A sports season of passion and pride

A sports season of passion and pride

Julius Kain

Vice-Captain of School (Operations)

Additional First teams reporting by Captain of Basketball Brodie Hayward, Captain of Cricket Rory King, Captain of Rowing Seb Salt, Captain of Swimming Matt Galjaardt, Co-Captains of Tennis Jurie Terblanche and Ben Walsh, Captain of Volleyball Nelson Hegge and Captain of Water Polo Jake Marshall.

The 2021/2022 Summer Sport season has been fantastic. Overall, the boys played with great passion and fought in very hot conditions against solid opposition in the Public Schools Association.

Playing Sport at Scotch in the summer season is always a treat; wearing your Scotch kit with pride and passion, working with your mates, and enjoying it at the same time. It’s always a pleasure for boys to be able to play on Scotch’s pristine sporting facilities, whether it’s the incredible Memorial Oval or the Scotch Gym. A big thanks goes to the grounds staff who work very hard to get the grounds ready for the fixtures every week. A massive thanks also goes out to all Summer Sport coaches and managers, and Mr Gault, Mr Bridle, Mr Mitchell and the Sport Department for their fantastic work organising teams every week.

Basketball

It was another strong year for Basketball at Scotch, yet again heralding several teams at every year level and being the most popular Summer Sport amongst students from Years 7 to 12. Our younger years, in particular, showed major promise, with the 9As and 8As on top of their respective competitions and the 7As coming second.

When the First Team came together at the beginning of preseason, there were a lot of fresh faces eager to earn one of the 10 positions. After lots of conditioning and practice, Head Coach CJ Jackson and Assistant Coach Alex Wood organised a practice match against Hale School and Willetton Senior High School. Both games were a great opportunity for new players to settle into the Scotch style of basketball before the season.

Marco Ghiselli (Year 12); photograph: Tom Campbell

The season commenced with a win against Guildford Grammar School, which had boys’ spirits high. Unfortunately, the rest of the term didn’t meet the standard we expected, and after losing the final game of the term to Trinity College, the team entered the summer holidays having lost some hope.

At the start of January, training commenced once again to prepare us for the second term of Basketball. Following some changes and with a new team identity, the boys were ready to turn the season around. Using newfound team chemistry, a well-fought win against Trinity gained the team some momentum which continued into wins against Wesley College and Guildford. Although the season finished with a loss to Aquinas College, it was a display of how the boys had come together as a team and worked with and for one another to create a fun and memorable season.

Cricket

This season, Cricket wielded some great culture. Numbers rose from previous years in the senior group, and we were able to have four full teams playing most weekends. Temperatures were high, sometimes hitting 40+ degrees, but this didn’t stop the great enjoyment and love for the game every boy playing had. We had great performances in younger teams, with the 9As going undefeated throughout the season, an incredible achievement.

Fletcher O’Connell (Year 12) bowling; photograph: Tom Campbell

The Firsts’ season set out to be a tough one: defending the Darlot Cup. The boys played an attacking brand of cricket throughout the season, putting the team into great positions to win games. The first half of the season didn’t go quite to plan, winning three out of the six games, losing two games we should have won, and the other in the last over. Term 1 saw some great cricket from the boys.

The bowling unit performed consistently, bowling sides out for low totals and some good batting to follow on occasion. We finished fifth on the ladder. However, this does not reflect the talent and ability of the cricketers in Scotch’s First XI. If a few games had gone our way, we would have been right in competition for the Darlot Cup once again. A huge thank you must go out to all the coaching staff for helping us throughout the season. Overall, it was a successful season, further establishing the platform for future years to succeed.

Rowing

Scotch rowers worked hard and performed well across the board this year, with boys not shying away from the early morning starts and intense training. Special mention goes to the Year 10s, who had encouraging results and the Year 8s, who won many races out of their regattas.

The Firsts’ season has presented many challenges for the club to overcome. Coming into it, rowing in a different shed with a whole new set of staff, the boys were sceptical about the season ahead.

Scotch rowers; photograph: Tom Campbell

After the first three regattas in Term 4, it was clear that the season was very much alive, and the club culture was strong. With Head of the River being moved forward, the boys adapted and prepared well. Although the day was not successful regarding results, it was clear that every boy who entered a race had poured their heart and soul into it, making us all proud. After the Head of the River, the three remaining regattas created a unique opportunity for next season’s crews to jump the gun and get some race experience together.

Scotch rowers; photograph: Tom Campbell

We couldn’t be happier with the way the shed came together in a time of change and challenge to welcome our new coaches and boys and make the most of the 2022 Scotch Rowing season.

Swimming

We had a massive challenge ahead to follow last year’s Swimming Team – one of the strongest swimming groups the school has ever seen. We’d lost a solid Year 12 group, thinking they were irreplaceable, but the Year 7s proved otherwise. The solid numbers and mixture of younger and older boys throughout the summer training sessions were good to see.

With the Inter-School date moved forward, most schools were rushed in their selection. However, we were ready. We thought the atmosphere would be dead with no cheer squads or chanting without the masks; however, all the boys got around it.

