Sport

On Saturday, our teams persevered through high temperatures and strong competition for our first GPS round of the year against Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) at home. BGS presented robust opponents, but our cricketers, volleyballers and debaters duly rose to the challenge. We look forward to another healthy GPS competition this Saturday, against Gregory Terrace with away games in round two.

I invite you to view the round one results on the myChurchie GPS Sports and Activities page.

Rowing

Churchie Rowing had a fantastic first GPS regatta hosted by St Joseph’s Nudgee College. 

Podium results across all age groups were capped off by second in the Open First VIII and first in the Year 10 Eighth and Year 9 Tenth quads. 

The depth of our programme was evident from the start. With 13 Year 9 quads, the most of any school, we’re laying the foundation for a strong boat shed in the years ahead.

The Year 10 cohort provided the bulk of our strong finishes, which is a testament to their hard work at recent camps. A standout race was Year 10 Thirds’ strong finish to almost snatch first place against a fading TSS crew. With another 100 m, they would have taken first place!

Our crews are already back training on the river and building on their success or working on delivering an improved result this week as BGS hosts Regatta 2. Hopefully, the weather is kind to us and we can get through a full programme of racing out at the dam!

Tyson Sholl
Director of Rowing

Cricket

Saturday saw the commencement of the 2024 GPS Cricket Season, with Churchie taking on Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) across all matches on the weekend.

In incredibly hot conditions, the boys of the blue and grey performed extremely well against the elements to enjoy the better part of the day, winning 17 of the 28 matches that were played. Most impressively, Churchie won seven of the eight A team fixtures, with only a narrow defeat by the 8As preventing a clean sweep of wins at the A level. The standout result was 9A’s impressive 109-run win, after posting an imposing 6/228 with the bat. It was an outstanding start to the season by our A teams.

For the First XI’s season opener on Main Oval,  the ground staff had done a remarkable job given the recent wet weather. Winning the toss and electing to bat (the first time since 2021 that a Churchie First XI had batted first), the team fought well against tight BGS bowling and a very slow outfield to post a competitive 8/162. The innings were led by 45 from Tighe Morris, while debutant Daniel Desmet (31) and Captain Jayden Draper (28) made key contributions.

With the ball, Churchie started well, taking four wickets in the first 10 overs to leave BGS reeling at 4/22. A strong 44-run fifth-wicket partnership saw BGS fight their way back into the contest. However, Churchie took the last six wickets for just 19 runs, dismissing BGS for 85 and securing a bonus point win. Henry Hillier (3/11) led the attack with three wickets, while debutants Rupert Bignall (2/10) and Samuel Drinnen (2/12) both impressed with the ball.

There were a number of exceptional individual performances from across the weekend, with boys overcoming the heat to excel on the field. These included:

• Tighe Morris (First XI): 45 
• Henry Hillier (First XI: 3/11 
• Sam Wilkins (Second XI): 4/19 
• William Whitehead (Third XI): 59 
• Sean Hansen (11A): 50 
• Banjo Jenkins (9A): 64 
• Angus Peters (9A): 49 
• Hugh Taylor (8B) 37 & 3/6 
• James Turley (7A): 50 
• Lachlan Field (6A): 12* & 3/4

This weekend sees Churchie take on St Joseph’s Gregory Terrace, which is always a tough opposition on the cricket field. Good luck to all teams for their Round 2 matches.

James Patmore
Director of Cricket

Volleyball

This Saturday was an incredible start to the GPS Volleyball season. The heat was intense and the BGS opposition were, as always, tough opponents.  Across all age groups and venues, the games were incredibly close. However, Churchie emerged as the overall winner of the day.

The Years 5 and 6 teams, had a very successful weekend, with four wins from four matches. After training hard in the preseason with enthusiasm and dedication, it was wonderful to see the boys put into play their newly learned skills, court positions and aimed serving.

The Years 7 and 8 teams were particularly impressive, winning almost every game. Only 7B and 8A were overcome by the highly skilled BGS teams. The Year 8 boys dominated the away venue, with almost all teams securing 2 nil wins. Year 8A put in a great effort, but narrowly missed out on victory.

Year 9 had a strong start, convincingly winning their games with a 2 nil score. In a close match, 9A secured a win in the first game of the day. The scores were 25 to 27 in favour of BGS, 26 to 24 in favour of ACGS, and the third set ended with 15 to 11 in favour of Churchie!

The Year 10 teams had a challenging day, losing out in very close games. The 10D team, immaculately coached by Joshua Sneesby, emerged victorious with a 3 nil win. The 10A team fought hard against a skilled and well-coached BGS team but narrowly lost in the final set. The scores were 16 to  25 in favour of BGS, a second set 25 to 21 in a fight back from Churchie, and the final set ended with a score of 13 to  15 in favour of BGS.

