Sports Bulletin: Issue 04/23

Sports Bulletin, Week 7, Term 1

Director of Sport Address

This is the final round for Term 1 sports, and I wish all students well, especially those Year 12 boys representing the College for the last time in their chosen sport/s. To our senior cohort, I hope you enjoy the final week. Ensure you finish hard and value this time with your teammates and coaches.

With one game remaining (other than our AFL Firsts who have two more games), many of our teams are still vying for top of the table finishes. A special mention to our First XI Cricket team who need a victory to secure a top three finish and our First XVIII AFL team who are two wins away from securing the premiership. Well done also to our 7A AFL team who have finished their season undefeated. They will play a friendly match versus our 8A team this Saturday.

As we transition into Term 2 sports from Week 9, it is important to reiterate some messages around training schedules and transport. Please refer to The Locker Room page for updated Term 2 training schedules, which commence in Week 9 Term 1.

With regards to transport to Villa Park, boys are reminded that buses will be provided for all Year 7-Open teams in Football (Monday and Wednesday afternoons) and Rugby (Tuesday and Thursday afternoons), one-way to Villa Park. Parents are required to pick up students from Villa Park at approximately 5pm. Year 5 and 6 teams will have training sessions allocated at Little Langlands or Whinstanes.

Year 7, 8 and 9 students are permitted to leave class at 2:45pm on their allocated training days. Teachers will be provided lists of students’ names, so that only these students are dismissed early. Please note the following:

• Only Year 7, 8 and 9 boys are to be dismissed early, and only on the relevant training days.
• Early departure is at the discretion of the classroom teacher.
• Examinations or formative assessment items take priority over early departure.
• If dismissed early, students must move directly to Sixth Avenue and board a bus.

Return of AFL and Volleyball Hire Jerseys

Students in AFL and Volleyball are reminded to please return your jersey to your coach following your final game on Saturday. You will need to bring a spare shirt with you on the day.

Communications

Families are reminded to access all Sport information via the Villanova College website and the Villanova College App. The Locker Room tab provides updated information regarding training schedules and current AIC/trial draws.

The AIC Draw 2023 can also be accessed here. A note that in some cases, draws may not match the AIC draw (for example this is the case in AFL). Families are encouraged to always check The Locker Room for accurate draws. Weekly Team Lists will be posted regularly to the Parent Lounge and Student Cafe Portals.

For full updated Term 1 results please click on the links provided below:

AFL Round 6

Cricket Round 6

Volleyball Round 6

AFL

There is more to winning than simply the result.

Striving to “be better today, than you were yesterday, everyday” is a valid challenge for teams to gauge improvement. The 8A’s have faced their challenges this AFL season after experiencing their first defeat since Year 5. Firstly, against St Patrick’s College and then other schools also managed to get the better of them although all results were very close. Coach, James Dent spoke with great pride about the effort and intent applied at training and in games to ensure they improved. This was evident in their hard-fought win against Iona last weekend. The challenges from the defeats and positive response by the 8A’s ensures they are winners, well done boys.

The Open AFL team played in very wet conditions that made the game quite scrappy. Full forward, Jackson Moloney providing a target up front worked really hard creating space and making many leads. Twelve times he was able to get two hands to the ball in and around the top of the goal square. In dry conditions he would have converted most of these opportunities into goals. However, in the wet conditions the ball was like a cake of soap and the ball slipped straight through his grasp for most attempts at the mark. Jackson showed great resilience and perseverance to continue working hard creating opportunities and not being dismayed when most attempts weren’t converted into goals by himself. However, his endeavours allowed opportunities for the small forwards around him such as Frasier Lay, Tom Audet and Sabastian Bailey. Well done to Jackson whose tireless work ensured his teammates were ‘Best on Ground’.

To all teams this weekend, make sure you put in your best performance for the year. I ask any older boys who are able, to come and support the younger teams as this goes a long way to helping them play to the best of their ability. Conversely, the Leaping Wildcats have their last home game at Coorparoo AFC at 4.45 pm.

As it is the last week, please ensure you personally thank all your coaches for their time, expertise, and energy this season. It has once again been a challenging season, so to have such a successful season is a credit to your coaches so let them know how much they are appreciated.

Good luck to all teams this weekend, make sure you go out and play in the spirit of the game proudly representing the Villanova community.

