Senior School Sport  & Extra-Curricula Activities 

• From the Senior Sports Master
• Winter Sports Photos
• Senior Football
• Senior Rugby
• NSTA Tennis
• Senior Cricket
• Senior Basketball
• Athletics
• Debating

From the Senior Sports Master

As the Winter season closes it is worth noting that we have just completed the first full season of sport since the start of the Pandemic which started in 2020!

It really does make a huge difference to the life of the College and of the boys and my thanks go to all of you who have contributed in any way. From our Ground staff, our Coaching staff, the Old Boys' Association, the parents who provided morning and afternoon teas, to those of you who provided transport and cleaned uniform or simply turned up to support and to the boys themselves, all of you make such a massive contribution to the sports programs.  THANK YOU!!!!   Sport at the College would not be the same without you.

The College will now internally review the season experiences for all sports and look at ways of improving the provision. 

In the meantime, the Summer season is gearing up and will be upon us before we know it.  On Saturday our NSTA Tennis hopefuls had a Grading Day at Queenwood Courts in Oxford Falls.  Boys who missed that grading are expected to attend a catch-up session on Thursday 8 September. 

Our ISA Cricket trialists had a fielding session on Monday of this week to kick their preseason off, and this Sunday 28 August Cricket Appeal are hosting the SPX Skills Day at Oxford Falls in preparation for the District Competition which starts on 10 September.  The details for the skills day appear on the College App.

The 1st and 2nd V Basketball squads are now training, having been involved in trials over the past few weeks.  Trials for all age groups are set to commence in the coming weeks with a full trial round scheduled against St Aloysius' College set for 17 September. 

Any boys wishing to be involved in the Summer NSW Pennants Squash competition should register their interest with Mr Madani.

Finally, the Invitational Athletics season is in full swing with another event at Homebush on Saturday. All athletes should now be available and in attendance.

At this stage we envisage a full summer of sport (weather permitting!).  Please make sure you keep up to date with notices which will appear in separate sports sections.

Meanwhile enjoy a well-deserved break between seasons – you have earned it!

Mr Matt Stearn - Senior Sports Master

Winter Sports Photos

The Winter Sports photos are being taken on Wednesday 31 August during Periods 1 – 4. Full sport uniform will be required for Rugby, Football and Tennis. All other photos will be taken in full school uniform including Blazers. Sports involved are Boxercise, Robotics, Athletics, Rugby, Football, Tennis, Debating and Chess. Students must bring their ID cards to each photo.

Please be aware that there will be a few photos from Term 1 and 2 that need to re-taken due to too many students away with illness. Please refer to the attachment for the complete list of photos to be taken on the day. 

The ordering of Extra Curricular photos for Term 2 – 3 will be outlined in a future Woodchatta.

Ms Leisa Proc - General Coordinator

Senior Football

Football Grand Finals

Congratulations to our mighty 13B and 4th XI footballers who, after sensational grand final victories, were crowned ISA Champions.  The 13B’s won in a hard fought 1-0 victory over Oakhill, quite the turn around from the first game of the season against the same opposition where they were defeated 1-8.  Our 4th XI managed to remain undefeated for the entire season, emerging victorious in a penalty shoot out. Commiserations to our 15B and 14B sides who were both narrowly beaten, a fantastic achievement just to make the grand final.

This concludes our Football season, we thank all parents, players and coaches for their work and support throughout the season.  We would like to particularly acknowledge the work of Mr Steve Quilty, who after 26 years as our 1st XI coach will step down.

Looking forward to season 2023.

13B ISA Champions 

Mighty 4th’s come through! ISA Football Grand Final Winners.

Saturday found the 4th XI Football team and supporters at Wanderers Stadium in Rooty Hill. The day dawned bright and clear, turning hazy as we progressed further west. Hoping this wasn’t a harbinger of what was to come, a motorcade of vehicles sporting P plates (and a few L plates) arrived – mostly – in good time to take the field.

There to defend a season of zero losses, the team lined up against St Spyridon who had trained hard, wanted the win and were looking fierce at the warm up field.

With a large squad jostling for game time, we had plenty of opportunities to freshen the line-up, but still came up 0-0 at full time. Extra time brought a similar result. As blood pressure rose and Powerade ran low, we headed into Penalty Shootout. Franklin Clayton was exemplary in goal and defended a litany of strong attempts from St Spyridon to sneak past him. With back and forth - goal and save, save and goal, it came down to the final kick. 

