Barker On Tour

The year was 1937 as a group of Barker students gathered at the train station in their uniforms and boaters to travel to Brisbane for three Rugby Union matches.

This appears to have been the very first organised Barker sports tour. Since that time, Barker’s students have enjoyed countless sporting tour opportunities to destinations from as nearby as Canberra, to as far afield as Sri Lanka and the Bahamas.

After a three-year hiatus, the Sports Department are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity to students once again this year. During the Easter holiday break, Rugby and Football players travelled to New Zealand, Canberra and the Gold Coast respectively, for a series of matches, training and team building, in the lead up to the Winter sports season. Sport tours, such as these, provide our students with the opportunity to engage in high-level competition against other schools and teams, that they would not normally encounter in a traditional sports season. Spending a concentrated period of time together - both on and off the field - fosters a competitive spirit, as well as providing a sense of pride in representing Barker on a larger stage. We believe that these tours help in the development of teamwork, communication, and leadership skills that are invaluable both on and off the playing field.

Now that we’re able to tour again, we are particularly mindful of the costs involved in these tours. As we are all well aware, airfares and travel costs have increased significantly in recent years and the School continues to actively look for both domestic and international tour opportunities that offer the full experience for all students, but without being so cost prohibitive.

Reflecting on their recent Football tour experience to the Gold Coast, Bodie Denton and Vic Calusic shared the following with me:

“The Gold Coast Football tour was definitely one of the highlights of my Barker schooling experience. Even though the results didn’t go our way, the ability for all the boys to learn from it and to experience new activities together, such as going to the beach or roaming Movie World, it certainly brought the team closer together and has helped us start the season off well. The trip was also aided by the incredibly fun and enjoyable coaching staff that attended with us.”

Bodie Denton

“The trip brought significant development to the team, both within the friendships formed and the quality of our football. The girls team came away with two wins and one draw, and experienced greater exposure to highly competitive teams to prepare us for the upcoming ISA season. The opportunity to become closer with the team on our trip to Movie World was definitely a highlight of the trip, for both the players and the coaches.” Vik

Calusic

The Rugby tour to New Zealand was a highly anticipated tour for our Rugby squad. Josh Crowther (Year 12) said the boys in the team were incredibly appreciative of this once in a lifetime opportunity and could not wait to take all that they had learnt into this year’s Rugby season.

“Jaws dropped when we arrived at the NZCIS (NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport)! The facilities were unbelievable. The fields looked like carpet and the gym and recovery rooms were top notch,” Josh said.

“We were fortunate to have such quality training from some of the best coaches in the world, with access to most of the brand new facilities. It was like heaven to many of the boys and the individual coaching sessions with some of the best Kiwi rugby players ever, was a highlight for everyone and is something I know we won’t forget.”

And in case you were wondering how the Barker team of 1937 performed – they came away with one win and two losses!

Cam Anderson Head of Sport