Last weekend a number of students were involved in the NSW Junior Rugby State Championships representing various clubs across Sydney. Players and families travelled to venues all over NSW including Orange, Dubbo, Camden, Concord and Narrabeen.
We were pleased to hear of plenty of success stories including the Randwick Juniors U18s team, which included a number of our 1st XV and 2nd XV players, who won the State Championships defeating Warringah 23-7 in the final. I hope that all players and families enjoyed the weekend away!
Waverley College Under 16s Players Representing Randwick
Monty Armstrong, U14s Randwick Representative Player, races away at Orange
In the holidays, we will be holding training sessions for players in all Senior School A and B teams (13s, 14s, 15s and 16s) in the final week of the holidays leading into the St Augustine’s matches (match details below).
These training sessions will be taking place on Tuesday 6 July and Thursday 8 July from 8:30am to 11am at Queens Park. Our 1st XV and 2nd XV will have their own scheduled trainings over the holidays under the direction of their coaching staff.
On Saturday 10 July, all “A” teams will be having a match against St Augustine’s at Queens Park. This is an extremely important match to ensure players regain some match fitness ahead of CAS Round 3 against Barker College (17 July).
The schedule for the day is as follows (all matches will be played on QP1):
If players are unable to make these matches due to being away on family holidays, we ask students to contact their team coaches as well as Mr McCoy jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au so we can ensure teams have enough numbers.
I wish all players, families and supporters all the best for the upcoming holiday break.
Waverley to Win!
Mr John McCoy
Convenor of Rugby
E: jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Week 1
22 and 24 June
Tuesday and Thursday (9am-10:30am)
Sprints and Distance/XC
Week 2
29 June and 1 July
Tuesday and Thursday (9am-10:30am)
Sprints, Distance/XC, Throws
Week 3
6 and 8 July
Tuesday and Thursday (9am-10:30am)
Sprints, Distance/XC, Throws
6 and 8 July
Tuesday and Thursday (8:30am-9am)
Rugby warm up with Zac and Jess
Last Saturday Waverley College celebrated Indigenous Round as part of Reconciliation Week. Our 1sts AFL, Football and Rugby all wore a specially-designed jersey designed by local artist Billy Reynolds. The design was specific and unique to Queens Park as a traditional meeting place of local Indigenous peoples for many thousands of years, where they shared stories and caught local food such as eels and fish. The design is also a recognition of Queens Park being close to where the land meets the sea.
All three teams put on tremendous performances that were also highlighted by the smoking and ochre ceremony organised by Old Boy Grant Hyde. A huge thank you to all of our Indigenous community, Billy Reynolds, Mrs Fran Grant, as well as local community members Trevor and Derek for their amazing work to help celebrate this very important week.
Celebrating Indigenous Round During Reconciliation Week
1ST XI Football in Their New Indigenous Jerseys
Rugby 1STS in Their New Indigenous Jerseys
Last week the CAS Opens Football team coached by Mr Patrick Darvill, were successful in winning the NSW Schools Associations tournament by going undefeated. Waverley had a number of players in this team with Duke Bushby going on to be selected in the NSWCIS Opens squad and Andrew Di Blasio as a shadow player. We also had James Bulkeley selected in the U16 NSWCIS team. Well done to Mr Darvill and these students on some great achievements.
Our 1st XI Football are also through to the CIS Independent Cup Semi-finals at Valentine Sports Park next Wednesday evening against Riverview, and these students and coaches would certainly welcome any support for this tough contest.
We also had 13 of our 1st XV selected in the CAS 1sts and 2nds Rugby sides on Saturday and these students will be representing CAS against GPS this Thursday evening at Knox. Students are also welcome to attend but must be in full College Winter uniform please. We also have a number of students trialling this week for CAS U16s Rugby.
We also had six 1sts AFL players selected to represent CAS v GPS next Wednesday at 2:45pm. Click here to view all CAS Representative selections, commitments and matches.
A reminder to any Year 12 students who wish to get letters on their blazers recognising academic and sporting achievements, need to collect the necessary forms and submit these with their blazers to the uniform shop before the end of term.
