Sports Bulletin – Issue 15, 24 October 2024

• Selection trials have commenced this week for AFL, Cricket, and Volleyball, Please keep updated with the trial schedules on the website Locker Room pages.
• Our Sophomore (Years 7-8) students travel to Coomera this week for the CBSQ Basketball Championships. Good luck boys.
• Well done to all our Touch Football, Water Polo and Esports teams following the AIC Invitational Carnivals last weekend. A special congratulations to our Year 8/9 Touch Football team for winning their division with a 4-3 victory over Iona College in the final and our Esports team for finishing in first place.
• Just some planning ahead for Term 4 Sports trials in AFL, Cricket, and Volleyball. We have pre-season games versus Iona College on 8/9 November and against St Laurence’s College on 15/16 November. Not all year levels and teams will play both weeks. Draw information will be available on the Locker Room Overview page soon.

A final message from me regarding the Strength & Conditioning facility (gym) at Villanova College.

All students who attend the gym are reminded of some simple rules, so that we continue to share this space of the College in a respectful manner.

• Students must leave school bags on bag racks around the College, on the mezzanine level of Goold Hall or in the change rooms at the bottom of Goold Hall. Bags are not to be left on the floor or surrounding areas outside the gym.
• Students changing before or after gym sessions must do this on the mezzanine level of Goold Hall or in the change rooms at the bottom of Goold Hall.
• The pool area must not be accessed at any time for changing unless a staff member is on duty in the area.
• Music and noise within and around the gym area must be at an appropriate and respectful level (especially early mornings from 6:45am). This noise impacts not only the local community, but more so Villanova College staff members with offices situated around Goold Hall. This is one area that needs to be improved.
• Students attending Sport and/or gym sessions in the mornings must be changed and ready for school first bell by 8:25am. Training in the morning is never an excuse to be late for class.

Mr Shaun McLean, Director of Sport

Sport Sign-Ons
Registrations for Term 1, 2025 Sport, AFL, Cricket, Swimming and Volleyball have now closed. Students registering late need to collect a Late Registration Form from the Sports Office, get the form signed at home and return it to the Sports Office.
To keep up to date with selection trials and training schedules, please visit the Locker Room Overview page, and the individual Locker Room sport pages (e.g. Swimming page, Volleyball page, etc).

All registered students, plus those new to the College in 2025, must attend selection trials (at least one session) to be considered for AIC team selection.

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

Training Schedules
The Term 4 Training Schedule, for Weeks 2 and 3 only, is now available on The Locker Room Overview page of the Villanova College website.
Selection trial schedules for AFL, Cricket and Volleyball are now available on the Locker Room Overview and sport specific pages of the website.

• AFL Trials – Years 6-Open (2025) – Weeks 4 and 5, Term 4, commenced Monday 21 October.
• Cricket Trials – Years 6-Open (2025) – Week 4 only, Term 4, commenced Monday 21 October.
• Volleyball Trials – Years 7-Open (2025) – Weeks 4-6, Term 4, commenced Wednesday afternoon 23 Oct.

Please visit the website Locker Room for specific dates and timings for 2025 Year Level trials. Please note all trials are in 2025 Year Level – if your son is currently in Year 7, he needs to trial with the Year 8 (2025) group.

The Cricket training schedule for Weeks 5-9, Term 4 will be available on the Locker Room soon.

Save the dates – Sporting Tours, Camps and Clinics

• Christmas holidays 2024/2025 – Cricket Oblate Tour to Perth, Volleyball AVSC Tournament Gold Coast & Swim Camp at Tallebudgera.
• ** International Tour ** – Football & Rugby Tour to Japan – Easter 2025. Approved.
• ** International Tour ** – Basketball Tour to USA – Christmas holidays 2025/2026. Pending approval.

Sport Uniforms
Families are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the Villanova College Uniform Look Book. This information is found on the College website Uniform Shop page. Opening hours for the Uniform Shop can also be found here. All students selected in AIC teams are expected to wear the correct uniform for AIC fixtures each week.

Sport Contact List
If you are requiring information about a specific Sport, in the first instance, visit the website Locker Room page. If you need further clarification, please contact the relevant Coordinator below. For any training or game absences, please contact your Sport Coordinator.

