Sport

The weekend saw another series of challenging opponents as we took on Terrace, producing a range of thrilling matches and standout efforts. Furthermore, this week’s round against Nudgee will be another big round, at home, where we expect a large turnout of spectators. We will be hosting the rowing regatta at Lake Wyaralong on Saturday and debating on Friday afternoon at home.

Please see the Round 2 results summary on the myChurchie GPS Sports and Activities page.

Volleyball

A special recognition goes out to six exceptional young men from Year 8. Occasionally, teams are faced with the challenge of double duty, and these six individuals handled it with utmost professionalism. They completed their first duty before their game, played with great intensity, and then proceeded to fulfil their second duty while the rest of their team departed. Thank you to Harry, George, Nathan, Fraser, Fred and Ben for honouring their commitment. The coaches, referees and players from the fourths game were highly impressed with the level of engagement and accuracy in the duty roles.

I remind all members of Churchie Volleyball that attendance at duty is expected and required on Saturday game day. It is essential that the entire team be present on the court at least 15 minutes before their duty, and all players must fulfil their duty responsibilities. Ian Bullock has dedicated time and effort to training and upskilling teams to ensure the knowledge and involvement of all boys.

Against Gregory Terrace, Churchie displayed exceptional sportsmanship, camaraderie and skill. Across all venues and teams, their outstanding abilities on the court were evident throughout the day. The nerves from last week were absent and the hard work of the preseason and current training began to bear fruit in terms of performance and results. Our players showcased aggressive and powerful serving, precise sets, and impressive spikes.  Some matches were intense, featuring long rallies and strategic plays from both teams, while others were characterised by our team’s composure, teamwork, and superior skill level, resulting in comfortable wins.

Round two showcased Churchie Volleyball’s dominance, with victories in all but two matches. These two matches were fiercely contested, with both sides going point for point in the final sets. Congratulations to the boys and coaches on their achievements!

The Prep School volleyballers had another amazing weekend, coming away with all four wins for the second week in a row. Although everyone brought their A-game, there are a few special mentions from the day:

• Ben Potter (5A) for consistent serving
• Ethan Valentine (5A) for great net work
• George Scott (5B) for consistent serving and awesome work to the entire team for a solid performance
• Ryan Fraser (6A) for chasing balls and diving all over the court with his excellent defence
• James Davis (6B) for his consistent serves
• and a shout out to Mason Page (6B) for his clear communication on the court

The First’s game presented an equally challenging test. After securing the first two sets, Gregory Terrace came back in the third set with renewed energy, providing a formidable challenge. They tested our serving abilities, requiring our team to adapt quickly and adjust strategies accordingly. Throughout the match, our players demonstrated exceptional agility and court awareness, making swift decisions and executing well-timed attacks. It was an exhilarating contest that kept spectators on the edge of their seats. Ultimately, our team emerged victorious once again, showcasing their determination and resilience with a 3-0 win.

We have a huge round this weekend against Nudgee and hope to see the stands full of the BOC army for the Firsts commencing at 12:30 pm.

Carrie Mill
Director of Volleyball

Swimming

As the countdown continues to the GPS Championships on 1 March, last week was jam-packed for our GPS Swimming squads. The annual Churchie Invitational Meet was well supported last Friday as The Southport School, Brisbane State High School and Churchie war cries filled the Barry McCart Aquatic Centre.

The Churchie Invitational saw 120 boys representing the School, achieving an amazing record-breaking number of personal best times. Accompanying this was wonderful support from parents for the bake sale. All parents have a deserved week’s break from baking! We are well on our way towards the GPS Championships. Meet photos can be found on Pivexety; thanks to Mark Shepherd-Smith.

Churchie Age Championships is the next event, and boys will need to nominate for their events via myChurchie – Swimming. We are expecting attendance from every boy from Years 5 to Year 12. Please note that presentations will commence immediately after the last race in Brenan Pavilion and our Age Championship trophies will no longer be presented at our presentation awards event.

Met East Trials process and forms are now available online. Please note there are different nominations timeframes for Lytton and Met East. Ensure your forms are submitted before the deadline.

Following the GPS Championships on 1 March, our Swimming Awards Presentation event will take place on 2 March. We invite any Years 7 to 12 boys and their parents to attend and celebrate the season together.

A reminder to parents that our last Swimming Support Group meeting for the season will be held on Monday 12 February at the Brenan Pavilion.

Jaye Finocchiaro
Director of Swimming

Debating

Our round two debating opponent, Gregory Terrace, was the school that won both the GPS and QDU Debating premierships, and the overall championships, in 2023.  Much like with round one, we faced a school with finely honed training programmes, discerning selection and a track record of big wins. On the night, the mixed results reflect the toughness of this competition.

