GCC Athletics Carnival: This year’s event was held at the SC University athletics track under dry but windy conditions. Students had a fantastic time and Sinai held the lead for the majority of the day. Incredibly, Zion staged a comeback and finished the day ahead of Sinai but just one solitary point. There are a number of events still to be completed many of which will be completed by the end of Week 8. The final event will be the Senior boys and girls high jump. This will be held on the northern sports field on Monday of Week 9 at the main break. Points will then be collated and the winning house announced.
The incredibly amazing Hawks entered the Grand Final of the Sunshine Coast Schools Netball Competition undefeated and it was obviously going to be a very nail-biting game against the Creekers. The girls played exceptionally hard, yet by half time they were down by 5 goals. In the final quarter, the girls gave it absolutely everything and fought back, just missing out by 2 goals, being defeated by Creekers 20-22! Congratulations to the Creekers for a fantastic game, and a massive congratulations to the GCC Hawks for their exceptional playing throughout the season and for being one of the most friendly and supportive netball teams.
Jade King
The Falcons played an incredible grand final game and were able to come away with a win. It was an extremely close game with the end score being 16-14 against the Sunshine Sharkettes. The MVP of the game was Adelie Tomokino as she rarely let a pass by and was an amazing defender for the team.
Ebony King
Holly Lubcke competes in South Africa
GCC is very proud of Holly Lubcke and her accomplishments to date within the sport of mountain biking. Holly is currently in South Africa for ten days competing in the UCI World Junior Cup round. This is an international mountain biking competition. The main focus of this trip is to gain international experience as well as to gain more UCI points before the World Championships in Canada this September. The more points she earns the further up the starting grid for the Worlds she will be. We are hopeful the trip to South Africa will net enough points for her to start no further back than the 3rd row. Then a trip to Mackay for another Junior UCI round at the end of June will also give her more valuable points.
Her first race this week is the XCC short course. The XCO race is this Sunday. She is happy with the course in South Africa and is in a really positive mood. She has been riding the track with the other Aussie boys over on the trip as well and their confidence has seemed to rub off.
Volleyball schools cup
Recently GCC had three teams playing in Toowoomba for the Qld Schools Volleyball Championships.
Our Year 10 girls, Year 9 girls and Year 9 boys’ teams did a fantastic job and we are really proud of their achievements this year.
Our Year 10 girls who were silver medalists back in 2017 in Division 2, had a pretty tough draw as they were put in the hardest pool. They came away with 3 wins and 3 losses for an overall placing of 5th in the competition.
Our Year 9 girls after a strong SCISSA and Trish Buckley season, were rewarded with their first appearance at the State Champs representing GCC and are definitely a team to watch for in the future. They achieved 5 wins and 1 loss on their way to the Division 2 grand final, but ultimately lost during the final to volleyball powerhouse Holland Park State High to come away with a well-deserved silver medal.
The Year 9 boys have had an incredible season of volleyball and were also rewarded with their first appearance for GCC at the State Champs. Their road to the final saw them win 6 games for only one loss. Where they would play the Gap State High School for a close three-set loss. The boys went down 15 to 13 in the last set after trailing 7-2, but earning themselves the silver medal in the process.
Jarred Pienaar
Trish Buckley Volleyball – Final results
GCC Volleyball teams have recently competed in the Trish Buckley Volleyball competition. After three tournament evenings, our GCC teams have put GCC into 4th place overall. This is a fantastic accomplishment. Congratulations to all players who have represented us in this regional level event.
We have been regularly attending this competition for five years now. In that short time, we have risen quite close to the top. Last year we managed to topple Mountain Creek State High to finish 3rd overall in the region for the Trish Buckley Shield. Unfortunately, we just lost out on the 3rd place by a margin of 4 points this year.
Special mentions to our Year 7 girls and boys and Year 8 boys teams who achieved our best finishes in their respective divisions with hard fought 3rd places. We still reign supreme out of all the independent schools on the coast, but we have some ways to go to topple Burnside and Caloundra.
SCISSA Volleyball
The Senior volleyball teams played off in the final round before finals this week. The Senior girls A and B teams, unfortunately, fell short losing both games to Nambour Christian College. The Senior Boys B team, however, continued their winning streak to account for Immanuel Lutheran in two sets, to ensure a place in the Grand Final. The game will be held on Wednesday of Week 9 at Nambour Christian College.
