Summer Sport

We are well into summer sport and most teams had fixtures last weekend. Our grounds crew made a heroic effort to prepare a couple of wickets for the opening round of cricket matches. Some other schools were not as fortunate as Westminster and they cancelled matches. All three of our teams in action on the weekend won their games.

Keep your ‘heads up’ when you’re behind the school on Friday afternoons. We have some T20 cricket games and there is a decent chance of balls hit for sixes landing in driveways and walkways - I’ve heard that the Kelly boys are aiming for the Sports Centre roof. My advice to avoid the area, and pay attention to the match if you do pass through.

We get a variety of weather conditions in Term 4, so here are some reminders of our extreme weather protocols.

Sporting practices in the mornings and after school will proceed irrespective of heat. Activities may be modified, or moved indoors. If no sporting space is available, students will move to a classroom or to the library, so they are supervised until 5.00 pm - or whatever is the normal practice dismissal time.
For fixtures, our respective girls and boys associations have established cancellation policies. They are in the Westminster Sports Handbook, under "Match and Practice Modifications". Your team manager or coach will notify you in case of a cancellation.

Remember, hydration is critical to health and performance. Sporting kids should be drinking water frequently during the day, including taking drinks when they are not thirsty.

Sailing – Interdominion Championships, Algies Bay, New Zealand

Wearing the Australian Coat of Arms, representing Australia and Westminster School, our national champion sailing team pulled off a thrilling upset of their New Zealand hosts in the Interdominion Sailing Championships Open Division. Australian school sailors win in NZ waters about as often as the Wallabies win in Eden Park, but at the opening briefing, the Race Director advised the locals to beware of the Aussies this time around. His words were prophetic. The Westminster team of Alex Higgins, Angus Higgins, Chelsea Higgins, Harry Higgins, Matt Meaney, Quinn Auricht, Byron Robertson and coach Sandy Higgins arrived in Algies Bay, quietly confident of their chances. Day 1 of racing was a sobering one as the conditions did not suit our strengths. The team dropped four of 10 races, while Auckland Grammar School and Tasmanian rivals, The Friends School got off to a flyer. Over the next couple of days, our racing experience and our coaching held us in good stead and we chipped away at the lead. Commencing the fourth and final day of racing we held a slight lead, with lots of racing still to come. The fate of the round robin draw produced a late race between Westminster and The Friends, with the championship on the line. The race could have gone either way until the very end. A great blocking manoeuvre near the finish sealed the win for Westminster. Throughout the week, our sailors demonstrated sportsmanship, perseverance, grit, and good manners. It was a pleasure to manage the team.

Athletics Summary

The Senior School Athletics season has come and gone as we enjoyed a very intensive six days for three carnivals! Our athletes teamed up with our Prep School peers for a 10-week training block that prepared the athletes well for the competitions. My thanks to our coaches, Barry Hancock, Alex Chan, and Hayley Orman for preparing our teams. The competitions began with the Co-Ed Cup held on Friday 21 September. Our young men and women competed valiantly against the strongest athletics schools in Adelaide. Finishing fourth, we had many outstanding performers. It is worth mentioning that of our five girls relay teams, three of them were victorious and they set new Championship Records! On Wednesday 26 September our young women were magnificent at the IGSSA Carnival and although finishing seventh, gained many podium finishes and set four new records! Finally, our boys took on the might of the Achilles Cup competition on Thursday 27 September. In what is always a very impressive day of athletic performance, Westminster certainly ‘punched above its weight’ and performed with great distinction, finishing fourth in Division Two against much larger schools. I would like to thank all of those athletes who were willing to take on their athletic challenges over the week. I was very impressed by their efforts, attitude and behaviour throughout the program. My hat is off to Trevor Orman who is the point-man for Westminster athletics. Thanks Trevor! Also, thanks to Katherine Pilmore who managed the boys, running club coaches Jon Dyer and Adam Thompson, and Marianne Collier who worked on many of the logistics.

Co-Ed Cup Record Breakers

Lakara Stallan - U15 Girls' 200m: 25.72s
Aiden Ross - U15 Boys' 1500m: 4:16.88
Gjsovaun Brijmohan - U13 Boys' 200m: 25.27s
Jess McManus - U13 Girls' 800m: 2:28.97
Caitlin Stallan, Taylah Stallan, Isabella Triglau-Phillips, Heidi Collins - Open Girls 4x100m Relay: 52.61s
Zoe Sibbons, Jess McManus, Kiera Ross, Kate Liptak - U13 Girls' 4x100m Relay: 56.06s
Caitlyn Dyer, Zoe Smith, Emily Small, Lakara Stallan U15 girls 4x 100m: 53.91s

IGSSA Record Breakers

Lakara Stallan - Open 100m: 12.04s, Winner of the Di Burge Trophy, U15 100m: 12.12s

IGSSA Relay Shield winners

Sienna Rouvray, Ruby Liptak, Caitlin Stallan, Taylah Stallan

Prep Athletics

The SAPSASA Track and Field Championships in the last week of Term 3 at Athletics SA Stadium saw some Dragons Prep students winning medals. They were also part of the winning South West team that won the Metropolitan State Day. Sam McClarron, Katie Natt, and Gjsovaun Brijmohan have now qualified to represent South Australia at the National Championships later this term.

State Day Medals

Declan Kolb - 13-year-old 800m: Bronze
Gjsovaun Brijmohan - 13-year-old 100m: Gold
Katie Natt - 12-year-old 800m: Gold
Tim Alver - 11-year-old 4x100m Relay: Silver
Simon Zefi - 10 year-old 4x100 m relay: Silver
Sam McClarron - 10-year-old 800m: Bronze

Golden Keys Training Centre

The Golden Keys Training Centre has continued to grow in popularity over Term 3 and continues to attract large numbers of students looking to improve their athletic and fitness goals. Many athletes are now ready for more sophisticated training, including the use of data and ongoing evaluation.

Notes from the Coach, Gerard Dutton

This term we have started Stage 2 of our Student Athlete Strength and Conditioning Program, which has brought even further ‘buy in’ from our athletes. Through this stage, the implementation of data recording devices will give coach and athlete a greater understanding of how their training program is increasing performance and in what areas. With use of the TEKS isokinetic machines software and the recent inclusion of an accelerometer device to measure barbell velocity, we are able to present the athletes with live feedback on how much power they are producing in each repetition. This is industry leading training technology and I encourage anyone to contact me directly if they wish to find out more about this stage of the program.

Finally,

I have heard of a few queries about Prep School students accessing the Centre. The Centre is only available for use by Senior School students. Gym capacity, staffing, safety, appropriateness of training, are some, but not all considerations that have been made. If you want advice on long-term athlete development and appropriate developmental activities for your young athlete, several staff can help you. Contact me in the first instance and if I cannot help you, I’ll find someone who will.

Mike Martens
Head of Sport, Senior School