Director of Sport – Shaun McLean, smclean@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC AFL Coordinator – Matt Conlan, mconlan@vnc.qld.edu.au on leave Term 4, contact bpascoe@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Cricket Coordinator – Nathan Dufty, ndufty@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Swimming Coordinator – Juanita Jacobs, jjacobs@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Volleyball Coordinator – Todd Kropp, tkropp@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Cross-Country Coordinator – Brian Pascoe – bpascoe@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Chess Coordinator – Kath Underhill, kunderhill@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Football Coordinator – Nathan Dufty, ndufty@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Rugby Union Coordinator – Chris Everding, ceverding@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Golf Coordinator – Todd Kropp, tkropp@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Basketball Coordinator – Contact, sportsoffice@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Rugby League Coordinator – Contact, sportsoffice@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Tennis Coordinator – Nathan Dufty, ndufty@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Track & Field Coordinator – Anthony Kemp, akemp@vnc.qld.edu.au
AIC Water Polo Coordinator – Juanita Jacobs, jjacobs@vnc.qld.edu.au
Composite District Sport – Todd Kropp, tkropp@vnc.qld.edu.au
Lytton District Sport – Chris Everding, ceverding@vnc.qld.edu.au

Wet weather cancellations
If there is any reason to cancel training sessions or weekend games, this information will be posted to the Villa App in the Notices section or emailed to the specific students and their parents. Please ensure you have downloaded the Villa App and updated your preferences and settings.

The Villa Sports Department will endeavour to cancel morning training sessions by 6am and afternoon training sessions by 1pm. If a training session is cancelled, boys are not able to be dropped off to the training venue as there will not be supervision present. Please check the Villa App and your emails regularly for these notifications.

If any AIC fixtures are cancelled, we will follow the same procedure above. Timing will be dependent on when that information becomes available.

Selection trials for all registered AFL players (Years 6-Open 2025) commenced Monday 21^st October. Please visit the Locker Room page to view the full trial schedule dates and times. All sessions are at Coorparoo AFL and transport is organised for the students one-way back to the College in the mornings and to Coorparoo in the afternoons.

AIC team selections will be posted to Parent Lounge by Friday 1 November.

Selected students will then continue training in Term 4. There are two pre-season games scheduled – versus Iona 8/9 and versus SLC 15/16 November. Draws will be available soon.

Mr Brian Pascoe, AFL Coordinator for Term 4

AIC – Villanova Cricket – save the dates:

• Week 4 of Term 4 (2025 Cricket selection trials at Little Langlands nets). The schedule for the selection trials can be found in the locker room section of the College website.
• Sunday 27 October (Internal cricket trials at Villa Park) the schedule for the internal trials can now be found in the locker room section of the College website.
• Weeks 5-9 of Term 4. Aggregate squads weekly training at Little Langlands nets.
• Saturday 9 November. Team trials against Iona College for 7A,8A,9A,10A, 2^nd XI and 1^st XI teams.
• Wednesday 4 December. 6A, 10A, 2^nd XI and 1^st XI trials Vs Gregory Terrace.
• Sunday 8 – Friday 12 December. Oblate cricket tour to Perth, WA.

We have planned for these Cricket trials vs Iona (Saturday 9 November to be conducted in the afternoon commencing at 1.30pm (except for 1^st XI which will be all day). This will involve certain teams across the College. We are aware that most club games are played in the morning. However, earlier this week I was made aware there are some afternoon zone cricket fixtures in both EDJCA and Bears planned during the season. It was suggested that boys involved in these games could request via their clubs for their games to be played in the morning on these weekends, if a clash occurs. We hope to publish our AIC Cricket season schedule soon, so as our cricket community has time to consider any further clashes that may occur.

Please email Mr Nathan Dufty, ndufty@vnc.qld.edu.au, if you have any questions regarding Villanova cricket.