We will also communicate with students some of the upcoming holiday training opportunities and trials in AFL, Football and Rugby.
Thank you to all students, coaches, staff and parents for their efforts over the term, and best wishes to those students representing Waverley College and CAS in their various sporting activities.
Mr Steve O’Donnell
Director of Co-curricular
E: sodonnell@waverley.nsw.edu.au
The College’s House Athletics Carnival for Years 5-12 will take place on Friday June 18, 2021 at ES Marks Athletics Field — entry via Boronia Street in Kensington (off Anzac Parade).
The emphasis of the day is participation and friendly House competition. The day is also an excellent opportunity for students to display their talents (hidden or known), in order to gain selection in the College Athletics Team. Students will compete in their age category.
Do not let your son stay at home even if he does not like athletics. The day is a great community and House team building occasion. Resilience is built at times when we sometimes do not want to do something.
Dress to and from school: College tracksuit
Dress at the arena: House shirt, College shorts, House coloured garments, College cap, sunscreen.
Details:
OR
*Any students interested in participating in Javelin or 3K run must be at ES Marks by 8am.
Please note:
OR
Food: Canteen facilities are available at the venue but please be warned they are not cheap. Students are encouraged to bring their lunch/drink with them. The canteen is CASH ONLY.
Wet Weather: In the event of heavy rain, the wet weather line will be updated by 7am (phone: 8250 3780) as well as an email sent to parents and students. If the carnival is cancelled, students will NOT be required to be at school, however, for those students requiring supervision for the day, staff will be at the College for normal school hours. Students will be supervised if needed in the College Library.
We are sure the day will be enjoyable for all. Parents are most welcome to attend.
Mr Graham Leddie, Principal
Mr Steve O’Donnell
Director of Co-curricular
E: sodonnell@waverley.nsw.edu.au
It was a big game for our team this week as we had a tough game in the first round with a 2-2 draw — Cranbrook being the only team to get points against us so our team was determined to get a win.
We started off strong, going 1-0 up 10 minutes in with a banging penalty strike from Zack Ellis. We went to half time being comfortable with our 1-0 lead, knowing we had more work to do. It didn’t take long for our striker Aston Cavender to put us 2-0 from a scrappy corner — it fell to his feet and he tapped it in as we maintained possession feeling confident with our lead. With 15 minutes on the clock we got a corner — Zack Ellis put an amazing curl on the ball — great strike, we go 3-0 up — dominating the game.
Our top striker Jacob Rae got fouled in the box, winning himself a penalty — it was saved by the keeper that dived to the left and got a strong hand on it. With just 5 minutes on the clock, Jacob got played a nicely-waited through ball, and he turned the centre back inside out and placed it right in the bottom corner. Great finish from him and a well-deserved goal. Last play of the game, Cranbrook got a free kick in a good position and they scored. Pretty frustrating to concede in the last kick of the game, and not get full points in the Rizzo Cup, but we got the win.
Liam Lynch received a well-deserved ‘Man of the Match’ doing an outstanding job in defense.
Student journalist Harlen Forker-Lawrence
7As Defensive Midfielder
E: sdisalvo@waverley.nsw.edu.au
On Tuesday 15 June, the First XI will be competing in the semi-final of the CIS Cup. A winner in this game will take them to the finals. Waverley have never won the cup and have been hard at work preparing for the match. Kick off is at 6:15pm at Valentine Sports Park.
Congratulations to the following 16s and Opens players who have been selected in the CAS Squad:
Players selected to represent the CIS team for their outstanding performances at the CAS competition:
Mr Sam Disalvo
Convenor of Football
E: sdisalvo@waverley.nsw.edu.au
What a remarkable fortnight it has been for Waverley College 1st IV Tennis.
It all started with a home fixture against perennial powerhouse Knox. This endeavour was made even harder with the absence of our number one player, Year 10 student Roger Sweeney. Roger was away in Darwin playing in a highly regarded junior national tournament. Year 8 student Xavier Micconi stepped up to fill the void, and with the help of doubles partner Charlie Farrington, took out both sets of doubles. Nikita Nikitenko then showed his class to win his singles match, whilst Jack Preller and Charlie both displayed grit and determination to come from behind in their singles wins. The resilience on display in this fixture, in which Waverley won five sets to three, was awe-inspiring.
