From the Head of Sport
An official welcome back from the sports department to all students and families. Thanks to our theatre department, Mr Kotter and Vinnie Barbarino are now stuck in my head! Unfortunately now I’m also showing my age…
I hope the return of your son to Marist College Ashgrove this week has been a successful one. I am sure there has been plenty of catching done with friends and most likely with a lot of school work. It has been an interesting time for all of us over the past month and in the area of sport it has often been frustrating wondering when the organised activity that we took for granted would return.
Our Sports department has been working hard to provide our students with a variety of ways to stay engaged physically while in lockdown and also in preparation for the return of sport. With some clarity now provided through government guidelines there is light at the end of the tunnel and we are finally able to release information about what sport will look like for our students.
The Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) will be offering two mini-seasons for our remaining team sports (Basketball, Tennis, Chess, Football and Rugby Union) throughout Term 3 which will align with the Queensland Government’s staged approach to the return of sport and training. We will commence with Basketball and Tennis at the start of Term 3 leading into our Football and Rugby Union seasons during the second half of the term.
The AIC sports competitions will commence on Saturday July 11 with Basketball and Tennis trials on the provision the easing of restrictions moves to Stage 3 in line with what has already been announced by the Queensland Government.
Cross Country and Track & Field will hold Championships in their usual format adhering to the many restrictions that are in place while Rugby League will be held as a tournament at the start of the September holidays.
As you would expect, our decisions and organisation of these competitions have been determined by Queensland government and health directives. It will be important that we continue to follow the level of restrictions that are in place for the next few months. We need to be patient and follow the guidelines we are given as the health and safety of our staff, students and families is our number one priority.
While we are all optimistic, there may be guidelines implemented and restrictions put in place that do not allow us to operate like we have in the past as far as our interactions with each other go. This is something we will deal with in the future and something we know our families will understand in necessary.
We have outlined below a calendar of events for the remaining sports in Term 3 and the start of Term 4. There is still a lot of work to do amongst the AIC Heads of Sport to organise the finer details of our team numbers, competition draws and to determine what a weekend schedule may look like.
We hope to have the information available towards the end of Term 2.
IMPORTANT
- Organisation – now that you know what lies ahead of you what do you need to be organised for the upcoming seasons?
- Uniform – playing jersey/shirt, shorts, socks, correct footwear, mouthguards and any other protective equipment
- Water bottle – there will be NO sharing of water bottles and at this stage the College will not be allowed to provide team sets of water bottles. You must bring your own. We have a stock of water bottles that we will be selling next week from the sports office (details to come)
- Sign On’s – please follow the links listed below to sign on for the 4 team sports on in Term 3.
With Term 3 sport divided into two “mini-seasons” as per the calendar below, students will have the following choices:
Basketball or Tennis (First 4 weeks of Term 3)
Basketball – only A to D teams selected this year. NO INTERNAL COMPETITION (unfortunately)
Tennis – only A & B teams selected
Football and Rugby Union
No limit on team numbers. All students interested in playing these codes can sign on and will be provided with matches.
**Students can participate in any of the following sports along with the team sports listed above – similar to previous years**
Chess
Chess will follow the same format as football and rugby union in the second half of Term 3 and continue to be played on a Friday evening. Teams will be selected for A and B competitions as per previous years.
Cross Country
ALL STUDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE IN CROSS COUNTRY. The usual AIC Championships will be held on Wednesday August 12. There will be no lead up competition meets unfortunately. Please read the Cross Country section for further information on plans for training.
Track & Field
ALL STUDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE IN TRACK & FIELD. The usual Track & Field season will take place with two competition meets in September and the AIC Championships being held on October 9 & 10 at the start of Term 4.
Students will be expected to train for Cross Country and Track & Field alongside their team sport commitments like usual. As 3-time XC champions and 5-time Track & Field Champions, we are extremely proud of the culture and success we have developed in these sports. This is not something that we will be wishing to see disappear in what will be a juggling act for many students next term.
SIGN ON’S - YEAR 7-12 ONLY
BASKETBALL
TENNIS
RUGBY UNION
FOOTBALL
As things continue to develop we will constantly provide you with the latest information to keep families updated on the progress of AIC sport.
If you have any urgent questions please contact the coordinators of each sport listed in the Sporting Contacts section of this newsletter.
Stay safe and I hope to see you all very soon.
Kind Regards
David Miles