Sport

Round two began with a cracking day on Saturday with picturesque blue skies bringing out some brilliant competition for our first home round of tennis and football this season. Terrace pushed hard, but we were victorious overall in both programmes. Churchie supporters filled the stands in support of the First XI’s battle against the black and red. The inaugural Churchie vs Terrace Old Boys football game had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

After another exciting GPS round one last weekend, we invite everyone to see the weekend’s results summary via myChurchie – GPS Sports and Activities.

Tennis

Churchie took on Gregory Terrace (GT), a school with whom we’ve had many tight battles in the past. Twenty-seven GPS and two supplementary matches were played, and Churchie came out on top winning 16 matches to 13.

A clean sweep by our eight Prep teams made Churchie hard to beat at the end of the day’s fixtures. Our Year 10 boys won all three ties, and our Year 9 boys won four of the five battles with the only tight loss to our 9D team against GT’s Year 10 side in a supplementary match.

The First IV, unfortunately, lost their second round, two rubbers to six, with each of the doubles pairings winning their match against GT’s number two doubles pair. A couple of boys had chances in their singles matches, but didn’t close it out the way they would have liked.

The next round against Nudgee will see our senior grades travel to Boondall and our younger grades return to the David Turbayne Tennis Centre.

In preparation for the annual peregrination, Churchie Years 5 to 8 families will be travelling to Toowoomba for round four, so please start to make your arrangements. It is important we travel to Toowoomba, as they travel every second week and us once a year. The programme will organise a bus if necessary for our Year 7 and 8 boys, as Prep boys must be taken by parents. Please consider offering and arranging carpools for Year 7 and 8 boys to support their commitment to their team.

Ian Malpass
Director of Tennis

Football

We had a fantastic first home round of the GPS Football season on and off the field. A massive thank you to the Football Support Group, in particular Dr Anastasia Samios, for turning the canteen into a Greek taverna for the day. We hosted a very successful Old Boys game where Terrace ran out four to three winners, and we once again had 22 Year 5 and 6 boys walk out with the First XI and play games at half-time.

We won the overall round in a very convincing manner. The boys in the blue and grey recorded 19 wins, 4 draws and 12 losses (GT was the only programme we lost to last year).

The First XI made it two from two. After achieving 2–0 through a clinical Isaac Caruana goal and cooly converted penalty from skipper Luke O’Sullivan, a lapse from Churchie allowed GT to score. What followed was a tense last 15 minutes to keep Terrace at bay and secure a 2–1 win. The massive home crowd provided great support to help the boys at the critical moments.

Below are a few of the many examples of boys living by the Churchie Football values of integrity, discipline and determination in round two.

Integrity

Hamish Hadjipetrou (11D): No matter what scenarios were unfolding on the pitch, Hamish kept his composure and represented the team maturely and professionally, settings great examples for his Churchie peers and community.

Discipline

Theodore Patrick (7E) was great when leading the rest of the team in the warm-up, making sure everyone warmed up properly.

Determination

Ashton Papacostas (9A) played a full match as CB for the second week in a row. It is not his natural position, having played as an FB last year. Up against a team that beat them last season, with talented forwards, he fought very hard for the entire match and galvanized the team.

Prep School Man of the Matches

Archie Ellis (5A): Even though the scoreboard wasn’t in our favour, Archie’s relentless work rate up and down the pitch to help on defence and create attacking opportunities was a highlight for all to witness.

Sam White (6A): The Prep Football captain led from the front on the weekend, continually stopping attacking efforts from Terrace. Sam’s constant communication and direction allowed the members of his team to have numerous opportunities on goal.

On Saturday, we will play our fiercest rivals, Nudgee College. Let’s turn up in big numbers and show the great blue and grey spirit. For the First XI boys, this will be the toughest test yet. Another big away crowd could be the one percenter that the boys will need to take the three points back home.

Alex Rados
Director of Football

Water polo

All six Churchie teams completed the second round of competition last Friday against BBC. The Year 7 team began the afternoon with a very convincing 13–2 win but the Year 8s, winners last week, were brought back to earth and experienced a 4–8 defeat. The Year 9s were able to use superior teamwork to dominate BBC and record a comfortable 12–6 victory. The Year 10 boys were kept on the backfoot right from the outset and lost 2–14. The Open Seconds began well and were even with their opponents up to halftime, but BBC were able to pull away in the last two quarters to defeat Churchie 4–10. The Firsts looked like they would struggle and found themselves trailing by four goals before clawing their way back to just a single-goal deficit. The final score was 7–9 against BBC.

This Friday all teams have a bye, but training will continue as usual with the exception of the Open Seconds whose season is now over.

Alan Greenbank
Director of Water Polo

Strength and conditioning

Just a reminder of the great opportunity offered by Churchie Strength and Conditioning and Integrative Physio Centre (IPC).

The primary aim of these sessions is to provide additional support to our student athletes through comprehensive physiotherapy assessments. This includes initial assessments, injury assessments, injury observations, referrals, modifications to the Churchie Strength and Conditioning program (conducted by our expert staff), and adjusted field/court training. The process follows a systematic approach to facilitate a safe return to training and play, with the option for further in-depth assessments during off and on-site clinic times.

This collaborative effort is designed to elevate the standard of care provided by the Churchie Sports department. Our goal is to offer prompt, direct, and specific assessments, recommendations, and rehabilitation exercises, ensuring our student athletes can remain actively engaged in their desired sporting pursuits.

Key details about the Churchie GPS Sport Triage Screening:

Who: Open to Senior School GPS Sports students
Where: Medical room of the Sir John Pigeon Sports Centre (SJPSC) foyer
When: Monday mornings from 6.30 am to 8 am, starting from term 2
Arrival: Students seeking assessment must be in the SJPSC by 7.00 am to ensure sufficient time for screening
Supervision: Churchie S&C Staff and Physiotherapists from IPC

We are pleased to announce that the Monday morning assessment is free of charge to the community. However, follow-up appointments will need to be covered by private health insurance, with charges at a reduced rate compared to private clinic fees.

For those interested in learning more about the program, please feel free to reach out to Jarrad Boswell, Director of Athletic Development, at Jarrad.boswell@churchie.com.au.

To explore further information about IPC, visit their website.

We are enthusiastic about the positive impact this service will have on the well-being and performance of our student athletes.

Jarrad Boswell
Director of Athletic Development

Sporting achievements

Congratulations to Alister Hillier who achieved representative success in his sporting pursuits by competing for Queensland in the under 17 steeplechase at the Australian Track and Field Championships in Adelaide from 11 to 19 April.

Trent Goodrick
Head of Cocurricular