SSP NEWS

Netball

Term 1 has been a busy one with several on and off-court components to focus on. We have managed to cover fitness testing, space awareness, timing, leading, one-on-one and group defence, intercepting through the line of the ball, blocking/dictating/recovery and Systems and Structures through end line throw ins and centre passes. Term 2 will see us focus on match play and individualised specialist areas. 

During our education sessions, the player athletes have been introduced to player tracking and performance analysis through a program called Hudl Sportscode. This program enables the player athletes to make notes about a particular player or position and track their movement, as well as looking at statistics, e.g. centre pass percentages. 

A highlight for the term would have to be our excursion to the unveiling of the Sharelle McMahon statue at John Cain Arena. It was a great opportunity to be a part of the day and complete our own training session at the elite netball training venue of Melbourne Sport Centre - Parkville.  

Congratulations to Ayisha Balogun who made the final round of SSV trials and to the majority of players training with representative sides for Association Championships in May. 

Well done to all our player athletes on a terrific term and we hope you have a Happy Easter.

A friendly reminder of some important upcoming dates: 

SSP Information Night: Wednesday 3 May, 6-8pm (for any new potential student athletes for Year 7 2024 and Year 8-12 2024) 

Stacey Dodds

Soccer

How time flies when you’re having fun!

We finish off the term with some more amazing achievements from our soccer students.

Jobe Davies (Year 7) and teammate Tyson Cauchi (Year 8) who play for Western United were both instrumental in their team winning the Western Region title in the U14 competition.

In further soccer news, congratulations to Stephen Picak (Year 9), Marcus Bei (Year 9), Dom Knezevic (Year 10), Jesse Knezevic (Year 10) and Rainger Hustler (Year 9) who also won the U15 Western Region title with the North Geelong Warriors. This follows on from their amazing achievement last year, when they won the NPL 1 Victorian title.

Aiden Sharp’s North Geelong Warriors U/16 set a new record in the Western Region competition, remaining undefeated and averaging a winning margin of 7 goals per game. This sees the team, coached by Western Heights coach Joey Didulica, enter the Division 1 NPL competition as favourites to win the Victorian title, alongside Melbourne Victory.

The great news is that most of the boys and girls in the Specialist Soccer Program are playing in the top divisions and competitions in Victorian Leagues!

Well done, guys!!!

Joey Didulica

AFL

Congratulations to our Year 11 Specialist AFL Program students who assisted with the officiating of the Division AFLW event for primary schools in the Geelong, Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast areas on Tuesday.

Our students were fantastic in their umpiring roles and even received a special mention in one of the school's (Clairvaux Catholic School) newsletters for helping their players "understand the rules and keep us under control even when we were frustrated". Well done!