The last interschool sport for this year has just been completed with the Year 5 and 6 students competing in AFL against other local Glasshouse schools. The boys’ teams played nine 20 minute games over the two weeks and the girls played six games.
We entered three teams into this competition which wasn’t really a competition as no results were recorded. We could not help keep track of results though and our teams performed really well. They displayed some great skill and much determination using the whole field in attack and marking up closely in defence. Some great marks were made although we recognised that making more successful marks is the easy way to get the ball down the field.
Jared Moss, Bryce Sambrook, Michael Newell and Lainey Grieve all stood out with fantastic performances both in defence and attack.
The boys’ A team won every game except one against Maleny Primary School. This was a very close game and the lead changed several times. The boys enjoyed this game the most, with the score ending 15 – 10 to Maleny. This team scored a massive 324 points with only 28 points scored against them over the nine games. We would like to thank Mr Mitch Fraser for his expertise in coaching the boys during this competition. His experience and knowledge of the game were invaluable and the boys learned a lot from him.
The girls’ A team also dominated the opposition winning all but one game. Elimbah State School proved to be fantastic opposition, with them winning 26 – 8 in normal time. However, we played an extra 15 minutes at the end of the day and the combined score gave GCC girls the win 32 – 26! Sarah Wirth and Nicole Morris kicked some great goals with Lily Breen and Lainey Grieve making many strong tackles in the mid field.
The boys’ B team also had a great two days at AFL improving dramatically over the competition. Mr Jaeys coached this team and was very impressed with the boys’ ability to improve their field position, tactics and put into practise the coaching tips he gave them. Lachlan McGilvray, Josh Moore, Max Cashin and Ryan Trevisan were standouts in this team, some in defence and some in attack. The first week they scored 28 points and had 132 points scored against them but in the second week, the improvement was dramatic. They scored 25 points and the opposition only scored 32 points against them – a difference of only seven points! What a great effort by these boys.
The AFL games were played with great sportsmanship by all teams and officiated by the AFL development staff. They commented on the fantastic performance of many of our players and wanted to encourage them to try AFL as a sport next season.
This was the last Year 5/6 interschool sports experience for the Year 6 students so we will miss them and wish them all the best and encourage them to participate fully in Secondary interschool sport opportunities.
Wendy Stott