Mr Nathan Dufty, Cricket Coordinator

All Swimming families are reminded there is now a payment pending for your participation in our AIC Swim Squads. The costs cover pool hire and coaching.
Please visit Parent Lounge to make payment for the 2024/2025 season. Note the three different payment categories. RSVP for payments is mid-November.
Information will be distributed soon to all Gold Squad Swimmers in Years 7-12 about the Tallebudgera Swim Camp from 18-20 January 2025. Please click below for the Expression of Interest form.

AIC Swim Camp 18-20 Jan, 2025 – EOI

Mrs Juanita Jacobs, Swimming Coordinator

Selection trials for all registered Volleyball players (Years 7-Open 2025) commenced on Wednesday afternoon 23 October. Please visit the Locker Room page to view the full trial schedule dates and times. Note: Volleyball trials continue for three weeks, during which time Goold Hall may be unavailable due to College events and exams.

Mr Todd Kropp, Volleyball Coordinator

Well done to all our Touch Football teams at the AIC Invitational Carnival last weekend. All team performed exceptionally, especially our Year 8/9 team who remained undefeated across the day, victorious 4-3 over Iona College in the final. Well done boys. Thank you to Ms Fisser, Mr Russell, Mr Classen, Mr Griffiths, Mr Cosgrove, and Mr O’Halloran for coaching the teams.

Touch – Year 7
On Saturday, the Year 7 boys had two teams competing in the competition. Both teams started strongly with wins over St Peter’s and eventual finalists, St Laurence’s. Unfortunately for Villa Gold, this was their only win as the scorching heat took its toll on the team. However, they had moments of brilliance with Max Farmer leading the middle and Oliver Hourigan on the end of some smart plays in the corner.

Villa Green showed their class as they picked up a massive win over Padua with star efforts from Hudson Holder and Quinn Holland as they both picked up multiple tries. Following this, a close draw to SEC and heartbreaking loss in the final minutes to SPC meant they just missed a finals spot. However, the boys showed great skills and jelled together well on a limited preparation.

Special mentions to Diezel Kennedy as he stepped up and starred for both Villa Gold and Green and Ethan Miller who helped referee multiple games throughout the day. Also, a massive thanks to all the parents involved as with their support the day ran smoothly and was enjoyable for all.

Touch – Year 8/9
The Year 8 and 9 AIC Touch Football team had an outstanding competition, playing a total of four regular pool games and one final game, emerging victorious in all matches and securing the title of AIC Touch Football Division Champions. A special mention goes to Archie Godwin, whose game-winning touch in the final secured the win, and to our captain, Billy Pearson, whose leadership helped the team dig deep and perform at their best throughout the competition. In the final, the team faced Iona College and won 4-3, demonstrating remarkable resilience, determination, and skill, especially given the challenging heat on the day. I would like to extend my gratitude to the sports department, assistant coach Connor Moloney, and all the parents and carers who ensured the players were well-prepared and helped the day run smoothly.

Touch – Year 10/11 Villa Gold Team
The Year 11 Villanova Gold College touch football team showcased exceptional talent and teamwork during their final four games, embodying the true spirit of college. The matches were marked by high energy and intense competition, as the team demonstrated impressive skills and strategic plays. Each game brought a flurry of touchdowns, with players celebrating the teamwork and passion together, highlighting the strong camaraderie that has developed over the training days and competition. By the end of the day the boys left the field not just as athletes but having created memories that will last well beyond their time on the field. Congratulations on playing your final games within the AIC Touch Football Competition!

Touch – Year 10/11 Villa Green Team
In an impressive display of skill and determination, the Year 10 Touch Football team wrapped up their day by winning three out of four games, solidifying their reputation as a formidable force on the field. Each match highlighted their exceptional teamwork and strategic prowess, as they executed flawless plays and celebrated each touchdown with infectious enthusiasm. The atmosphere was electric, with other Villanova teams rallying behind the team, cheering them on as they fought valiantly for victory. Though they faced a tough challenge in their last game against Iona, the resilience and spirit they displayed throughout the day underscored the bonds formed among teammates. As they walked off the field, they left with their heads held high, proud of their achievements and the memories created together. Well done boys on a fantastic result!

Touch Football team photos will be taken in front of Langlands building from 8am on Wednesday 30 October. Boys are expected to be dressed in full academic uniform for these photos. These photos will be included in the 2024 Villanovan, so all boys are expected to attend.

