Sports Bulletin: Issue 07/22

1st XV back on at Villanova Park 2.15pm kickoff

1st XI rescheduled to Gair Oval SLC, South Brisbane at 3.15pm

Please get out and support the boys, as both sides are still in the running for a premiership

If you’re into statistics, then you might be over the fact that we have had 19 wet weekends in 21 since the start of the year. Our AIC sport seasons are short enough, but when our boys lose more games to the weather, it can be disheartening to many.

The last three weeks in particular have seen our fields around Brisbane turn into ponds and swamps. Villanova Park, unfortunately, cannot take any more water and every field is soaked. Walking around each field yesterday, my feet were sinking down and then being swallowed up by the water and mud and even with a few sunny days, it won’t be able to dry out enough for Football games to proceed. We have had to make a call to pass up all our home matches to SLC this weekend. Many will be played on a synthetic pitch on top of the Mater Hospital carpark, others on two fields that have been spared at Runcorn from the rain. We don’t want the boys to miss playing three weeks in a row. I urge you to please check the draw and make sure you are aware of game times. We apologise for the number of changes, but we are doing what we can to get the boys out playing.

Likewise, we have had to cancel the Cross Country Meets at Runcorn and Curlew Park. All schools are affected and for those at Curlew Park last week, the fields and surrounds were a mess.  If this Meet had been held, many boys would have run most of the course in water and a lot of it up to ankle deep. Markers would have been hidden from sight with the long grass and the chance of injury extremely high. These are tough decisions and not made easily, but the safety of all is our main concern.

For our Rugby players, we will be going ahead this week. There will be photos taken before your matches, so please stay dry before they are taken.

Over many years, Villanova has earnt an excellent reputation within the AIC sporting association for its high level of sportsmanship and conduct shown on and off the sports field. At the AIC Ecumenical Service held at the commencement of each year we are reminded that all AIC Colleges share similar values, and each College expects the highest standards from their communities when competing. From time-to-time students, spectators and coaches from all Colleges including Villanova can and do get things wrong in the heat of the moment. As we reach the back half of the footy season, I ask all involved to be mindful of their actions. Respect for our College, the opposition and officials must always be upheld. Overall, the level of behavior shown by the Villanova community throughout the footy season has been very good, particularly in testing conditions at St. Patrick’s College last Saturday.

By this time, you may have noticed that all AIC venues have used similar signage around their respective sporting fields which reiterate to all involved the standard of behavior expected of players, coaches and parents. Regardless of what you might think the standard of refereeing is like, we must ALL accept the decisions and hold our frustrations in. If the players, feel the vibe coming from the sidelines, then it sends the wrong message to them and could easily change the decisions they make on the field. Leave it to the boys to play well, fair football and not provoke unnecessary reactions, that will cause the high standards we expect to drop.

I congratulate all Chess teams for their performances on Friday night and Rugby players on Saturday, who relished in the conditions and slid around in the puddles long after the games had finished. Unfortunately, the conditions did not suit footballs rolling across puddles of water and mud, so all games were abandoned except the 1sts, who were moved to Gair Oval at SLC, where a ‘Magic round’ was played with the eight 1sts XI teams playing at the same venue.

The results across the board from Rounds 1-4 have been pleasing overall. This weekend sees Villanova come up against St Laurence’s in the local derby round. Since my time at Villanova and that stretches back a fair way, it is the case that a rivalry exists between the two Colleges, no doubt because of the proximity we share. This rivalry adds a sense of excitement and intent for both Colleges to do well and it can bring out the best in our performance, but it also can bring out the worst in us as well.

Although a rivalry may exist between the two Colleges within the sports arena, it certainly does not exist between the staff (well a friendly rivalry at least). In fact, our relationship with the St Laurence’s Sports Office is probably one of the strongest we share in the entire AIC Association. You might be surprised to know that the camaraderie and collegiality that all eight AIC Directors of Sport share within the AIC Association is quite high. Our sense of competitiveness and our keenness to produce the best from our respective Colleges is quite high too.

