PSA Sport Sport
2005 has been another successful year for Trinity with the College consolidating its position as one of the stronger sporting schools in the PSA. It would be erroneous to judge how well the College has performed as a whole by counting how much silverware has been Mr Stephen Leahy accrued over the past twelve Director of Sport months as this simply reflects how well our premier teams have won but does not measure performance across all our teams. At Trinity we aim to provide all students with a quality sporting experience. Our sport programme aims to be as inclusive as possible and provide as many students as we can with the opportunity to represent the College each week. If mass participation is a key feature of a strong programme, then we have achieved success. In the Summer, we field 45 teams every week in addition to having another 100 or so students involved in the rowing programme and another 80 in the swimming pool. In Winter, 40 teams represent the school each week and this level of participation has resulted in the vast majority of our students being actively involved in the programme which is a great sign. Another feature of a quality sport programme is that it provides suitable competition for all students at all levels. The PSA competition caters for a diverse range of abilities and provides opportunities to those with ambitions to make a career in sport, also providing for those who prefer their involvement to be perhaps more social. The quality of the facilities the boys have access to for the most part is second to none. The new swimming pool, the re-surfacing of the playing surface at Waterford along with a top quality gymnasium is testament to the College’s commitment to provide the best facilities possible for the students.
Summary for 2005
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The year commenced with strong performances by our Summer sporting teams, highlighted by the 1st X1 Cricket Team winning the Darlot Cup for the first time since 1985 and the swimming team who finished in 4th position which was their best result since 1999. The 1st V Basketball Team finished a narrow second to Aquinas and have the potential to go one better in 2006. The rowers performed to the best of their ability and displayed some excellent performance at the Head of the River, while the tennis players continued their improvement of recent times to give the more established tennis schools a bit of a fright in their encounters. With many senior students leaving at the end of 2004, the Volleyball Team battled against bigger and more experienced opposition but stuck manfully to the task each week.
The Winter Sport teams performed very well with the 1st XV111 winning the Alcock Cup for the third consecutive year, which is a magnificent achievement given the quality of the competition in which they play. The future looks strong in football with the “A” and “B” teams in Years 8 – 10 recording 60 wins from 60 games. The Ist X1 Hockey had their best season for many years and going into the last round, were still a chance to win their competition if all results went their way. The 1st X1 Soccer finished third but did manage to defeat eventual winners Hale in what was a great game, their second round encounter. The 1st XV had an inconsistent season playing great rugby at times but could not produce this form week in week out. The highlight of their season was a fighting win in the final game which coincided with the end of an era as Mr Ken Sass stepped down from his position as 1st XV coach after a career which spanned 16 years and 9 premierships. The cross country season was a great contest, primarily between Trinity and Aquinas with the latter emerging with the title after some epic races particularly in the last four “all schools” events The number of students playing badminton continues to increase but we struggle at the moment to extend, due to the fact that some of the other schools have more experienced players. The Athletics Team as outlined elsewhere in this Annual produced an outstanding performance to win this years’ Alcock Shield. Our performances in Term Four indicate that we will once again be competitive in 2006. We were able to win the Newson Cup which reflects the combined performances of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd XI Cricket Teams and enjoyed similar success in basketball’s Blackwood Cup. All our other sports have performed well this term and we look forward with anticipation to next year. I would like to thank several groups of people who have contributed strongly to the sport programme at Trinity this year; The Trinity Staff who give up so much time to coach the students each week; The Parent Body without whom we would really struggle to meet the many and varied demands of the sport programme; The Grounds staff who work tirelessly to provide quality facilities for the students; The College Administration for their support of the coaches and the students and finally the Trinity students who represent their College with pride and such enthusiasm each week. Stephen Leahy Director of Sport