Villanova nominated three teams for the 2024 AIC Water Polo competition.  It was a great day of AIC spirit and connection, with all our players representing the college admirably.

The Year 7 team was very successful considering that very few of them have played competitively, and their only experience was HPE lessons this term.  Overall they won one game, lost one game, and drew one game to finish third overall.  Had they beaten Marist in their final game with a goal difference of 7, they would have made the playoff for First Place.  They certainly improved as a team as the morning progressed and developed some great passing plays and teamwork in attack with more game time.  Their coach, Maya Nelson, did a great job introducing the sport to the boys and they really appreciated her time and expertise.  It will be good to see them develop their skills further.  There is a lot of talent in this team.

We also had a large group of Year 8 and 9 players. Most have had a bit more experience in the pool and so looked strong on the day and finished third overall.  They defeated Iona 11 goals to 6 in a dominating performance.  Unfortunately, they went down to St Laurence’s’ in their next game.  Laurie’s went on to win the competition overall for the age group. If the draw had been a bit kinder to us, we may have made the playoff.  The team has a lot of talented players and strong swimmers who always play a strong passing game with fast plays down the pool.

Many of the Year 8/9 team backed up for the afternoon to play in the Year 10/11 age group.  By the end of the day, they were exhausted, playing a full day of competition, often against teams much bigger than they were.  Having said that, they held their own against the other teams to finish fourth overall.  Our three Year 11 students, Oliver Jacobs, Mitchell Millard, and Wade Wildin-Powell played their final games of Water Polo for the College and showed great support to the younger players in the pool.  We wish our team captain Wade continued success in his water polo career at both club and representative level going forward.

Thank you to both the coaches Henry Lamb (Year 8/9 and Year 10/11) and Maya Nelson for their time on the day.  I also want to thank all the parents who did the scoring duties for the teams.  I was most appreciative that the biggest problem I had on the day was sharing the scoring duties across all my volunteers.   Congratulations to all the players, coaches, and parents for a great day of friendly competition and fun.

Water Polo team photos will be taken in front of Langlands building from 8am on Wednesday 30 October. Boys are expected to be dressed in full academic uniform for these photos. These photos will be included in the 2024 Villanovan, so all boys are expected to attend.

Mrs Juanita Jacobs, Water Polo Coordinator

The S&C training schedule for Weeks 4-9 can be viewed on the Locker Room page.

The Term 4 programme is being held on Friday mornings from 11/10 to 29/11. Registrations are now closed. The Speed & Agility Programme for Years 5-8 students will be back again in 2025.

Any students wishing to trial for the 15-19 years MET East Cricket team is to please see Mr Dufty in the Sports Office. Forms are to be completed and returned to the sports office by no later than Wednesday October 30.

Congratulations to Eli A (Year 6) for his recent success at the recent Track & Field State Championships. Representing Metropolitan East, Eli and his team won gold in the relay – just falling short of the record. Eli also competed in the 100m and Long Jump. Well done to Eli and all our students who participated at the State Champs.

Villa Sport – humble in victory, gracious in defeat.

Derby Day for Ladies – Saturday 2 November, 2.6pm

2024 Villanova College Celebration of Excellence Evening – Tuesday 5 November, 6.30pm
In a year of innovation and change at Villanova College, Mr Paul Begg cordially invites all Villanova families to attend this major event in the College’s calendar, our 2024 Celebration of Excellence awards evening. Held at Queensland Performing Arts Centre, the awards evening will acknowledge outstanding achievement across Academic, Cultural, Service and Sporting Fields in Years 5 – 11. Join us for a memorable night of recognition while being entertained by our home-grown talented musicians. Let’s honour excellence and be inspired together!

Tickets are now available. At this stage the limit is 4 tickets per booking. If you require additional seats, please contact Kath Underhill at kunderhill@vnc.qld.edu.au. Book your tickets at: https://qpac.com.au/whats-on/2024/villanova-college-2024-celebration-of-excellence

Doors open at 6pm. Ceremony will commence at 6:30pm and conclude around 8:30 pm.