Ben Simpson (Year 12) competing in the Open B Medley Relay PSA Swimming; photograph: Tom Campbell

Having come in second place last year, we were eager to pip Christ Church Grammar School. However, they and Hale School proved too strong on the day. Our next mission was to come third and beat Trinity College. Being neck and neck throughout the individual events, it was up to the relays. With Head of Swimming Ryan Steenkamp pestering us all summer on our relay changeovers, we were more than ready. This skyrocketed us in points, with the younger years, in particular, dominating.

We placed third to a well-earning Hale and Christ Church at the end of the day. It was great to see the future of Scotch Swimming dominating their year groups. The future ahead of us looks bright.

Tennis

This year, Scotch Tennis from Years 7 to 12 remained a strong force, winning almost all fixtures against other schools most weeks. Special mention goes to the Thirds Team, who went undefeated, and the 10As, who also finished without a loss.

The 2022/21 Tennis Team, which included boys from Years 9–12, defeated a passionate Guildford Grammar School side, 20–4. This proved to be a catalyst as our success continued, resulting in an undefeated Spring Term with victories over our fierce rivals at Christ Church Grammar School (17–7) and Trinity College (14–10).

Archie Murdoch (Year 12); photograph: Tom Campbell

After the summer break, the first game saw a dominant victory against Hale School (22–2), proving that the hard work over the holidays paid off, driving the team to a 9–0 win-loss record. Unfortunately, we were outplayed against solid Christ Church and Wesley College teams. However, coming into our last match, the team united with a greater sense of determination; a must-win fixture was needed to secure the Corr Cup outright. With our passion thundering across the Jenkinson grass courts, we achieved a resounding victory against Aquinas College, sealing the Corr Cup for the second year in a row.

All the boys in the team are grateful for the efforts of our coaches, Mr Trid Woodhouse and Mr Scott Webster, and Mr Bradley, our Team Manager, who played an important role in motivating us.

Oscar Warner (Year 12); Isaac Smith (Year 10) playing Water Polo; photographs: Tom Campbell

Water Polo

This year, Scotch Water Polo had solid performances from all teams across the board.

The 2021/22 Firsts’ season was full of ups and downs, with great games often succeeded by disappointing ones. The youthful First Team saw seven debutantes throughout the season, some of whom still have seasons to come. The whole team would love to thank Mr Tibor Seress and Mr Peter Tresise for their coaching efforts throughout the season.

Volleyball

Overall, Scotch Volleyball teams had a great year, playing and enjoying a fascinating and entertaining sport. A special mention goes to the mighty Seconds Volleyball team, who went undefeated throughout the whole season – an awesome result for Scotch Volleyball.

For the Firsts, pre-season began with a couple of training sessions with new coach Kevin and many new players getting a handle on some basic skills and rotations before we entered the West Australian Schools Cup competition. The competition served as a good benchmark to judge ourselves, get an idea of our ability, how we performed in a game situation and expose some flaws in our game. We worked on all these skills until the beginning of the PSA season against Guildford Grammar School. The Guildford game was a challenge with the coach out, and with not much game experience, rotations and technicalities became a challenge, but we managed to come away with the win.

Firsts Volleyball Team; photograph: Tom Campbell

The season continued with each week’s training session focused on the skills that needed working on from the last game, and the improvement from week to week was clear. Highlights from the season include our 3–1 win against Trinity College, where we came back from 8–18 down in the final set, and our five-set match to finish the season against Aquinas College, historically the strongest Volleyball team in the PSA. These games were a testament to the team’s hard work and ability to keep fighting when the odds were stacked against us.

Throughout the season, the First VI was also able to take part in three tournaments, two on the beach and one indoors. The two Scotch teams secured gold and silver medals in the first beach tournament and bronze in the indoor.

Junior Sport: A highlight of the week

Often the highlight of our boys’ week is the trip to opposition PSA schools, where the boys get to test their skills against their counterparts in Basketball, Cricket, Tennis, Volleyball and Water Polo as part of the Junior Public School Sports Association Summer season.

On these afternoons, boys engage in sports that challenge and improve their sporting ability. All our students enjoy them, and we are lucky to have a passionate and knowledgeable staff who contribute to this exciting time of the week.

Year 6 students Daniel Maginn, Lawson Wedding and Augustus (Gus) Neo receiving the trophy for Gordon House

The JPSSA Summer season has been enjoyable for all students who have competed with great commitment and enthusiasm. A special mention to our JPSSA Cricket Team, who went through the season unbeaten and demonstrated great skill and application in their training and match days.

Thomas (Tom) McCarter (Year 4) finishing his race; Year 4s Oscar Bolton and Dylan Vytialingam; Junior School Inter-House Swimming Carnival

The Summer season also includes the extra-curricular activity, Swimming, which our students are exposed to via our early morning swim squads on Monday and Friday mornings. This leads into our Inter-House Swimming Carnivals, hotly contested events enjoyed by all. Select students represented the College with distinction in the Inter-School Carnival, with Scotch coming a respectable fourth.

This Summer season, we took two European Handball teams up to North Woodvale Primary School for the All Schools European Handball Competition. European Handball is another game the students compete in for Inter-House competitions. It is a game loved by all for its all-action, fastpaced nature. Scotch competed well and won the Champion Boy School Trophy for the second year in a row.

Mr Scott Whiston

Head of Junior School Sport