CSEN Interschool Rally Day
It was an early, ‘fresh’ start to the morning of Wednesday, August 17 when over 130 Secondary students and staff gathered for a day of competitive basketball and badminton at the CSEN Interschool Rally Day. Our entire MCC Secondary contingent were optimistic and by the time we had all loaded ourselves onto the buses, we were well and truly awake and raring to go.
The teams, including junior, intermediate boys’ and girls’ teams, and a senior mixed team for basketball; and boys’ and girls’ teams for the badminton, played over 3 different stadiums in the Geelong and Corio area. As the official convener of the Rally Day, our very own Mr. Todio put in an incredible amount of time and effort to prepare the day for all the competing schools involved. His passion for the students’ wellbeing, their education, and their sporting endeavours is the reason days like this seem to run so smoothly and successfully.
I had the privilege of coaching a Year 7 boys basketball team and it was almost impossible to keep a ball out of their hands all day. Staff and coaches from all the schools helped referee and keep score whilst simultaneously juggling coaching duties and the sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship was on full display all day. We even had MCC students with previous refereeing experience step up and help when they weren’t playing themselves and their willingness to assist is a real credit to them. I’d never officially ‘reffed’ a basketball game before but by the end of the day, and 4 games down I thought a career-change might be in order (I’m sure the players disagreed 😊).
Highlights of the day included ‘Big Lach’ throwing down a dunk on the fastbreak that had the entire crowd nearly lift the roof off the gym. The Senior Mixed Team overcame injuries to their 2 female stars early in the day – who played through the pain – and won their division. And a team of Year 7 boys were super-competitive against Intermediate teams 2 and 3 years older than them from MCC and other schools, eventually winning the Junior Grand Final against a team comprised entirely of Year 8 boys. There were laughs, there were controversial calls, there was excitement, great sportsmanship and bucketloads of skill and athletic prowess on display. I know I can speak for all the staff in attendance when I say we are so proud of our students.
The MCC results from the day are as follows:
- Champions – Year 7 Junior Boys Basketball
- Champions – Year 7 Junior Girls Basketball
- Champions – Year 10 Intermediate Boys Basketball
- Champions – Year 11-12 Senior Mixed Basketball
- Runners up – Year 10 Girls Badminton
Congratulations to all on a wonderful day of competition!
Joshua Passarini, ICT Librarian and Sports Fanatic