Sport

This weekend saw two key milestones in our GPS sports and activities calendar. A sea of blue and grey supporters turned out in force for the GPS Head of the River rowing championship at Wyaralong Dam on Saturday.  And, our 2023 ‘programme of the year’ Churchie Volleyball secured a back-to-back GPS premiership. Congratulations to all boys and to Director of Volleyball Carrie Mill for her tremendous hard work and dedication to Churchie Volleyball, assisted by the Volleyball Support Group.

Please see the weekend’s results summary via myChurchie – GPS Sports and Activities.

Rowing

The 2024 GPS Rowing season ended on a blustery Lake Wyaralong on Saturday. Tough and ever-changing conditions provided fast times, fuelled by a strong cross-tail wind and athletes hitting the peak of their season when it mattered.

Churchie started well with a clean sweep of the podium in the Year 9 Div 10 race and our first victory of the day going to the Year 9 Elevenths (Worthington, Medelis, Lewis, King and cox Carpenter). The Year 9 programme continued their day with a further three podium finishes, making up nearly half of our total podiums for the day with six in total. This was capped off by our 2024 quad crew of the year, the Year 9 Sixths (Pollock, Waller, Ward, York and Wang) taking the win in their final race of the season.

The point-scoring campaign started well with back-to-back second places for the Year 10 Sixths and Fifths. Division 4 provided our first win in Year 10 with the crew of (Bennett, Searle, Brittain, Easton and cox Morris) narrowly beating a fast-finishing crew from Gregory Terrace. Winning ways continued in the form of our overall crew of the year for 2024, the Year 10 Thirds (Scott, Townson, Deluca-Smith, Parker and cox Parker), capping off an undefeated season with a two-second win over TSS.

The strength of our junior and Year 10 programmes bodes for well the seasons to come. Twelve of our 14 podiums came from these teams and solidified third place on points for quads with only two points separating the top three schools.

The Year 11 Division 1 crew (Brown, Hopkins, Booth, O’Connor, Barrett, Rissman, Roberts, Louw and cox Williams), coached by Jack Barwick, put together another fantastic row in a highly competitive field to finish with a time good enough for second place in the Open Division 3. Congratulations to the hard work of those involved in fielding full Year 11 Division 2 and 3 boats. This was a great experience for the boys and we look forward to their progress next year.

Our Open Third VIII (Patterson, Hughes, Yunker, Souris, Butler, Tammela, Williams, Hood and Evans) did us proud in their last race, overcoming late-season crew changes to finish a close third behind Terrace and TSS. It was a result worthy of the effort put in over four years. The only win of our Open programme went to the Open Fourth VIII in a narrow victory over GT. Our VIII crew of the year for 2024 is the Open Second VIII (McDonald, Edmonds, Webster, McPhee, Marcovich, Allen, Parkes, Taylor and cox Earnshaw), who stormed home to claim the bronze (narrowly missing silver) in their best time of the season of 6:05.9.

The Open First VIII (Bitz, Parkes, Stinson, Parr, Parkes, Williams, McIntyre, Pini and cox Bliss) had a disappointing end to what was a largely successful season. Winning the Under 21 VIII at Queensland states was the highlight, along with several second places. An unfortunately timed mishap with 500 metres to go saw the boys cross the line in a position not reflective of the season but taken with grace, nonetheless. Five boys from this boat return next season to make amends, I’m sure.

The winning crews in order:

• Year 9 Div 11
• Year 9 Div 6
• Year 10 Div 4
• Year 10 Div 3
• Open Div 4.

Tyson Sholl
Director of Rowing

Cricket

Saturday’s round of GPS fixtures saw Churchie take on Ipswich Grammar School (IGS) in the annual Pink Stumps Round. Along with being Churchie Cricket’s main fundraising event, it was also a hugely important round on the field, with most games, especially in the A divisions, being match-ups between teams sitting in the top three positions on their respective ladders.

Overall, Churchie enjoyed the better of the head-to-head results, winning 12 of the 19 matches played against IGS. While IGS won more of the A division matches, where most of their teams sit in a top two ranking, Churchie’s B and C teams performed strongly. Highlight team performances included 9A locking in first place overall in their competition with a 45-run win, 9C bowling out IGS for 46 and 8B remarkably winning their match, defending just 62 runs.

