Head of Sport, Senior School - Edition 12 - 2019

Intercol 2019

Winter Intercol 2019 was a great weekend of sport, sportsmanship, reunions and camaraderie. The build-up seems to grow each year and this year there was a significant amount of work done by many. Hats off especially to the grounds and maintenance guys from our Property Services team, the volunteers from our Friends of Westminster group and the Sports Department. The grounds and sporting fields were in great shape and were surely the envy of our visitors. Westminster hospitality was on display and it was really a day to be a proud member of the Westminster community.

This Intercol stood out with several intense and tight matches. At the Friday Girls' Football game, the horn sounded to end the game with Pembroke in their forward 50 and Westminster ahead 20-19! In the Badminton, every point counted: the match score was tied at three apiece and we won on games, 7-5. That match not only won the Intercol, it qualified our girls to the IGSSA final for the second straight year. Time ran out on Pembroke in the First XI soccer; they had closed a 4-nil gap to 4-3, with minutes remaining in the game. And in what may be the greatest finish in Westminster sporting history, inside the packed Sports and Swimming Centre, the Basketball game ended with what has been dubbed the shot – Joel Dyer’s three-pointer with one second on the clock. Final score was Westminster 51, Pembroke 50. I caught up with the Pembroke sports staff after the game and they were in a state of disbelief. They essentially said, “What do we have to do to get a win?”.

Looking at the A Grade trophy games, it is clear that Intercol winning streaks are the norm. Here is how the streaks fared in the 2019 Intercol:

Westminster Soccer broke a Pembroke streak of five.
Westminster Girls' Badminton won for their sixth straight year.
Westminster Netball won their fifth year in a row.
Westminster Basketball streak is now at nine.
Pembroke Table Tennis streak continues, not losing since the inception of Intercol.
Pembroke took the 1st XVIII Football trophy after losing the previous three Intercol matches.

This year Intercol lived up to the hype - it was a great weekend to be a ‘Westie’.

Mike Martens
Head of Sport, Senior School