXCEL Sport students. There were 130 competitors in the race and Patterson River had 13 out of the top 20 finishers in the Under 19 category and the girls had 4 in the top 10 finishers with Bella May taking out the Bronze Medal for her category. Congratulations to Jonathan White, Shannon Delaney and Luke Griffiths for finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in our classes for the boys, and Bella May, Olivia Ponchard and Heidi Chalmers for finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in our classes for the girls. A special thank you to Mr. Clark for giving up his time throughout the term to assist in the training, and Mrs. Brand for giving up her Sunday to assist and support us in this event.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Year 10 Beach Volleyball Schools Cup.
On Thursday March 11, the Year 10 EXCEL Sport class competed in the Beach Volleyball Schools Cup competition. Patterson River Secondary entered 6 teams. After the preliminary rounds we had one girls team finish undefeated on top of their pool. This earnt them the right to progress straight through to the semi-final stage of the competition. The girls team of Izzabelle Suprapta, Hayley Ponchard, Madi Smith, and Bella May narrowly lost the first set (12-15) in a best of three set game and easily won the second (15-8). After being 3-0 up in the decider, the girls were over-run by Kew High School (6-9). A fantastic effort to finish equal third in the State Beach School Championships against volleyball school academies. Well done girls.
The Year 8 EXCEL Sport class competed in the Beach Schools Cup at Port Melbourne Beach on Wednesday March 10. Patterson River Secondary College entered three girls’ teams and three boys’ teams in the event. All teams competed in pool groups to win the right to progress to the final stages of the competition. While our teams did not progress past the preliminary rounds, all of our teams pushed the volleyball academy schools deep into the third set and had opportunities to beat the eventual winners on the day. This is the first excursion the Year 8 EXCEL Sport class has ever been on. It was a pleasure seeing the teams represent Patterson River Secondary College well and compete strongly after 5 weeks of training. A special mention to Mrs. Brand for assisting us throughout the event.
On Thursday 12th March the Year 11 & 12 EXCEL Sport members competed in the Beach Volleyball Schools Cup competition. Patterson River Secondary entered 4 teams. The Year 12 boys team competed admirably against experienced opposition, beating Caulfield Grammar in straight sets and pushing the eventual winners Melbourne Grammar to a tight deciding set. The Year 12 girls team took most games to a third set and had moments to win matches but were unable to capitalize on crucial points. The Year 11 girls team won 3 of their 5 preliminary round games and had two match points against the eventual winners Eltham High School, but once again struggled to close out matches. The Year 11 boys were a little rusty but started to win more points as the day progressed. A fantastic day at Port Melbourne Beach with past members of the EXCEL Sport program. Well done Athletes!
Ms Allan
EXCEL Sport Program Manager