With confidence at an all-time high, Waverley then hosted Cranbrook for the last match before the school holiday break. With the return of Roger, Waverley was quick to put Cranbrook to the sword, taking all four doubles sets on offer. The excellent tennis continued in the singles matches; strong wins to Roger, Nikita and Charlie gave Waverley an emphatic seven sets to one victory.
I would like to thank skills/opens coach Steve Day on the amazing job he is doing with the Waverley College tennis program. His dedication and tireless effort is reflected in the recent results, and a big reason why the tennis program is trending in the right direction.
Mr David Edwards
Convenor of Tennis
E: dedwards@waverley.nsw.edu.au
The final weekend of Rugby for Term 2 saw a number of Waverley College teams successful with 14 wins from 20 matches played. It was a highly entertaining day of Rugby and a number of Cranbrook players, coaches and parents expressed their thanks for the good spirits in which all matches were played.
We particularly thank the Cranbrook community for their support of our Indigenous Round. It was wonderful to witness history with the 1st XV players running around for the first time in the specially-designed Indigenous “Double V” jerseys. We thank Mr Billy Reynolds, Aboriginal artist and Yuin man, for his artwork “Coastal Connections” which was featured on the jerseys.
Rugby Indigenous Round
Waverley College vs St Augustine’s by Student Journalist Lucas Coe
Both teams looked ready and fired up! Waverley kicked off deep into St Augustine’s half, with a good chase early. However, Waverley gave away an early penalty for coming in from the side. St Augustine’s took the kick to touch and gained 20 metres from it, placing them into Waverley’s half. St Augustines’s halfback saw some space wide and passed a cut out ball straight out to the winger to score. St Augustine’s led by five, missing the conversion.
Waverley kicked off again, with another good chase. St Augustine’s gave away a penalty for not releasing the ball. Waverley took possession close to the Augustine’s line. Waverley threw a good line out and a forward took a great hit up. St Augustine’s got penalised for being offside and Waverley chose to take the tap. Waverley had a forward ready to take a hit up but I was on the blindside with the winger. Before our halfback tapped it, I told him that there was a gap on the blindside. The Halfback tapped it, dummied it one way, then passed it to me. I dummied to the winger and then got the ball over the try line. Try to Waverley to even things up, and sadly we also missed the conversion. Both teams went into half time at five all.
Not long into the second half, St Augustine’s had a scrum 60 metres away from the try line, giving it to one of their fast centres as he made a break. Fortunately, Waverley’s fullback made a great cover tackle to stop their momentum.
Waverley then gained about 25 metres when St Augustine’s got penalised for being off their feet. Waverley decided to take the penalty kick for the chance to be up by three, however, the attempt was unsuccessful.
At one point, St Augustine’s knocked the ball on in the ruck and Waverley gained possession off the scrum. The St Augustine’s halfback was offside. He had been doing this multiple times during the game, so he was given a yellow card from the ref. The score was still even with only a few minutes to go.
Waverley took the tap and spread the ball out to the wing. One of our forwards did a pick and drive to score right on the bell! A great Waverley moment to win at the last second. The students were very happy and should be proud of the win. Final Score 12-5.
We would like to sincerely thank all those wonderful parents and friends in our community who gave up their time to assist on the BBQ and Canteen across Term 2. We are so lucky to have such generous support in our community, who always make guests to Queens Park feel welcome. To steal some words from Virginia Woolf, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” I certainly do not think we would love our Rugby as much without the wonderful hospitality we are fortunate to enjoy each and every week at Queens Park. Thank you!
This weekend a number of students will be involved in the NSW Junior Rugby State Championships representing a variety of clubs across Sydney. Always an exciting weekend, a number of age groups will be travelling to venues all over NSW including Orange, Dubbo, Camden, Concord and Narrabeen. We wish all players involved the best for a successful weekend and look forward to hearing your results when you return. Safe travels!