SCISSA Rugby 7s
The 15s boys and girls both played off in finals during Week 9. The boys playing off in a Grand Final and finished runners up to St Andrews 14-17. The girls absolutely smashed the opposition, to finish in 3rd place overall. The strong form these girls exhibited in the second half of this term would have seriously troubled the top two teams had they had the opportunity. Other round results in recent weeks are as follows.
Under 19 state school boys’ competition
Recently Aiden McKellar and Patrick Mckenzie competed at the state school boys competition that was held in Toowoomba. By the end of Day 2 of this competition, the Sunny Coast boys had only dropped one game and were playing well as a team. On the 3rd day, however, we lost two games and lost the opportunity to play for Bronze. Missing out by just 9 points after a sets/points count back.
The team ultimately played off for 5th/6th and came away with a straight set win over NQ to finish in 5th place.
Both Aiden and Pat played really well in the Middle and Pass/Hit positions respectively and again learnt so much from coach Cam Bettenay. A really great weekend.
Bill Turner Cup – Soccer
The prestigious Bill Turner Cup and Trophy was held recently at Kawana Soccer Club. This tournament is conducted statewide both in QLD and NSW with teams vying to make it to the finals tournament in Term 3. This is a very similar format to the FFA cup whereby if you can get past the Regional playoffs, it is a knockout format.
All schools are eligible to enter, so often the Schools of Excellence in Soccer (from both QLD and NSW) are also competing.
The boys were beaten in all three games, but at least had the acknowledgment that they were the only school to score against eventual winners Chancellor State College (a soccer school of excellence).
The girls finished third. Our best result ever and they were only beaten by eventual winners Chancellor College 3-0. Chancellor played Kawana Waters College in the Grand Final – the only other Soccer School of Excellence on the Sunshine Coast. This is a very significant achievement by our team and should not be understated. Well done Girls!
Russell Modlin
Sunshine Coast Secondary schools basketball
This competition will commence on Friday nights in Term 3. At the moment we have seven teams nominated to compete. If you have not registered to play, contact Mr Modlin in the PE department via email. Training for boys will commence on Monday 17 June, 3-4 pm. Training for the girls will commence on Thursday 20 June.
Term 3 – SCISSA Touch Football
The SCISSA touch football season will commence Week 1, Term 3. Teams have been finalised and have started training this week. Sunshine Coast Touch coaches will be running some sessions before GCC coaches take over next term. This year we have seven teams entered into the competition from Year 7 to 12. We look forward to seeing how our teams compete in this competition.
The team lists are as follows:
Mountain bike training sessions run by Craig Quinn from Eleven Hills Adventures have been taking place from the Matthew Flinders rest area from 4 to 5 pm on Mondays. These sessions are offered for students preparing for the National All Schools Competition to be held in October this year. Above, I have included the details I have received so far for this event. In the coming weeks, students will be asked to nominate for these races and we will begin assembling the relay teams. Transport to the venue, attendance, and accommodation on the Gold Coast for this event will be the responsibility of the parents. Many of the students that attended last year made a weekend of it with their families, with some choosing to camp at the Canungra showgrounds. We had a number of students that skipped the first few days and just came for the last day to compete as part of a GCC relay team.
If you would like to represent our school at this event, please first discuss with your parents before nominating via the related email and nomination form sent out this week.
Senior boys basketball
GCC Vs Beerwah SHS
On Monday of Week 9, a team of senior GCC boys crossed the road at lunchtime for a friendly game of Volleyball. Our boys put in an impressive effort and exhibited some class and experience on court. GCC got away to a commanding lead in the first 10 minutes scoring 12 while keeping Beerwah scoreless. The Beerwah student centre was quite crowded with onlookers throughout the game and the crowd was understandably biased with their cheering. A three-pointer from Bakani Kombanie extended the lead in the 2nd half before the Beerwah team rallied and began to stage a comeback with three successful three-point shots. Their enthusiasm was still no match for GCC’s talented players and GCC ran away as winners; 29 points to Beerwah’s 14. Aiden McKellar and Sam Andrews were exceptional and they were well supported by fellow tall timbers Nash Davis, Dominic Ruhle, Christian Jensen and Ethan Robinson.
Upcoming event
The St Andrew’s 4th Annual Show Jumping Event is now confirmed for Saturday 10 August at Tewantin Noosa Pony Club. This is for both Primary and Secondary students and this event fills up very quickly. More details will be available before the end of this Term with the nomination form and event information.
Matthew Beattie, Head of PE and Sport