From the Archives

TRINITY’S FIRST PSA ATHLETICS WIN – 50TH ANNIVERSARY

In the Trinity College 1972 Annual, the following was very proudly documented … ‘Five Year Plan (1968 – 1972) ends with Total Success’ –Trinity’s first win in the Public Schools Association Athletics. It is true to say every individual gave of their best and to those closely connected with the team this success was not a surprise.

This success began in 1968 when Trinity participated in its first Public Schools Association (PSA) competition, the Interschool Athletics Carnival. Trinity was welcomed on the day to the competition with the announcer expressing the hope “that the College would have the ability to carry the high tradition of sport that the association had established”. From the start, to the surprise of the other teams, Trinity athletes were outstanding with Geoff Meyer (‘69), hurdling at his best, winning the first track event of the day. This was followed with more Trinity success on the day and the College achieving second place overall. We had arrived on the scene!

The mastermind to Trinity’s success was Brother Patrick Cronin who had prepared the College’s entry into its first PSA competition with his ‘typical foresight’ and with a plan for greater success. This plan is recalled in a letter Brother Cronin wrote to Trinity many years later:

In 1968, when Trinity first competed in the Public Schools Association Athletics Carnival, we had a five-year plan to win in 1972, and we did! We started the distance team to run all the cross country seasons for the five years. That gave grounding to the meeting for the 3000m, 1500m and 800m, in which we became dominant. Aquinas had a similar strategy under Brother Basil Worner. Veteran Kieran Lane (‘72) was captain in 1972 and Tony Hilton (‘72) vice-captain. Kieran was awarded the Trinity Old Boys’ Trophy for most points won on the day. All athletes were magnificent in their striving for the first three places.

Winning the 1972 Athletics Competition was a cause of massive jubilation. We had a barbecue on the oval at Trinity. Second was Aquinas, and in true sportsmanship, their captain and vice-captain came to the barbecue and wished us the best. The 1972 athletics win was celebrated equally by the athletes and the dedicated coaching staff including the Brothers and outstanding Old Boy sportsmen. Victory was in our grasp and we clinched it!

Mrs Robyn Jennison Trinity College Archives

I am pleased to say 2022 has been a busy year, with the return to a full schedule of events and the addition of one new event that I hope becomes a regular feature of the TOBA calendar. There were some great highlights and a continuation of record attendances at popular events this year. We saw some fantastic competition, with the bonus of lot of fun, at the Winter and Summer Sports Days. Our Alumni were triumphant 4-1 with wins in soccer, rugby, hockey, and cross country, though the students won the football for the first time since 2012. Adrian Di Carlo (‘89) was the proud winner of the TC Spirit award. In the Summer Sports Day, the students proved that tennis is a young man’s sport, although, once again, the Old Boys triumphed overall 5-1, with Trent Langer (‘84) winning the TC Spirit award as well as being the oldest Alumni competitor. Thank you to everyone who arranged teams, umpired, cooked a snagger or just came along to have a laugh. The TOBA Sportsmen’s Lunch was held in May, as usual, on the site of the old CBC Terrace, now the Duxton Hotel. This event sold out in two days, with Mark Readings (‘87) as MC and auctioneer, with funds raised going towards our bursary scholarships. At the lunch we launched the TOBA sporting Hall of Fame with our first four inductees, John O’Connell (‘49) for football, Julian Pearce (‘56) for hockey, Shaun Murphy (‘87) for soccer and Simon Katich (‘92) for cricket. The gentlemen honoured were warmly received by those in attendance. The festivities concluded with comedian, Peter Rowsthorn, entertaining the Old Boys.

In September, TOBA launched our first R U OK? Day event at the College with a choice of a personal training session or a walk around the bridges offered to alumni and staff. This was followed by guest speaker, Marie Scott from Assure who gave us valuable insight into the ways we can support our colleagues, friends and families in terms of their mental health. We intend to expand this initiative by launching a support programme for Alumni and their families in 2023. We welcomed 142 new Old Boys into the TOBA family at the 2022 Graduation Breakfast. This year, Nic Martin (‘18) was our guest speaker. Nic is a current member of the Essendon Football Club, having been awarded a nomination for NAB Rising Star on his debut game against Geelong in Round One at the MCG, with 27 touches, ten marks and five goals. We always close out the social calendar with the annual sundowner where we thank all those involved with, or supportive, of TOBA. The event was well attended and a personal highlight is seeing the diversity in age amongst the Old Boys that have served on the committee or supported the Alumni spirit over the year.

TOBA continues to support the College as much as possible. The Association was able to contribute financially to the Building Fund campaign and continues to support many College associations and sporting teams as possible. As always, we continue to endeavour to support our Alumni professionally, socially and emotionally as much as we can.

At this time of the year, I publicly thank the TOBA Committee for their work throughout the past year. The 17 committee members have selflessly dedicated hours of their own time to the wide variety of events we sponsor and host. They cook hundreds of sausages, dress up as Father Christmas, attend assemblies and Masses as well as lots of other thankless tasks. We also offer a warm thank you to the College Principal, Mr Darren O’Neill and the Leadership Team for their ongoing and continued support of TOBA by granting access to the College facilities and having great patience with our passionate Alumni.

My final thanks for the year go to Ms Aleisha Dows and Ms Di Millar – the undeniable backbone of TOBA. Di is now in her 14th year with TOBA and continues to do an incredible job, always with a wealth of patience. We are fortunate to have Aleisha providing valuable support during major events or when Di takes her well-deserved annual leave throughout the year. On behalf of the Old Boys, I thank them both for their constant and continued hard work – as well as their strong belief in TOBA and the TC Spirit.

I’d like to take a moment to remember and honour the Old Boys in our community that have passed this year. The underlying energy and love that these men had for our school is what drives us. They were strong advocates, ambassadors and stalwarts who have each contributed to this incredible community and will remain in our hearts.

We are looking forward to running another full calendar of events in 2023, plus the usual milestone reunions.

And of course, we will continue our involvement with the current young men of Trinity so that we, as Old Boys, can Keep the Spirit Alive. I wish you and your loved ones a relaxing time over the summer holidays. Keep safe and we look forward to seeing you all in 2023.

Dion Smith (‘87) President Trinity-Terrace Old Boys’ Association