The First XI contest saw second place Churchie take on third place IGS—a heavyweight contest between two standout teams.

The match was truly befitting the promised contest, with momentum swinging back and forth across the 100 overs of play, going down to the final over. IGS batted first and posted 9/207. The efforts of the Churchie bowlers and fielders were excellent in limiting IGS to that total, where, at times, they threatened to set a target of 230 plus. Henry Hiller (2/34), Rupert Bignall (2/43) and Angus Storen (2/48) all collected two wickets each.

In reply, an 83 run third wicket partnership between Daniel Desmet (51) and Tighe Morris (42) had Churchie well placed at 2/121 heading towards the second drinks break. However, a crucial over, which saw both batters dismissed, swung the game back in IGS favour. Despite the best efforts in the final overs from Sam Drinnen (27*), Alex Walduck (19) and Rupert Bignall (16), Churchie ultimately fell five runs short, finishing at 9/202. It was a wonderful game of cricket, with IGS just proving too strong.

Across the grounds, there were, once again, plenty of outstanding performances, led by Shoubhit Jain from the 8As, who hit an outstanding 104 in his team’s win. His century was the fifth scored by a Churchie batsman this season. Congratulations to:

• Daniel Desmet First XI 51
• Ben Donger Fourth XI 54
• Riley Wondergem 11A 87*
• Sean Hansen 11A 66*
• Liam Stieper 10A 68
• Kian Chapman 9A 4/15
• Bobby Winson 9C 64
• Shoubhit Jain 8A 104
• Isaiah Missen 8D 50
• Cooper Mullins 7C 42*

This weekend sees Churchie take on TSS, in the final round of matches for the 2024 season, with round nine being a bye for Churchie. This week is also the final week of training for all teams for the season. Best of luck to all teams in their final round of matches, where there are upwards of 20 teams fighting to secure a top three ladder finish, including many looking to secure first place. For the First XI, a win over season leaders TSS would see them lead the ladder going into the last round, forcing both IGS & TSS to have to win their final matches away from home to secure the premiership.

A reminder that ticket sales for the Churchie Cricket End of Season Dinner on Saturday 23 March at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre close on Monday 18 March. We look forward to seeing the Churchie Cricket community come together that evening to celebrate the 2024 season.

James Patmore
Director of Cricket

Volleyball

Round seven marked the official last round of GPS Volleyball for 2024. We hosted Ipswich Grammar seniors at home. The dominance that has been shown across all teams throughout the season continued with an almost clean sweep in both the junior and senior games.

Churchie Volleyball concluded the 2024 season as the top overall programme, earning 272 points. Our official win/loss percentage increased to 81.7% up from 78.7% in 2023. As a programme, we secured 16 official GPS premierships, including 13 undefeated teams and a back to back undefeated premiership for Mr Ben Wasley and the First VI.

2024 premierships include the Open Firsts, Thirds, Fourths (unofficial), 11B, 11C, 11D (unofficial), 10D, 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 8B, 8C, 8D, 8E (unofficial), 6A, 6B, 5A and 5B teams.

A special congratulations to 5A, coached by Nicole Baker and 5B, our newest team, coached by Vivienne Corness, for an incredible inaugural season, winning an undefeated premiership. Sam Box from the First VI has been mentoring our youngest team with Mrs Corness commenting ‘Sam’s insights, positivity, encouragement and tips for the boys have been invaluable.’ Thank you Sam for your dedication and support, undoubtedly the secret weapon to the Year 5 success story.

The Year 9 cohort also deserves a special mention for maintaining an undefeated record across all four teams. Nathan Spencer coached the A team but also worked closely with the other teams across his year level to ensure a whitewash of results in Year 9, contributing to four of our 13 undefeated premierships for the season. This adds to the fierce competition in the race for team of the year in 2024!

Expected premierships by schools are as follows:

• ACGS – 19 (16 official, 3 unofficial)
• NC – 7 (1 official, 6 unofficial)
• BGS – 5 (4 official, 1 unofficial)
• BSHS – 3 (3 official)
• BBC – 1 (1 official)

*To be recognised as an official GPS competition/premiership there needs to be at least 5 teams in the competition.

