PSA Sport Sport
Trinity has enjoyed a particularly successful year in the PSA sporting competition in 2004. While it is simplistic to measure success by how many trophies or titles are won by our senior teams, it must be taken into account that success at a senior level is often the result of a structured and Mr Stephen Leahy planned programme that Sportsmaster started back in Year 8 and our results this year reflect positively on this planning process.
Year Summary This year the 1st V111 rowers won the Challenge Cup with a scintillating last 200m of the 2km race and the morning was capped off by the whole rowing community contributing to the winning of the Hamer Cup which recognises excellence across all crews. It is important to recognise and thank Mr Ray Kosovich and Mr George Xouris, who have both decided not to continue in their respective roles as Master-in-Charge of Rowing and Head Coach next season. Under their guidance, Trinity has emerged as the dominant rowing school as evidenced by the winning of the last three Hamer Cups. Congratulations to Mr Phil Jurjevich who has been appointed to the position of Director of Rowing. The First XV111 football team, having shared the Alcock Cup last year with Aquinas and Hale, were able to win the trophy outright this year with an outstanding effort which saw them remain undefeated over their ten games. Their win in the last game of the season, in what was effectively a grand final, was an absolute highlight. The senior cross country team also completed an undefeated season to win the PM Moyes Cup for the third consecutive year. Given the format of the cross country competition, several boys have been involved in all three victories. Our junior football and cross country teams also performed very well and for the first time ever, Trinity fielded two badminton teams in the winter season. The athletics team completed the year by winning the Alcock Shield for the first time since 1991. Having improved gradually over the last five years, the boys produced some outstanding performances on Inters day to record a twenty one point win over a strong Aquinas outfit. Making the win more significant was the fact that this was the 100th running of the athletics inters and matched the efforts of the rowers who had previously won the 100th Head of the River back in 1999. Mention should be made of Mr Rob Marshall who had been the Head Coach for many years but left to go to Chisholm before this year’s season – much of the credit for our result is attributable to his hard work. Our performances in the Hamer Cup and Alcock Shield were real “whole school” efforts. Given that all crews
and athletes from Year 8 through to Year 12 contributed to the final points tally, it was a wonderful experience for the one hundred or so boys involved in these occasions. While it is easy to write a report in a year as fruitful as the one just experienced, there are some basic essential elements which must be adhered to if we are to continue our successes into the future. What constitutes success in a schoolboy sporting programme? I believe that all boys at Trinity must be given the opportunity to participate at a level appropriate to their development which may be at a “first” team or it may be at a “third” team level. The boys playing in our B and C teams are all striving to be the best they can and this needs to be encouraged and recognised. The spirit of participation is strongly promoted at Trinity and in 2004 we fielded fifty seven teams in the summer season and forty one teams in winter. We also had swimming and athletics teams in Terms One and Three respectively. Next year there will be additional tennis and basketball teams in Year 10 meaning an additional twenty boys will have to opportunity to represent the school each week.
Improvement of Facilities The swimming pool has finally been completed after many delays and setbacks. New tennis courts are being built at Waterford to replace the old ones. This will be another top facility for the boys. If all goes to plan they will be ready for Term One, 2005. The configuration of the grounds at Waterford is also being changed to provide better surfaces for the boys to play on. The grounds will be divided into two main sections – one providing an appropriate grass surface for games where the ball is predominantly rolling such as hockey, cricket and another section of Waterford will cater for sports where the roll of the ball is less critical such as football, rugby and soccer. A new road is also being built to improve the traffic flow particularly on Saturday mornings.
Thank You In conclusion, it remains for me to recognise the efforts of the many people who enable our programme to function smoothly. Thank you to: the teaching and coaching staff for their efforts often in the face of heavy marking and teaching loads; the ground staff for ensuring all facilities are ready when required; the parents who fill multiple roles such as chauffeur, confidant, referee, timekeeper, caterer and many more; the College administration who support the programme and the boys who represent the College with pride and distinction each week. Steve Leahy Sportmaster
157
