St Joseph's Nudgee College

January 29, 2010

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The track and field team with their medals and the Silver Plate in Melbourne

The Japan Tour group at the Ninja Temple

The recent school holidays saw St Joseph's Nudgee College students and staff involved with organised College tours, Cricket Week and two students accepted into the Australian Ballet School.

Heading the list of tours were members of the College’s track and field team who travelled to Melbourne in December to compete in the National Schools Track and Field Knockout Competition.

The Knockout format sees a set program of three field events and four track events in which teams must have two competitors, with no one competitor doing more than two individual events, and a relay.

Ms Maureen Toohey, who accompanied the team to Melbourne, said the 10-man Senior team was "flexible and strong across the day”.

“Nudgee College won the Plate Division in fine style and proudly collected Australia Athletics Medals and a Silver Plate. All the boys are to be commended on their sportsmanship and behaviour throughout the tour,” she said.

Also travelling to Melbourne in December were eight 2009 Year 11 students who competed in the Australian Schools Volleyball Cup. Tour organiser Ms Louise Nardi said the boys "played some fantastic games in a good competition" to finish 11th out of 25 teams.

At the conclusion of the Cup, Tom Pratt and Jacob Guymer travelled to Bendigo after being two of 60 invited to trial for the Australian Youth team. Jacob has since been selected in the Australian Youth team squad. 

Travelling slightly closer to home was a team comprising a number of Nudgee College 1st V players and a few junior players who competed in the Australian Schools Basketball Championships in Newcastle.

“The boys competed in the Open 3rd division, playing against many much older players from all across Australia,” Coach Mr Richard Stokes said.

“The team had good results during the round games and played the final against Unley High School from Adelaide, a team we had beaten by nine in the first game of the competition. Unfortunately, the team started slowly and struggled to catch the lead we had given them. Whilst the game got within four in the last two minutes we never hit the front, and ended up with the Silver Medal,” he said.

The final tour to take place in December was a trip by a total of fifteen current students, Old Boys, staff and extended family members to Japan.

During the 10-day tour, participants visited Tokyo, Kanazawa, Osaka, Kyoto, and Hiroshima.

The group experienced a wide range of Japanese activities including visits to the Ninja Temple and traditional Japanese gardens and temples. The group also spent time making their own gold leaf artwork, saw geishas and spent a day visiting the College’s sister school in Nagoya.

In January, Nudgee College played host to the 34th Christian Brothers' Cricket Week carnival. Twenty-six teams from Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand took part in the carnival which aims to play within the sound traditions of cricket including sportsmanship, fair play, enjoyment and camaraderie both on and off the field.

Nudgee College entered three teams in the competition: one in the Shield Division, one in the Cup Division and one in the Plate Division.

The carnival was a success for the College winning the Shield Division final against St. Laurence's College and finishing third in the Cup and Plate Divisions.

Year 11 student Patrick Cameron scored the most runs in the carnival (406) and, along with Year 12 students Matt Dolan and Mitch Swepson, made the Australasian Merit team. Matt was named as Captain of the team.

For brothers Yhale and Liam Fien, their holiday activities involved packing their things in preparation for a move to Melbourne. Both boys have been accepted into the Australian Ballet School after a series of auditions in 2009.

Yhale and Liam will be able to discuss their Nudgee College experiences with fellow past student Nathan Mennis who is also at the Australian Ballet School after being accepted for 2009.

Also achieving remarkable results during the holidays were several Nudgee College swimmers who competed at the Queensland State Championships at Chandler.

Year 12 student Buster Sykes did extremely well winning three gold, four silver and two bronze medals. Buster broke two National Age and six Queensland records along the way including beating Olympic silver medallist and Nudgee College Old Boy Brenton Rickard to take second in the 200m breaststroke.

“The Nudgee College boys swam many impressive Personal Best times and along the way managed to get onto the winners podium,” Head Coach Mr Matt Brown said.

“The final medal haul was 16 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze at the Queensland State Championships. Well done boys.”

Director of Activities Mr Peter Todd congratulated the successful students and thanked all those who "contributed their time to make the tours possible".

“Nudgee College is a place that virtually runs 365 days a year,” he said.

“With an Activities program as diverse as Nudgee College’s, there is always something going on. The success of the various tours and activities can only happen as a result of the time generously provided by staff and parents. I thank all those involved in the holiday programs for contributing their time to make the tours possible and for providing these opportunities for the students.”