As tension rose, our last penalty shooter Max Oswald stepped up and neatly sent in a solid goal, leaving Spyridon to try to even the score by putting off our legendary goalie. The save was beyond spectacular, the crowd went wild.

With nearly 2 hours of game time by the final whistle, the level of excitement (and a modicum of incredulity) was high. Proudly representing the blue and gold for the last time, the team, made up of Year 12 students, celebrated with singing the school war cry and soaking in the moment. Man of the Match was inarguably Max Oswald, backed by all and ably led by Andrew McKinnon as Captain. Shout outs for each and every team member are well deserved.

With thanks to all our supporters, parents and Mr Yue for joining us and being vitally interested all season. I am so pleased to say that the lads of the Mighty 4th’s did SPX proud and were gracious in victory. Commiserations to the lads from St Spyridon, who played with heart and provided a great day of challenges and sporting spirit.

Ms Emma Fryar - 4th XI Coach

Mr Simon Yue - Senior Football Convenor

From the SPX Football Supporter's Club

New Shadow SPXFSC President for 2023

Welcome to Matt Zanello (current year 6 parent) who will be Shadow President in 2023 and will be SPX Football Club President in 2024. 

Get involved for 2023

If you are keen to get involved and join the SPX Football Supporter’s Club Committee, get in touch via the club email and let us know what interests you. We’ve got a great bunch of supporters on our Committee and we’d love for new members to join us in 2023.

Save the date for Trivia Night: 10 September 2022

If you are available on the 10th, to assist with the SPX Football Supporter’s Club contribution to Trivia Night, please notify the club via email. 

There will be a Mega Raffle that will raise significant money for SPX Clubs. If you have any items or experiences that can be donated to this raffle, please notify us at SPX Football.

Mrs Lorna Hammond - SPX Football Supporters Club President

Senior Rugby 

Results Saturday, 20 August

SUPPORTERS' DAY - 

A huge thanks to all the supporters who attend last Saturday’s game. The behaviour and support was outstanding and congratulations to all involved, especially the old boys who came to support.

Special thanks also go to all involved in the BBQ and Canteen throughout the season. 

The winners of the student prize are: 

Zach Fourie  Year 6

Ben Hillsdon  Year 9

Nathaniel Ho  Year 7

Please see Mr Gillogly for your $100 Rebel gift voucher.

The 4th XV finishes the season on a high with a 50 point win

On Saturday afternoon, the mighty men of the St Pius 4th XV Rugby squad took to Chaplin 1 during their standard 12.00 pm time slot to unleash their “Rugby IQ” and physical prowess on the boys of St Patrick’s College Strathfield in front of a roaring Supporters’ Day crowd. The 4ths received a reception unlike any other, the pressure mounting, the nerves plateauing. They were ready to face their archrivals. After going down narrowly to St Pat’s in the first round of the regular season, the Mighty 4ths had everything to play for, but to say they merely “played” would be the understatement of the century. 

Under the expert guidance of Mr Martin Gillogly and Mr Ted Webster, the boys started off strong, winning an opposition line-out and holding Pats in their own 22 for almost 8 minutes before Stefan “Big Stef” Senicic crashed over for the first try of the day. The points began to flow, and with the squad putting in a performance that can only be described as “breathtaking” (Gus Paterson), things started to get out of hand. Exceptional tries from Ronan Crispe, Jasper English, Jai Orloff-Kai, William Ramsbottom and Rhys Johnson, along with a Jayden Chan double and Ben Purcell’s “Try of the Year contender” (Mr Mulheron), assisted the Pius Men in racking up a score of 50-0 in their last game for the season. 

It was a bittersweet feeling for the Year 12 players amongst the group, their last schoolboy game, representing the end of an era. For the last 10 minutes of the game, all Year 12 members of the team graced the fields of Oxford Falls for one last time, an MCL injury even proving too feeble to stop Ryan Johnsun from storming the oval for the final time. 

The season of 4th XV Rugby in 2022 has been one of exponential enjoyment for all involved. Under the guidance of Mr Gillogly and Mr  Webster, along with the unwavering support of the St Pius X faithful every week through thick and thin, the Mighty 4ths have completed a season of unprecedented success and would like to thank all who made such a phenomenal season possible.                                            Will Ramsbottom

Mr Martin Gillogly - Senior Rugby Convenor

From the SPX Rugby Supporters' Club

SPX Rugby Supporters’ Club – Monster Raffle – Thank You & Prize Winners.

We would like to thank all those who supported our Monster Raffle through the purchase and selling of tickets.