Congratulations on a remarkable season, and here’s to a future filled with even more victories, both big and small. I look forward to celebrating this amazing season with the community at our end of season awards night on 23 March.

Carrie Mill
Director of Volleyball

Debating

International Women’s Day was certainly a day that attracted much commentary throughout the School. As round seven of GPS Debating fell on 8 March, we reflected on the plight of women and also acknowledged the phenomenal efforts of the parents (and particularly the mothers in our community) for their work in preparing the catering and the smooth flow of our home rounds. These volunteers give their time so generously.  To all the parents, and especially mothers, who comprise our parent helpers and Debating Support Group, thank you so much. Our Captain Dario Lim reiterated these ideas in his speech to the boys:

‘As debaters, the struggles of women globally are very real and important issues we argue about, and we are in a unique position to understand and combat these issues where we can. You are going to make arguments about these issues, from the point of these women. As the captain of this community, I am proud to say each and every one of you are among the kindest and most well-informed people. But we go to a school where sexist ideas are far too prevalent. It’s conversations in locker rooms or the disproportionate disrespect that female teachers endure. I know this isn’t you guys, but every time you walk past those standards, you are letting them grow and spread. So call them out. Call out the sexist comments, or objectifying language. Because the standards you walk by are the standards you accept.’

Dario Lim

What followed was a high-quality afternoon of debate. Across our 17 debates, we took 14 wins, including every team from Years 8 to 12, who are currently all sitting in the top three of their respective divisions. Congratulations to our 9.2 and 11.1 teams for maintaining their unbeaten streak, and to the mighty Senior As, who took a convincing win against Ipswich Grammar School with a unanimous 3–0 panel win. While I am confident of a top three finish for them in a year of exceptionally strong competition, I also know that we couldn’t have better boys as role models to our younger speakers. I hope that the audience at their final debate against The Southport School gets to see some top talent in action.

The QDU competition is also well underway, with all our teams having completed their first round of competition. On Wednesday night, it was a highly entertaining debate between our 12.1s and a team of spirited first-timers from QASMT. The 12.1s and 8.1s took convincing wins and made new friends along the way. Likewise, it was a high level of competition from our Year 7s in their first ever debate at Villanova College. I was proud to see two out of these three teams walk away with a win.

This week is another packed week of competition. We conclude the official GPS competition this Friday with the round against TSS (keep an eye on myChurchie for transport details), and our Senior A and Year 10 debaters have a round of QDU Debating on Wednesday to keep their long-prep skills fresh. My hope is that we can finish strong.  I remind boys that debates aren’t won with academic skills or public speaking prowess, but with goodness: compassion, active listening, respect, empathy and support for each other.

Rebecca Hewitt
Director of Debating

Water Polo

There has been a large number of boys registered in Years 7 and 8 to play in Term 2, resulting in the need for a trial this term. The trial will be held on Thursday 21 March (week nine) from 7 to 8 am at the Churchie 25 m pool. The first part of the trial will require all boys will be required to complete a 200 m time trial followed by a 4 x 25 m sprint session (you may wear goggles for the swim sets).

Details regarding training, games and uniforms are available on the Churchie Water Polo myChurchie page.

Alan Greenbank
Director of Water Polo

Sporting Achievements

Congratulations to the following students who have achieved representative success in their sporting pursuits:

• Nick Mattiske, Flynn Swift and William Hansen on their selection for the Metropolitan East Open Water Polo team to contest the state championships in Brisbane in May.
• Nate Strachan competed at the South Coast Branch Surf Life Saving Championships and has qualified and been selected to represent BMD Northcliffe.
• Andrew Watene was selected in the boys 13 to 16 years Metropolitan East Basketball team to compete at Queensland State Championships in Cairns in May.
• Jake Miles-Wrency, Nash Harding and Connor Davidson were selected in the boys 17 to 19 years Composite District Basketball team competing at the Metropolitan East Trials this week.

Trent Goodrick
Head of Cocurricular