Senior School Sport &
Cocurricular Activities
ROBOTICS
RoboCup Nationals
Term 3 of the College Robotics Club calendar has been dominated by the RoboCup competition. This competition has involved for some students more than 12 months of preparation. The College hosted the Regional competition in week 2, competed in the State competition in week 6 and concluded with the National competition hosted by UNSW on the weekend. The students overcame adversity, worked in teams, solved complex problems both from an engineering and coding perspective and stayed positive when robots were dropped, components failed or robots were damaged in the fierce competitions on the pitch.
The students also experienced university life whilst on campus. They made new friends both from Australia and from international teams that were competing, they shared ideas and experiences with their fellow competitors and as can only happen on a university campus were used as human shields by 300 zombies taking part in a university Nerf gun battle.
Results
Division Team Rank
Opens - Heavy weight Division Timeless 6/11
Circuit Breakers 10/11
Opens - Light weight Division Jeager 13/18
Gen II - Lego Robots Subscorpion 14/34
The Terminators 19/34
The Dream Memes 22/34
Hard Luck Had Hard Luck
Thank you to the College leadership team, the parents and to the students for their enthusiasm, their passion and their support. A very big thankyou to Mr ten Seldam and Mr Lai for their leadership and mentoring of the boys and for their time with supervising the students at these events.
Mr P de Silva - Robotics Convenor
Basketball
Season Starts
The ISA Senior Basketball season starts next term for all teams. A training schedule is attached to this web page along with a games schedule for all teams. Training will start in Week 2 of next term for all teams except, A Teams who will start training in Week 1.
I will publish a more comprehensive game schedule with all Home game times on it when the official schedule has been finalised. Please note that the Senior Basketball schedule can change due to unforeseen circumstances. All parents and players must check Woodchatta each week for the confirmed venues and game times. Round 1 of the ISA season is Saturday 22nd October.
Uniforms
All Year 7 players will need to purchase Basketball Shorts and a Singlet from the uniform shop, prior to Round 1. Each student is given their own number within a year group. All new players in other age groups will also need to purchase a uniform, prior to Round 1.
Holiday Basketball Camp
The Basketball Club has organised a Three Day Basketball Camp for players in Years 5 - 9 in week two of the holidays, at Oxford Falls. Dates are Tuesday 4th, Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th October. Bookings are made by clicking the Trybooking link -
https://www.trybooking.com/229231 There is a 60 player limit for each day so book early.
Mr Neil Gibson - Basketball Convenor
13A and 14A Basketball Squads
Congratulations to our 13A and 14A Basketball squads who began their season on a highly positive note with promising wins over St Aloysius College last Saturday. There is still a lot of work to be done on team defence and combination plays in offence but the signs are good for all to improve as basketball players and through these values of team play, as individuals of great integrity. Our 14As play Joeys this week in another Trial match and training sessions continue each Tuesday at Oxford Falls from the first day back next Term.
Mr S Brannan , J Brannan and D Garett - 13A and 14A Squad Coaches
Basketball State Cup
Daniel Garrett Year 12
Michael Fakoury Year 11
Anthony Maras Year 11
were part of the Norths Division 2 team which won the state cup in Under 18 Division 2 Basketball Tournament held 10th - 11th September. They played against teams who had won or come second in their competitions throughout the state to reach the final. They won all four games over the weekend to then beat Blacktown in the final. Blacktown was undefeated throughout the entire competition this year. All members of the team, from a range of schools, carried themselves as sportsman-like young men, who valued the contribution and efforts of all team mates and with great respect to their opposition. Sam Richardson was also in this team but had a stress fracture and couldn't play in the State Cup Weekend.
SPX Cricket
This week sees the start of the NSJCA and a further three teams commencing their seasons. This means that all district teams are now committed to competition. SPX Cricket wishes these and all teams the best of luck for the season!
1st XI Trial Matches. During the upcoming holidays the 1st XI will play two trial matches. On Thursday 6th October against Sydney CC and on Friday 7th October against Mosman CC; both matches are at Oxford Falls and start at 10am.
ISA Pre-season T20 Tournament. Saturday 15th October, Oxford Falls will host a T20 Tournament. The 1st and 2nd XI will compete against the Blue Mountains Grammar School and St Andrew’s Cathedral School.
Mr David Reay - Cricket Convenor
NSTA Tennis
Term 4
Team Lists have now been posted at Student Reception for students to check. As we expected the NSTA Competition will commence on Saturday 15 October at Talus St and other venues nearby. If there are any problems with Teams please contact me by the end of Term.
The Competition Draw will not be ready to share until Friday of Week 1 in Term 4, with the NSTA Grading Meeting not occurring until school returns in October.
ALL students should be ready to play that Saturday with their tennis uniform in good order.
As we don’t have a Sports Assembly this Friday, an email will be sent this week that contains details as to the fees for this activity and other important information. Please check student and parent emails at the end of this school week. If your details have changed please update them as soon as possible with our Registrar: Ms Christine Jennings – cjennings@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.
‘French Open in Sydney’
Ever wondered what it would be like to play at Roland Garros on clay? This is your chance! The 5th ‘French Open in Sydney’ will take place on Saturday 15th October. The event is open to all tennis players and will include three main draws: Men, Women, Junior (11-17 years old).” As stated on the Alliance Française website:
“As in prior years the Open’s main goal is to support the Redkite / Cure Our Kids, New-Caledonia charity whose mission is to help kids who have been diagnosed with cancer and need to leave New Caledonia to get long term treatment in Sydney at the Westmead Children Hospital. All benefits will be donated to the charity. This is not a College event and will not be supervised by College staff – NSTA Tennis will actually be on this same day with priority given: however as the event seeks to support young people in New Caledonia and our ongoing connection with New Caledonia with French, I thought it was worth promoting within the SPX community. This is a community and charity event hosted at the Kingsford Tennis Courts. If parents are interested to organise and attend, you would register via the following link: http://www.afsydney.com.au/cultural-events/the-sydney-french-open/
Sarah-Jane Grove - Summer (NSTA) Tennis Convenor
Rugby
Raffle Tickets
"All Rugby Raffle Tickets must be returned, sold or unsold, by this Friday 23rd September (last day of term). These can be taken to Finance Office, placed in the Silver Box or handed to Mr Lynch. Thanks for supporting the Rugby Program at St Pius X College."
Mr Joe Lynch - Rugby Convenor