The Covenant College Warriors entered the 2009 Winter Tournament off the back of an impressive Autumn Tournament, where winning over 40% of competitions entered set a new benchmark for WCSSA competition. Confidence was high, and rightly so, as the two sports contended for at the Winter Tournament were two Covenant College strong suits; Basketball and Soccer. Yet after the day was done, it can be said that their was possibly an air of disappointment echoing in the halls of the new MPC, where trophies were distributed, yet few to the reeling Warriors.
The Warriors were represented well at each of the five venues across Geelong, and were predictively competitive at every turn throughout the day, quickly establishing themselves as tournament contenders in both male and female Soccer and Basketball moving into Final’s competition. Yet it was seemingly at this concluding hurdle where the pressure of the playoffs, the ferocity of the finals, played mind games on the squads and evoked hesitations in our formerly controlled gameplay. Our student athletes, no doubt physically capable and skillfully equipped, were perhaps not psychologically poised to deal with the pressure of being 2008 WCSSA Champions. Or perhaps it was the demand of finals intensity that was not met by the students, the need to raise the level of sharpness, attentivity and attack at the ball all the more come the Grand Final (sounds like Geelong…). Perhaps teams were rocked by the injuries of key players, such as the dislocated shoulder of key VCE Forward Elliot Horvath or the jarred knee of tenacious 9/10 Guard Claudia Gebert. Even 9/10 Soccer Captain, Stefan Luong, went down with an injury that may well have caused momentary leadership concerns for the (then) undefeated Covenant Warriors Soccer squad. It may simply be that WCSSA competition has simply risen to the new standard set by the Warriors in recent competitions, and now the field is an even spread of school combatants all vying to lift their game to claim honours as the premier school.
But success is not solely decided via a glance at the scoreboard or a perusal of the trophy cabinet. The Covenant 
Warriors, for much of the day, worked hard and were resilient in times of hardship. From all reports, from both umpires and Coaches, Warrior athletes showed a concerted respect for their opponents and worked closely with their Coaches in both the months of training leading up to the Tournament and throughout the day of competition. Captains of teams stood up as vocal leaders and led by example, while each team member understood their role and committed to it from the outset.
Success is measured in numerous ways in Covenant College Sport, and while excellence and scoreboard results is an important way, it is far from the only way. Their is a real developing integrity in the way the Covenant Warriors go about Sport, a strengthened understanding amongst students and Coaches of the character development that underlies training and competition. While other schools may overlook this and place their sole reward on victory, Covenant Warriors have the capacity to find success also in defeat. It’s not easy, and its a process that begins now right up until the same competition in 2010, but if students and Coaches committ to learning from defeat, it’ll be defeat that’ll make us stronger.
Coach McEwen
Congratulations to the 7/8 Girls Warriors Basketball Team
Tournament Champions
Coaches Reviews:
Coach Feldman (Year 7/8 Boys Basketball)
Coach Kennedy (Year 7/8 Girls Basketball)
Coach Johannes (Year 9/10 Boys Soccer)
