Sports News | Preparatory School
The 2022 Term 3 sport calendar was jam packed with events. As the Winter season concluded, we’d had the Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival, Track and Field Invitationals, the PreK-2 Sports Day, Snow Sport season as well as other events such as Jump Rope for Heart.
Round 10 of the Winter Sport season (Week 3) finally enabled us to have a full fixture list at Cooke Park. All 10 football teams were at home which gave us a great opportunity for the Year 6 parents to host their annual BBQ fundraiser. As we are all aware, rain forced the cancellation of a large number of fixtures over the course of the season which was disappointing. Whilst the fields were drowned by the rain, the spirit of the boys shone through and any opportunity they got to play they took the advantage and made the most of it. The scores may not have always been on their side, but their energy and enthusiasm were evident and gave those present at matches great pride. Well done to all boys in Years 4-6 who participated admirably.
Track and Field returned to our schedule in 2022 as we hosted our Years 3-6 Track and Field Carnival (Week 2). We then competed in two Invitational Carnivals ahead of the IPSHA carnival. It was great to be able to compete in these carnivals as the past two years had been cancelled due to COVID restrictions. The absence of these carnivals had been evident as it was witnessed by all schools that athletes were not competing at their premium. Despite this, our boys competed well and made a good showing of themselves. Well done to Greg Tranxidis (5He) who came second in both the Under 11 Shot Put and Discus at the IPSHA carnival and therefore qualified for the CIS Carnival as part of the IPSHA team.
2022 was the first time that the Prep School has participated in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser (Week 5). The PE team were enthusiastic about developing the boys’ skipping skills and the boys matched that enthusiasm and more. It was great to have a skip off day where the whole School (PreK-6) came together at one time to skip. Now that we are equipped with sufficient ropes for skill development, it is an initiative that we will be fostering in future.
PreK-2 Sports Day in Week 7 was another rain affected event. Our contingency plan of hosting it in the Prep Gym was almost as good, if not better, than hosting it at Cooke Park. It was great to have so much colour in the gym with boys dressed in as much of their House colour as possible. It was also a delight to have such a strong parent attendance cheering the boys on. At this carnival the boys rotated through the gym in their year groups and participated in a variety of events including running, hurdling, egg and spoon and sack races.
The Year 3 Sport Cricket Skills programme was facilitated this term. This was the first time in 2 years that we have been able to merge with the Junior School to complete the programme. Cricket is a sport that is struggling in not only our School but in the wider community also. Hopefully our boys have gained an insight into the game and will choose it as an option as Year 4 boys in 2023.
A number of boys have also participated in events this Semester that go unknown as they are not directly involving the School, although the boys are representing the School. In the mid-year June/July holidays, Devon Yan (4Ar), Joey Zheng (4Sc) and Andy Xu (5Hi) all competed at The Interschools Snowsport Championships. There were a number of different events that these boys competed in and results varied. The highlights were Devon finishing 5th in the Div. 5 Alpine Event, Joey finishing 16th in the Division 5 Cross Country Classic and Andy’s team finishing 8th in the Div. 4 Cross Country Relay.
Aris F. (4Sc) competed in the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships in Brisbane earlier this term with great success. He won 4 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal and also broke a 17-year-old record in the 100m butterfly which was the only record broken at the championships. Well done to all boys for their individual performances and achievements, the School is very proud of you!
Next Term, we look forward to the Summer sport season for the boys in Years 4-6. The Rugby Skills programme is the Year 3 Sport for Term 4 and boys in Years Kindy-2 will hopefully be able to complete their Learn to Swim programme. More information will come out on these events in due course.
James Bremner | Sportsmaster