Although we strive to do well, let’s be mindful not to cross the line by exhibiting any inappropriate behaviour on or off the field which conflicts with our school values and those we share and promote within the AIC Sports Association. I am as keen as ever for the Villanova boys to do well and to go for the win but only within the parameters of playing fair and in good sportsmanship. This weekend both Colleges have agreed to play all rugby matches, where we match up, at Villanova Park and split the football games between both home venues. Ideally, we would have liked to have everyone in one location but there are simply too many games to cater for at one venue. Next year the hosting duties will be reversed.

As I say to our boys often – when you hop in the car and leave Villanova Park or Runcorn after the game, ask yourself the question, did I give everything today? Did I leave anything in the tank? Did I support my teammates through my efforts on the field? Have no regrets boys.

Next Wednesday 1 June our Cross-Country Team will compete at the annual AIC Cross Country Championships at Curlew Park. The team will be announced today. All the relevant information has now been posted on the website under the AIC Cross Country section. Both the runners and reserves will go out on the day. On behalf of the College, I wish all competitors the very best with their final preparations and on the day of the championships.  More details regarding the championship are found below
Good luck and best wishes to all teams. Enjoy!

AIC Cross Country Championships – Wednesday 1 June
The annual AIC Cross Country Championships will be held on Wednesday 1 June at Curlew Park, Sandgate. The full team list including all reserves will be posted in Parent Lounge. The team will be presented to the College at assembly tomorrow. A bus will transport all runners and all reserves to and from Curlew Park on the day of the Championships.  Students may attend school wearing their cross-country uniform. All runners and reserves are to arrive at the College by 7.30am and meet in the quadrangle for a team photo taken at 7.45am sharp. Departure for Curlew Park will be at 8.15am.
It is imperative that all Villanova runners look like a team, therefore we expect all runners to wear the following uniform on the day of the Championships and for the team photo.

Villanova Cross Country Uniform

• Villanova white running shorts
• Villanova athletics singlet
• Villanova squad shirt
• Villanova sports jacket

AIC Cross Country Championships – 2022
At this stage, the championships will go ahead but an inspection of the course by officials will be conducted on Monday to determine if it will in fact be able to proceed or will need to be postponed.

 Important Timings

• Team Photo (quadrangle) – 7.45am
• Bus departs for Curlew Park – 8.15am
• Bus Departs Curlew Park – 2.00/15pm
• Arrives back at Villanova College – 2.45/3.00pm

The bus will depart from Curlew Park after presentations at approx. 2.00/15pm and should return to the College no later than 3.00pm. This event is open to unlimited spectators. While we encourage parents and other spectators to attend the carnival, it is a requirement that all athletes catch the bus as a team to the venue. Parents may drive their son/s home after the presentations.

I wish our entire squad the very best in the lead up to the Championships, even though we have not been able to compete in a lead up meet and on the day itself. I hope the boys enjoy the experience of representing their College and that they run their best. Please be assured that the entire College community is behind the team and wishes them all the best.

AIC Chess, Rugby and Football Fixtures, Friday 27 May and Saturday 28 May – Times and Venues
All times and venues for this weekend’s fixtures against St Laurence’s College are available on the College’s website.

AIC Rugby and Football Team Photos
Team photos will be taken to for all teams playing at Villanova Park this Saturday 28 May. Please refer to the respective ‘AIC Football and Rugby’ sections via the Locker Room on the website to view the photo schedule. The schedule is also posted below. The next two weekends will also be marked as a photo day for  teams not playing at Villanova Park this weekend. Please arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled time, dressed in the correct sporting apparel including boots. If you arrive LATE, sorry NO photo!
Location: Behind the scoreboard on Andrew Slack Oval

 FOOTBALL 

RUGBY                                                     

Villanova Park Canteen Schedule
The Sports Club requests the assistance of parents to help serve or cook at our canteens on the weekend. As players should arrive at least 30 minutes before their game for warm up we propose parents could work in the canteen during this time. After the warmup period working in the canteen parents could then see their son’s game. If we all pitched in it would make the task less demanding for others and helps build community spirit. Please help if you can.