Please note we will not be holding any training sessions in the final week of Term 2, following a big term of Rugby. The coming weeks will certainly provide all players the chance to have a rest and recover from any injuries ahead of the important final rounds of CAS Rugby in Term 3.
In the holidays, we will be holding training sessions for players in As and Bs teams (13s, 14s, 15s and 16s) in the final week of the holidays leading into the St Augustine’s matches (details below). These training sessions (for all age groups) will be taking place on Tuesday 6 July and Thursday 8 July from 8:30am to 11am at Queens Park. Our 1st XV and 2nd XV will have their own scheduled trainings over the holidays under the direction on their coaching staff.
On Saturday 10 July, all “A” teams will be having a match against St Augustine’s at Queens Park. This is extremely important match up as it should help blow out the holiday cobwebs and ensure players regain some match fitness ahead of CAS Round 3 against Barker College (17 July). It will be good to see how teams have progressed this season having played St Augustine’s early in Term 2.
The schedule for the day is as follows (all matches will be played on QP1):
If players are unable to make these matches due to being away on family holidays, we ask students to contact their team coaches as well as Mr McCoy on jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au so we can ensure teams have enough numbers.
I would like to wish all those students involved in the State Championships this weekend.
Waverley to Win!
Mr John McCoy
Convenor of Rugby
E: jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
The AFL Presentation Night will take place on Friday 30 July from 6-7pm in the PAC. It will recognise outstanding player performances in 2021 as well as farewell Year 12 players.
Entry tickets and raffle tickets are available to purchase on the night.
Raffle prizes include a signed football or jersey donated by the current Swans team. All proceeds will be donated to the GO Foundation.
Everyone is welcome and Years 5-6 students are encouraged to attend.
Special guest to be announced!
Mr Alan Riordan, AFL Convenor E: ariordan@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Mr Alan Riordan
AFL Convenor
E: ariordan@waverley.nsw.edu.au
The CAS competition commenced last weekend and, as expected, the contest in each match against Knox was challenging. Across the day, Waverley managed to secure 11 wins and one draw from the 20 matches played. In those matches in which our students came home in second place, there was certainly not many points separating the teams. Congratulations to all players and coaches on a great start to the CAS season.
One particular aspect which made this Convenor happy was watching the community gather around QP1 in the afternoon. While it is always nice to have success on the playing fields, seeing our students supporting their mates, observing parents catching up behind the BBQ and Canteen, and recognising Old Boys celebrating reunions, all served as a reminder of what this beautiful game of rugby is all about! We are truly blessed in our Waverley College Community where we can gather together to check in with each other, celebrate the outstanding wins or heartbreaking losses, and enjoy one another’s company over this simple game of rugby. In the words of Bruce McAvaney, it is “Special!”
This weekend the CAS Competition continues with the local derby between Waverley College and Cranbrook. Cranbrook played against Barker College last weekend and from all reports were very competitive in all grades, including the 1st XV where they just went down.
Our 14s and 15s travel up the road to the playing fields around Cranbrook, with the school currently progressing through a significant renovation. Our 13s, 16s and Opens will enjoy another match at Queens Park. We certainly encourage supporters to come along to QP for what should be a terrific day of rugby.
The Rugby Supporters Club again welcomes any support on the BBQ and Canteen duties this weekend. This will be the final game of rugby at Queens Park for some time as we move into the holiday period. The BBQ and Canteen will be open from 7am and will conclude at around 2pm. Any assistance during these times (even for an hour!) would be appreciated.
Please note this this weekend marks the final game of rugby for Term 2. Following this weekend, we move into the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend (no school rugby) and then into the school holidays.
We will continue to hold training sessions next week (7 to 10 June) at Queens Park for all teams (13s, 14s and 15s – Monday and Wednesday/16s and Opens – Tuesday/Thursday). We will not be holding any training sessions in the final week of Term 2 (following the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend).
We are currently in the process of finalising a holiday training program for the upcoming break. As a note, all A teams (13As through to 1st XV) will be playing against St Augustine’s at Queens Park on Saturday 10 July which is the final Saturday of the school holidays. This will be an important match to prepare teams for CAS Round 3 against Barker College on Saturday 17 July. More details to come.