All funds raised from the raffle will be put towards assisting the College in providing the best possible Rugby program for the SPX Rugby boys.

The draw was conducted by Mr Couani at Oxford Falls on Saturday, and the lucky winners are:

1st Prize - Sandy Blank

2nd Prize - Lynda Yun

3rd Prize - Kevin Wesson

4th Prize - Dannie English

5th Prize - David Hourigam

6th Prize - Veary Williams

7th Prize - Nadia Dimmock

8th Prize - Shirley Lyons

9th Prize - Deborah Black

10th Prize – Marty Harris

Mr Paul O'Neill - President of Rugby Supporters' Club

NSTA Tennis

Thank you to those boys who came to the grading day last weekend. It was a very successful day and it was great to be able to play at such a beautiful venue and with such amazing weather. For those boys who were unable to make the grading day an alternative day is currently being organised for you, I will make contact with you and your parents via email with the details of this day, once confirmed.

Following this, the coaches will then give their recommendations for teams. I will hopefully be able to send out a draft team list before the end of the term. I will then meet with the other convenors to place the teams in different divisions for the competition to begin next term.

Mrs Samantha Iwatani - NSTA Convenor

Senior Cricket

Mr David Reay - Cricket Convenor

Basketball

The ISA 2022/2023 Season is fast approaching.

Students intending to play for SPX in the ISA Competition must complete this Registration Form by 24 August so that we can enter teams, appoint coaches and begin the trial process.

Important considerations:

• Students must be available to play Saturday matches in Term 4, 2022 and Term 1, 2023.
• Students must be available to train 1-2 days per week depending on their team, either at Oxford Falls or Chatswood campus.  
• The season will cost approx. $150 including, coaching, matches, bus transport and extras.

Key Season Dates:

• Week 9, Term 3 (from Mon 12 September) – structured training commences
• Sat 17 September – Trials v St Aloysius or internal trials
• Thurs & Fri 6 & 7 Oct – Sydney Schools Shoot-out (1st and 2nd V only)
• Sat 15 October – ISA Senior Pre-season Tournament - 1st V only
• Sat 22 October – ISA Rd 1

A/B Team trials: 

Students hoping to gain selection in a top team (A/B) will need to attend pre-season trials so that we can grade accordingly. Trials take place in the School Gym from 7.00 am with our professional coaches as per the schedule below.

1st V Trials have been running for the last 3 weeks and continue next Wednesday morning before school in the Gym.

Mr Greg Virgona - Basketball Convenor

Athletics

Carnivals

Our Athletics Invitational Carnivals run as per the schedule below. These are open to all aspiring athletes from Yrs 7-12 (NB. The Junior School has a separate pathway and different carnivals).

Registration for invitational carnivals: This will take place at a meeting at school. Students can still turn up and compete on the day if they miss the school registration meeting.

Program: Attached is the track and field program. Students need only turn up 30 mins prior to their first event for a warm-up (please find a staff member to sign-in) and can depart when they have finished competing (after recording their time/distance with a St Pius X staff member).

Clashes: Whilst there is some overlap with the final 2 rounds of the winter sport season, I would encourage boys at attend part of the carnival around their winter sport commitments if possible. Winter Sport takes priority over Athletics.

Carnival dates (Yr 7-12):

• Sat 27 August – Warm-up Carnival - SOPAC
• Sat 3 September – Warm-up Carnival - SOPAC
• Sat 10 September – Warm-up Carnival – ES Marks
• ISA Representative Carnival – Tuesday 13 September – SOPAC

* SOPAC – Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre – Homebush

* ES Marks - Boronia St, Kensington (next to Moore Park)

Training 

Training continues in the carnival season as follows:

Where: Rotary War Memorial Athletic Track – Mowbray Rd West, Lane Cove

Time: Session runs from 3.50 pm - 5.00 pm.

Transport: Bus provided to and from Chatswood Campus departing Anderson St at 3.20 pm.

Who: Yrs 5-12 (All aspiring Senior School students welcome to attend)

What: Students train in disciplines with professional coaches (Throws, Jumps, Sprints and Distance)

Selection: ISA Selection will be based on a combination of House Carnival performance, Warm-Up Carnival performance and attendance at trainings/carnivals.

School Records: These have been attached for your interest.

Mr Greg Virgona - Athletics Convenor

Debating

The Debating Lunch has been moved to Week 7, Thursday 1 September, due to the Year 10 Reflection Day being held this Friday.  More information will be provided in next week's Woodchatta.

Ms Michele Waterson - Debating Convenor