AIC Rugby – Mr. Adam Fry, AIC Rugby Coordinator
A wet couple of weeks have made it very difficult for all teams to consistently train and prepare for games on weekend, but credit must go to all families for their patience and understanding through these tricky times. Thankfully on the weekend, we managed to have 16 of our teams play against St Patricks College out at Shorncliffe. The rain certainly did not stop our boys, with outstanding results across all grades. We managed to have 14 wins and two draws against St Pats.

Our First XV notched up their second win of the season in a gritty performance by the entire squad. In very tough conditions, our boys continued to out-work their opposition to come away with a 22 – 15 victory. The win puts us in second place on the Premiership Table and with a big game against St Laurence’s this weekend, our boys are primed to take down our rivals. This game was scheduled for this week, but once again due to weather, has been moved back to Saturday 1.45pm at Villanova Park. It would be fantastic to see as many of the Villanova Community present as possible to get our boys over the line.

This weekend we come up against rivals St Laurence’s with majority of our games from Year 5 – Open at Villanova Park. Only a few supplementary games are at other venues this weekend. With the entire college out at Villanova Park it would be terrific to see many boys stay to support their mates. St Laurence’s have always been a talented rugby school, so it is important this weekend all players prepare as best they can and be willing to work hard until the final whistle.

Good luck to all teams this weekend!

Team of the Week

Results after Round 4 v St Patricks College

AIC Chess – Mr Nick Verity and Mr Jack Lamb, AIC Chess Coordinators
Round 4 saw Villanova’s Chess team take the long bus trip to Shorncliffe to play against St Patrick’s. Villanova’s Junior teams and Intermediate B team successfully defeated their counterparts from St Pat’s while our 1st IV, Senior A and B, as well as Intermediate A teams were bested. At the end of the night, a difference of two games made for a very close St Pat’s win. Special mention to Daniel Egert for winning a very close endgame and to Samuel Carrol and Eli Dunstan for showing their fighting spirit despite being in losing positions. We play at home this week against St Laurence’s College who are always tough competition so we need to be as prepared as we can be to face them. We want to put more emphasis on Chess theory (the reasoning behind a certain move) as the season progresses. Our tactics training and calculating abilities are more useful when we can create favourable positions in which to use them.

TRAINING
Training is Monday morning (Junior/Intermediate) and Tuesday morning (Senior/Intermediate) from 7:15 am in the Middle School STEM Lab under the Tolle Lege Library. These sessions will be with coach Alex so please come prepared with any questions you have from Friday’s games or from your practise games in general.

Players who are unable to attend these sessions must notify staff of their absence or they may miss being selected in the following round.

A reminder that breaktime practise is still available from Tuesday to Friday at first break in T10 for Intermediate and Senior players and on Wednesday and Thursday in V13 at second break for Junior players. We do not expect players to attend every breaktime practise session, but they should be making themselves available for at least one of these breaktimes as time over the board is worth more than just playing online.

 AIC Chess Results v St Patrick’s

 AIC Football – Mr Anthony Kemp, AIC Football Coordinator
There was certainly a sense of déjà vu with last weekend’s games of football being cancelled for all teams except the 1sts. It has been a tough couple of weeks for our teams with barely any training able to go ahead due to the continued wet weather. I must thank all players, coaches and parents for their continued understanding and patience with the changes thus far. Here’s to hoping for a few weeks of sunny and dry conditions to finish the season off.

In a first for the AIC all 1st XI matches were held at St Laurence’s College on their Gair Oval artificial pitch in what was dubbed our own version of a ‘Magic Round’. The rain continued to come down hard on Saturday during the early matches and throughout our own game against St Patrick’s College. The combined conditions of the rain and the artificial pitch was no doubt tricky for our boys, but they competed well and adjusted accordingly.