I would like to wish all teams the best for this weekend against Cranbrook!
Waverley to Win!
Mr John McCoy
Convenor of Rugby
E: jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
We returned to the Brother Lacey Gymnasium on the 29 May round of co-curricular, hosting Knox in a riveting game of volleyball! Team morale was high and the players were excited to bring home a win for the first time this season. The set-by-set encounter, is as follows:
Set 1: The first set started with a very quick pace, which didn’t work well for either team, who were still warming up. However, the Knox team warmed up faster than Waverley and started punishing us with strong spikes we couldn’t receive. We quickly spotted Knox’s weakness: serving. Most serve attempts would be unsuccessful and would give us easy points. Unfortunately, our communication was very poor throughout the majority of this set, and this led to us making simple mistakes which gave Knox a twelve point lead. After a timeout, we got in the correct headspace and started playing the game with lots of urgency, resulting in four consecutive points from long volleys. The twelve point deficit ended up being too much for us to come back from and we lost the set. Result 25-12.
Set 2: This set started with an unsuccessful serve attempt from Knox. Our urgency from the end of the previous set remained throughout this set, allowing for the game to become much more competitive. Luke Zilich and Hayden Wild served strongly. Strong Knox’s spikes became too difficult for us to receive, so we called a timeout to slow the game down. The timeout was ineffective in slowing the game down, so instead, we quickened the pace and this worked to our advantage tightening the score to 22-20. However, Knox punished our inability to receive their strong spikes and we lost this set. 25-23.
Set 3: Two aces from Louis Liong. Miscommunication on serve receives and miscommunications from the team in general. Majority of our points once again coming from their unsuccessful serves. (Deja vu) 10-6 Knox. Felt like a portion of this set was the first set. 8-15 Our gameplay started to improve drastically, and the overall competitive aspect of the game improved as this happened. A constant message from coach Ms Buchan of ‘strong hands’ really appeared to be understood by the team. Consistently strong hands and huge spikes. Knox’s serves let us back into the game at 13-18. Our constant pressure on the net stopped the Knox players from hitting their spikes which would usually get them easy points. This allowed the score to get to 19-20, the closest it had been throughout the whole game. The change of pace made the Knox team call a timeout to try to sway the momentum of the game. Unfortunately, the Knox timeout was beneficial and allowed the game to go back in their favour. 25-22 Knox.
Please come down to the College gymnasium and support the 1sts students play against Cranbrook this weekend at 10am!
By Christian Kitas Year 11 Roving Sports Reporter for Volleyball
Ms Belinda Buchan
Convenor of Volleyball
E: bbuchan@waverley.nsw.edu.au
This coming Saturday Waverley is hosting the first full round of CAS winter activities at the College and Queens Park. It is essential that all members of the College community are following the CAS Codes of Conduct as players, spectators and parents at all times.
It is also essential that people are:
Some of the other expectations we will be strongly enforcing this weekend include:
I also want to congratulate some recent individuals who have continued to represent the College and perform at a very high level.
Max Yuen recently won a bronze medal at the NSW Brazilian Ju Jitsu competition and has now qualified for the next stage.
We also have a number of students representing CAS in Football and congratulations to the following students: Andrew Di Blasio, Emilio Vinci, Duke Bushby, Ben Leet, James Bulkeley and Kai Puntigam.
These students have demonstrated great levels of commitment and have shown that it is certainly possible to effectively balance their school football commitments with club commitments, enabling them to be selected in school representative football pathways to a NSW Schools and potentially national level.
I also want to congratulate Vasili Vertsonis who was selected this week for the U15 NSW All Schools AFL team.
Next week we will be having our winter 1sts Football teams representing the College in our Indigenous Jerseys as part of Reconciliation Week. We will have special guests Michael O’Loughlin and jersey designer Billy Reynolds as part of the assembly and at Queens Park as part of the ceremonies.
Well done to the 1st XI who defeated Christian College Newcastle this week on penalties to qualify for the CIS Independent Cup semi-finals – this is a wonderful achievement and Waverley has not progressed this far in this prestigious tournament for many years.