 Mr Brian Pascoe, 1^st XVIII Head Coach

Cricket

It is always a challenging round for our teams when we come up against Iona College. The rivalry is fierce and the players from both sides can be very chirpy on the field. Last Saturday was no different and there were many close games, which came down to the last over or two in the morning games and then the rain impacted results in the afternoon games. Coaches from both Colleges were reaching for the rule books, looking to clarify the weather interruptions. Players were also feeling on edge as games hung in the balance.Credit must go to all involved to accept decisions and gain a result in all matches played on Saturday. Villanova ended up with 17 wins and eight losses, with our aggregate teams winning 7-3 against a very determined Iona. The 1sts and 2nds both finished with very close wins in rain interrupted games. The 9As won with two balls remaining. Chasing 129, Villa slipped to 7-68 before the tail hung on and won a thriller. The 7Bs also had a close game and went down by 10 runs in trying conditions.

Good luck to all sides as we move into the final round of the season.  

Mr Chris Everding, Cricket Coordinator 

1^st XI Match Report

The 1^st XI team travelled away again to face a strong Iona team who were previously undefeated playing at home this season. This was a great challenge that as a group, we were very excited as we wanted to continue to build on our momentum from our previous matches.

Captain Tom Rieck lost the toss and Iona chose to bat first.  We would have made the same decision as the previous scores at that Oval showed that it was a batting wicket, and it looked like a great pitch. Although our first two sessions with the ball didn’t result in us getting many wickets, our bowlers were still able to stay patient and stick to the bowling plans with Larry Clark (0-49) and Tom Rieck (3-54) bowling well while also being supported by Zac Joyce (0-44). With 10 overs to play, Iona was looking like posting a huge total of 250+ with plenty of wickets in hand, however – bowlers Jackson Moloney (1-24) and Henrik Frederiksen (1-20) executed their bowling plans brilliantly to restrict Iona to limited boundaries which resulted in some batting frustration. A special shout goes to Year 10 student Max Jones, who fielded for us on the final session with one of our players being injured, Max made a brilliant diving save on the boundary to save runs, but the big moment happened when Max nailed a “direct hit” run out which was rightly celebrated by his teammates. Iona was restricted to scoring 7-211 which is a score I think they were slightly disappointed in.

Although we were still chasing a decent score against a strong bowling attack, we continued to take a “positive approach” as a batting group as we encourage all players to believe in their skill set. Our openers Zac Joyce (20) and Tristan Bailey (59) set the tone again which had us staying with the required run rate, this was very important as the radar showed incoming rain and we knew that the Duckworth-Lewis system would most likely come into play. Our innings was briefly disrupted by weather, but the rain stayed away which resulted in every over having a target that we needed to reach in case the umpires made the decision to stop the match.  During certain overs in the match, both teams had the lead at different stages, so it was creating extra pressure during our batting innings which saw us lose some vital wickets. Connor Moloney (36) and Finn Thallon (41no) came together and put on a great partnership under a lot of pressure, and they steered the match in our favour with us having a DLS lead at the end of each over. Eventually the rain hit, and we were comfortably in front, and the 1^st XI team were able to win a fourth match in a row.

As coaches we couldn’t be any prouder of the team’s performance over the last month and it’s just great seeing the players now playing to their full potential. We look forward to finishing the season on a positive note this Saturday against a very strong St Peters team.

Good luck to all Villanova sporting teams for round 7 Vs St Peters.

Nathan Dufty 1^st XI Head Coach

 Swimming

Pool party to celebrate all our hard work. Invitation is for Years 5, 6 and 12 swimmers.

Date: Saturday 18 March

Time: 3.00 to 5.00P

lace: Langlands Pool

Things to bring:  A plate of food to share

After a highly successful Swim season, check out our swimmers (and remarkable group of spectators) in action at the AIC Championships last week.

Mrs Juanita Jacobs, Swimming Coordinator 

Volleyball

Previously, Volleyball rounds against Iona have always proved to be a tough encounter and 2023 proved no different. I got the opportunity to see some of our Junior teams this week at Villanova, and whilst the results didn’t go our way, I am proud of the effort put in by our boys and to see the development since I last got to see them in action in Round 1. Our Senior teams had a great day at Iona winning some key match-ups and keeping some of our Premiership pursuits alive.

Our First VI team put up a mighty effort against a strong Iona First VI, but we fell just short losing the match three sets to two and 15-12 in the final set. The coaching staff and I were very pleased with the team’s ability to execute on gameplan and the way in which we conducted ourselves in the tough parts of the match.

Ahead of the final round of AIC Volleyball this weekend, our Junior teams travel to St Peters with our Senior teams finishing their season at home, please check the draw on the Locker room carefully.I wish all teams the best for their final round!