St Patrick’s probably started the stronger out of the two sides through creating a few early opportunities, however, a red card for one of their players tilted the advantage towards us. Jasper Chan scored the first goal in a scramble in the box from one of our corners giving us the lead 1-0 going into half-time. The Villanova 1st XI came out strongly in the second half now knowing what to expect in the conditions and continued to press and eventually combining a few passes to Ben Hermiston whose low shot across the keeper found the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage. The passes continued to flow through to our boys at the front with Ben Hermiston controlling the ball excellently and guiding it around the keeper to once again score. Not happy with the 3-0 lead Villanova continued to play aggressively and eventually brining out a mistake from a SPC defender to allow Angus Nicholson to score from the spot to finish the game at 4-0. This is a great result for the team and keeps well in the hunt for the premiership.

This week we are taking on close rivals St Laurence’s College in what should be a great round of Football for our teams and finally a chance to get out there and play! Unfortunately, our fields at Villanova Park are still unsuitable for Football and as a result most games will be held at SLC venues to allow football to be played this weekend. It would be great to get as much support as possible out to the 1st XI Football game this Saturday as this will be a season defining game involving two of the top sides in the AIC – I have no doubt the boys would love the support! Good luck to all players and coaches this weekend.

 AIC Football Results v St Patrick’s

Trimester 3
Sports Trials – Tennis, Rugby League and Basketball
The above mentioned trials will take place the week after the last round of Rugby, Chess and Football. Please read the information below regarding the trials. The full season schedules for each of the sports will be posted on the web late next week.

 AIC Tennis Trials
Any student who wishes to play tennis for Villanova must have registered their interest by completing the online sign-on form.  The initial trials will be held at Morningside Tennis Centre the week after the rugby and football season concludes, that is, the week beginning Monday 13 June.

A trial schedule will be posted in next week’s Villa View and on the College’s website. After the ‘trial week’ all coaches will then select all teams within that age group.

The managers of each age group will conduct these trials and they will select four players in each team plus two reserves for the age group. Once these trial sessions are completed, the official training schedule (to be published soon) will commence Week 1, Term 3.

All teams from Year 7-12 will have two training sessions. Both sessions will be conducted before school 6.30-7.45am on Tuesday and Thursday morning. One of these sessions will be taken by a specialised tennis coach. The team manager will take the other session. All players are to attend both sessions. The College will only provide transport back to school after the morning sessions. Students from Year 5 and Year 6 will also have two training sessions; both will be conducted after school on Tuesday and Wednesday from 4.15-5.45pm. Please consider this information before signing on. Game dates are as per College calendar.

 All tennis training and trials will be held at Morningside Tennis Centre.

 AIC Basketball Trials
Any student who wishes to play Basketball for Villanova must have registered their interest by completing the online sign-on form.

All trials will commence the week beginning Monday 13 June. Each age group will have at least two trial sessions within the trial week. The Year 5 and 6 students will begin their trials tomorrow during sport in Period 5 and 6. A trial schedule will be posted in next week’s Villa View and on the College’s website. After the ‘trial week’ all boys (for certain age groups only) will be required to attend the basketball clinics on Saturday 19 June. After the clinic, all coaches/managers will then select all teams within that age group.

All trials will be conducted in Goold Hall, Clem Jones or on the outside courts on campus. Once teams are selected, a regular training schedule will be followed. Please note that several teams will train at Clem Jones Basketball Arena on Tuesday and/or Thursday morning 6.30-8.00am. Students are to find their own way to Clem Jones. The College will organise a bus to transport all players back to school.

 AIC Rugby League Trials
Any student who wishes to play Rugby League for Villanova must have registered their interest by completing the online sign-on form.

All trials will commence the week beginning Monday 13 June. Each age group from Year 5-12 will have at least four trial sessions within the two trial weeks. A trial schedule will be posted in next week’s newsletter and on the College’s website. After the ‘trial week’ all coaches will then select all teams within that age group.

All trials will be conducted at Little Langlands or Villanova Park. Buses will be provided to transport players to Villanova Park in the afternoon for trials in the first week only. Parents are required to collect their son/s from both venues after the trials.

LINK TO ROUND 5 PROGRAM V SLC

Mr Chris Everding, Director of Sport (Acting)