Seeing some strong teams, such as 8.1, 8.3, 9.1, 10.1, 10.2 and Senior B, sustain very close losses must have been a heartbreak for the boys, but my advice is to look at every loss as a chance for recalibration of expectations and approaches. Debating can feel like an unpredictably subjective activity, and sometimes a team that felt like it was strong and responsive comes away having addressed fewer of their opponent’s cases than they thought. However, remember our resilience is shown in how we respond to challenges.

Our wins (when they came) were outstanding. Well done to 8.2 and 9.2 for ensuring that everyone has come out with a win from the competition thus far. Likewise, well done to 11.1 and the Senior As at the pointy end of the competition. It’s particularly impressive that the Senior As took a unanimous panel decision in their favour against Gregory Terrace. They should be very proud of themselves.

This week, we debate at home against Nudgee. Additionally, this will be an opportunity for Year 7 boys to be trialled into their official GPS teams. Parents of the boys in the GPS Debating programme in Year 7 are warmly invited to view their son’s trial debate. The details for this have been included in the draw for this week, available on myChurchie.

Have a great week, and remember to always respect your opponent by fully engaging with what they say!

Rebecca Hewitt
Director of Debating

Cricket

Saturday’s round of GPS Cricket against Terrace saw Churchie come up against a traditional cricket powerhouse. It was a day of hard-fought matches and some incredibly thrilling results.

Overall Terrace enjoyed the better of the day, especially amongst the Prep School and Years 7 to 12 B to D teams. However, a number of the A teams and Open teams produced some wonderful cricket, with seven teams remaining unbeaten so far in the season. This includes 7A, 9A, 10A, 11A and all Open teams. Congratulations to the players who produced some outstanding individual performances:

• Connor Rudman 75 (First XI)
• Angus Storen 4/23 (First XI)
• Morgan Taylor 4/5 (Third XI)
• Sean Hansen 63* (11A)
• Will Souter 89 (10A)
• Lachlan Moore 57* (10A)
• Angus Peters 106* (9A)
• Teddy Chandler 46 (8B)
• James Turley 80 (7A)
• Angus Burns 66 (7C)

A special mention to 9A Captain Angus Peters, who scored the first hundred for the GPS season by a Churchie cricketer. His 106* guided his team to a target of 175 with nine overs to spare. Congratulations Angus.

The Firsts’ game was truly a remarkable game of cricket. After 100 overs of constant swings and changes in momentum, the two teams could not be split, with the match finishing as an incredible tie!

Churchie batted first and struggled early to adjust to the tricky batting conditions on a slow outfield. Opener Connor Rudman showed determination and resilience to score an outstanding 75, while a handy contribution of 30* from Henry Hillier saw Churchie post a competitive 8/151.

Terrace’s run chase started well, taking advantage of some wayward Churchie bowling to race to 1/57 after 13 overs. From there, an outstanding bowling spell from Angus Storen (4/23), with ample support from the Churchie spinners saw Terrace reduced to 9/112. However, their final wicket partnership dug deep and took the match all the way to the final over and ultimately the final delivery, where a final ball runout saw the match end in a tie.

This weekend sees Churchie take on Nudgee College, which is always a highly anticipated clash on the cricket calendar.

James Patmore
Director of Cricket

Rowing

It was a wonderful second regatta for Churchie Rowing. Early in the week, each crew identified their priority improvements to make from regatta one and, as a shed, we delivered our best result so far and set the expectations for Head of the River.

We had 16 podium finishes in Round 1 of racing, backed up by 14 podiums in Round 2, with a total of 10 winning crews across the days of racing. At the beginning of the season, we set ourselves a goal of 10 podiums at Head of the River and overall we are tracking well.

Standout performances were the Open Second VIII. They had a fantastic row in their first fixture, with stroke seat Tom Taylor taking them 9 seconds quicker than last week and backing that up with victory in the second race of the day. The Open Third VIII won their first race in a great time, which also would have got them the win in the second race if not for some injuries that ruled them out.

The Year 10 Thirds continued their great start to the season, the Parker brothers led this boat to convincing victories in both races on the day in impressive times. The biggest improvers are the Year 10 Fifths. his crew is finding its rhythm and took out both victories to cap off a great week of training for the boys.

A highlight was seeing our Year 9 Fifths through to Twelfths, set the tone of improvement early for the whole boat shed, making up most of our podium finishes. This shows the depth we have coming through into the next few years and a strong foundation for future performances.

Tyson Sholl
Director of Rowing

Trent Goodrick
Head of Cocurricular