Mr Todd Kropp, First VI Head Coach and Volleyball Coordinator 

Term 2 Sport Sign-Ons – Chess, Cross-Country, Football and Rugby – Now closed!

All students who are interested in representing Villa in Term 2 sports from Years 5-12 must complete an online registration form. This form is available via the link below.

• RUGBY UNION (Open to all students from Year 5 – 12). Games played on Saturday as per College calendar.
• FOOTBALL (Open to students from Year 5 – 12). Games played on Saturday as per College calendar.
• CHESS (selected students from Year 5 – 12). Games played on Friday afternoon/evening as per College calendar.
• CROSS COUNTRY (Open to all students from Year 5 – 12). Meets – refer to College calendar.

We expect that when a boy commits to a team that he follows that commitment through until the end of season. Both parents and players must acknowledge within the online sign-on form that they are aware of the College’s policies and expectations with regards to school sport. The College’s Selection Guidelines and Code of Conduct will also be found on the online sign-on form. Please note that school sport is given priority over club sport.

Term 2 Trials/Training Schedules (commences Week 9, Term 1)

Please click on the links below for the Term 2 training schedules. There are some slight changes from Term 1 (Weeks 9 and 10) to Term 2. Note, some Year 5 and 6 training times could change depending on the coach availability, however, we will endeavour to keep to the schedule below. Teams are reminded in Week 9 to remain off the centre wickets at Villa Park – these areas will be signed.

Training Schedule – Weeks 9 and 10, Term 1 (update 16-3-23)

Training Schedule – Term 2 (update 16-3-23)

There will be trial games for Chess on Friday 24 March and Friday 21 April. There will also be trial/internal games for Football and Rugby on Saturday 25 March and Saturday 22 April. Draws coming soon.

Chess

The Chess season is off to a flying start with a great level of interest among our student population. As mentioned previously, the first trial will be against St Laurence’s on Friday 24 March at Villanova College. It is mandatory for all registered students to attend training sessions, as listed below. 

Chess practice and trial sessions – Term 1 – Weeks 8 and 9

In Term 2 we are having a second trial game away against Iona on Friday 21  April. This will also be the final trial day.  All boys who have trialled are welcome to come and play.

We are looking to a wonderful year of success in chess. For any enquiries please email kunderhill@vnc.qld.edu.au. We are looking forward to great success in Chess in 2023!

Ms Kath Underhill, Chess Coordinator 

Cross-Country

Congratulations to the many members of the cross-country squad who have attended training making a great start to the 2023 season. The inclusion of the Junior School with the Middle and Senior School is helping to build a positive running community amongst the whole College.

Although, the squad has just started our training some boys have trained through the summer and participated in the recent Queensland Track and Field Titles. The following boys competed in the 3000m with all registering personal best times,

• Jack Fidge (Year 9) – 9.53
• Bailey Horvath (Year 10) – 10.23
• Kyan Simpson (Year 11) – 9.14
• Mitch Rieck (Year 12) – 8.52

Mitch Rieck also competed in the 1500m in a time of 4.00, great work to all the boys who competed to the best of their ability.Members of the Open Cross-Country Squad have been assisting Miss Roberts by mentoring the members of the Junior School. The challenge for the boys in the Junior School is to introduce themselves to the boys who assist them to and from training as well as joining them for the warm-up and cool-downs. Ensure you learn the older boy’s names and use them in greeting at each session or when you pass moving around the school to enhance the camaraderie amongst Villa’s Running Wildcats.After overcoming a serious injury sustained whilst training for track and field middle distance events last year, it is great to see Joaquin Wieczorek back setting the pace for the Running Wildcats.

Mr Brian Pascoe, Cross-Country Coordinator

Strength & Conditioning

The new training schedule for S&C will be commencing in Week 9, from Monday 20 March. Boys must register here for the Term 2 schedule (even if they were already registered for Term 1, boys must register again for the new schedule). Please see below the link to the new Term 2 training schedule.

Register here for Term 2 S&C sessions (commences Week 9, Term 1)

S&C Training Schedule – Term 2 (commences Week 9, Term 1)

Mr Marco Mastrorocco, Strength & Conditioning Coordinator

Rugby and Football Camps in the Term 1 holidays

Both our Rugby and Football firsts squads will be attending camps in the Term 1 break, in preparation for AIC Competition in Term 2.Our Football boys are attending training days at Villa Park on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 April, with trial games on Friday evening.Our Rugby boys are travelling to the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre at Currimundi from Sunday 2 to Wednesday 5 April.We wish both squads well as they approach AIC Round 1 on Saturday 29 April.

Mr Shaun McLean, Director of Sport