Unfortunately, the 11A team and the Second VI were also unlucky in their age groups, losing their matches. On a positive note, the First VI team triumphed in three sets.

Overall, it was a thrilling start to the GPS season, with impressive performances from all the teams. Thank you to all parents, volunteers and, of course, the BOC army for outstanding crowd support support on one of the hottest days of the year.

Carrie Mill
Director of Volleyball

Debating

Churchie Debating’s start to the year was nothing short of intense. With a GPS competition that started Thursday (due to the Australia Day public holiday) and 28 teams between the GPS and QDU competitions, we hit the ground running. Being a new director, this further added to the intensity, but I was wonderfully supported and welcomed by previous director Grant Smith, the cocurricular team and our terrific Debating Support Group.

Thursday night’s round one against a traditionally strong Brisbane Grammar School was a tremendously positive night of debating. With nine wins earned out of 13 possible debates, I couldn’t have been prouder of the sportsmanship, conduct and grit demonstrated by all boys in every team. Congratulations to 8.1, 8.3, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 10.1, 10.2, 11.1 and 12.1 on strong wins. While our Senior As were only pipped by a very tight split panel decision of 2 to 1 in favour of Brisbane Grammar School, our responsiveness and polish were showcased to a very engaged audience.  I thank our spectators and families for giving our students an audience for the first home round of the season.

Training confirmation

Thanks to all the boys who have checked their training schedule in myChurchie, and my thanks to all of you for your proactivity in confirming with me about potential clashes with other GPS training or school activity rehearsals.

To clarify any concerns families may have, GPS competition nights take precedence over training for other sports, and boys should talk to their coaches of their other sports to let them know. This was tricky this past Thursday and will be, again, in round six where we debate on Thursday 29 February due to GPS Swimming Championships on Friday 1 March.

As debating is allotted one weekly training session (with other sports allocated multiple), boys need to ensure that they are attending the training for debating every week. In circumstances where our coaches cannot attend the allotted training day, I have been having conversations to negotiate occasional time swaps, but I do remind boys that if you signed up to debate in 2024, you need to maintain this commitment and adhere to the training schedule as set. This may also result in boys in families reflecting upon their 2025 commitments.

I look forward to meeting you all in the weeks and months of competitions to come.

Rebecca Hewitt
Director of Debating

Swimming

The Australia Day public holidays created an opportunity for boys to rest and prepare for our first pre-meet this Friday.

This week our programme will host both The Southport School and Brisbane State High School for our invitational meet at the Barry McCart Aquatic Centre. We are encouraging all boys to register for the meet to obtain electronic timing in the pursuit of improving their race times. The Swimming Support Group will offer a sausage sizzle and cold drinks from the barbeque area. Pre-meet registrations close on Thursday 1 February at 3 pm. Click here to register. The Captain of Swimming’s gnome weekly award will also be up for grabs.

This is the last chance for GPS Swimming families to pay for the Monday Breakfast Service offered by our Swimming Support Group. Parents, please note the last Swimming Support Group Meeting for the season will be held on Monday 12 February in Brenan Pavilion.

Swimming Lytton and Met East Trial information, forms and nomination process have been released on myChurchie – Swimming under Season Information.

Please note the closing time frames below:

• Lytton District Nominations (10 to 12 years and under)
  Please ensure to complete the form no later than Tuesday 6 February at 4 pm.
• Metropolitan East Trial Nominations (13 to 19 years and under)
  Please ensure to complete the form no later than Friday 9 February at 4 pm.

Jaye Finocchiaro
Director of Swimming

Football

2023 Football Tour of England Summary

On 1 December 2023, 39 Churchie students and five staff members travelled over to England for a once-in-a-lifetime, two-week footballing adventure. In an action-packed fortnight, the boys had the chance to train at world-class academies (Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham and more). They also played friendly games against local schools – Manchester City Grammar and Aldenham School and English Premier League Academies – Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United.

The tour included stadium tours of some of the most iconic football venues in the world (Old Trafford, Anfield and Stamford Bridge). While in London the boys took the opportunity to visit some historical landmarks, such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.

Perhaps the biggest highlight was watching their heroes live. They got the chance to see world-class players up close; this included the Tottenham versus West Ham London Derby and a mouthwatering Everton versus Chelsea game in the North of England.

The next European football tour will occur in 2025. Look out for information to be released in the middle of this year.

Alex Rados
Director of Football

Trent Goodrick
Head of Cocurricular