Good luck to all teams and activities this weekend.
Waverley College students interested in gaining scholarships to study and play sports in America after secondary school (NCAA and NAIA Division I, II, III) may be interested in attending the ‘United States Future College Athlete Summit.’ This event is hosted by Tessa Berger (Director of Crimson Athletics) and will be held at the University of Sydney (Camperdown campus) in the Cullen Room, Holme Building on Wednesday 2 June at 6pm.
The good news is that Waverley students can access this exciting opportunity with a FREE ticket! Limited tickets are available so get in quick!
Please click here to register and access the free ticket.
Please click here to view the official NCAA College Bound Student Athlete Guide.
Mr Steve O’Donnell
Director of Co-curricular
E: sodonnell@waverley.nsw.edu.au
Last weekend, Waverley College enjoyed a highly competitive fixture against Oakhill College. Oakhill fielded many talented teams who really challenged our representatives. This was an ideal match moving in to the CAS Competition. We thank Oakhill for hosting the fixture at Castle Hill and we wish them all the best in the ISA Competition.
Thank you to Jordan Du Toit (13Fs) for his match report this week. Any interested students are welcome to email their reports through to Mr McCoy at E: jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
The Waverley College 13Fs played the Newington 13Ds. It was a tough game and you would’ve enjoyed watching it. To start off Jude Shepherd (Captain) kicked off and a massive forward came running down the sideline, but Jordan du Toit and Conor Brough stopped him. Newington scored the first try, and the score was 5-0 Newington’s way. In the 10th minute we lost Jude Shepherd (back injury) for the rest of the first half.
As soon as we lost Jude, this fast kid ran past Fin Kelly and Hooper Negus and scored. We had the break when they were kicking for conversion and the coach had named Brooklyn Lagos captain because Jude was injured. Newington missed the conversion so it was 10-0. After Jordan kicked off, Newington got a penalty down at our end and managed to score again!!
At half time the score was 15-0 and Jude came back on. Our coach said to our team that the big guy kept on making breaks and he said the way to stop him is to tackle his legs. We had a much better game in the second half and Jude scored to make it 15-5, but unfortunately missed the conversion. After Newington kicked off, Louis Oxenham made a break and nearly scored, but lost the ball in the ruck.
Brooklyn Lagos was playing some special footy when he nearly scored, but the ref said “knock on” when he planted the ball down nicely. Our men Fin Mccarthy and Billy Lagos made up for it and made some good hits. The full-time whistle blew and we lost, but we knew we played well. At the end we shook hands with Newington and the coach announced the man of the match. It was Fin Mccarthy!!!! Up Waves!!!!!
This weekend the eagerly anticipated CAS Competition commences. Reflecting on the preseason matches, the CAS schools have certainly displayed form against the GPS and ISA schools. The 2021 competition looks like it will be a thriller!
To commence the season, Waverley College play against Knox Grammar School. Our 14s and 15s travel to Wahroonga to play at the Knox Grammar School playing fields. Our 13s, 16s and Opens finally get another game back at Queens Park. I know that all players will be excited about coming home!
We welcome all families and visitors to Queens Park for what should be a great day of rugby.
We do ask that players, parents and spectators do take note of the CAS Code of Conduct listed below:
In the event of a player, or athlete being sent-off during a CAS fixture, it is the responsibility of that boy’s Headmaster at his discretion to determine the penalty. It is generally understood among Headmasters, however, that the boy will serve at least one week’s suspension from participating in the CAS competition.
The Rugby Supporters Club welcome any support on the BBQ and Canteen duties this weekend. The BBQ and Canteen will be open from 7am and will conclude at around 2pm. Any assistance during these times would be appreciated. If you can help, even for an hour, please feel free to register on our online roster: https://signup.com/go/cRPQVPx
I would like to wish all teams the best for this weekend as we kick off the CAS Competition!
Waverley to Win!
Mr John McCoy
Convenor of Rugby
E: jmccoy@waverley.nsw.edu.au
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation who are the traditional Custodians of the land on which Waverley College is located. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We are committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters, seas and sky and their rich contribution to society.
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