Warriors

Year 7/8 Boys Report

The Covenant College Year 7/8 Boys Netball team dominated the four preliminary rounds and then the final to be the 2009 victors! The boys were courageous, humble, well drilled and well led by the skipper, Jacob Stubbings.

Results:

Round 1 – Covenant 19 def. Melton Christian College 1
Round 2 – Covenant 19 def. Macedon Grammar 3
Round 3 – Covenant 25 def. Melton Christian College 6
Round 4 – Covenant 13 def. Macedon Grammar 6
FINAL – Covenant 25 def. Macedon Grammar 4

Josh Lawless, our Goal Shooter, had a brilliant day scoring the bulk of our goals. He was well supported by Jesse Varcoe whose mobility and size proved difficult for the opposition to man up on. Zac Murphy was good all day but really stepped up in the final- he played Goal Attack and he scored heavily. Brendan Combridge, our ever reliable WD was consistent and together with the other defenders, kept our opponents to very low scores. Travis Knol played mostly in defence and like his other peers was courageous all day. Travis read the play really well and helped set up many successful forward thrusts. Bill Simpson too was fantastic! Billy has a real calming and steady influence on the team, he worked hard all day and as one of our main defenders, provided a real foundation for the team to be successful. Darian Bell, probably our most athletic player on the team, intercepted many opposition attacks and I am sure scared many of them with that stare he has when he is concentrating. Jayden Golebowski played as a defender most of the day and was key in repelling opposition attacks. He moved well and showed good decision making and supplied the Centre and Wing Attack with good ball passes. Rylie McGregor showed incredibly good game sense-he read the play well and was in the right place most of the time and to borrow a football term, ‘he was treated for leather poisoning’. Finally, captain Jacob Stubbings, demonstrated excellent leadership all day. He took responsibility for all the little things that needed to be done, he kept his players focused, played a significant role on field as our Centre and encouraged and motivated the players all day.

The most memorable game was the final. The Macedon Grammar boys were rattled by the calm and methodical display by the Covenant lads and therefore resorted to foul language and rough play. The Macedon boys created enormous physical and psychological pressure but our lads kept their heads down and worked hard and did not respond to their opponents’ tactics. Covenant displayed humility, resilience, courage, loyalty and an excellent attitude and truly were Warriors in every way. Well done lads, we are so proud of you! Now for some tabatas!

Coach Johannes

Year 9/10 Boys Report

We had two teams in this age group and both teams made the finals. The A Team played off for first place and lost the final by 1 point to King’s College. The B Team played off for 3^rd place and lost by 3 points to Melton Christian College. The A Team was admirable and gallant in defeat- they played the final game with three injured players, all key playmakers – captain Luke Sacco WD, David Baird, Centre and Nat Stubbings, GD. The B Team surprised everyone by qualifying for the finals and improved each round only to be denied victory in the play off, a very brave effort!

A summary of the A team members’ performance – Jacob Gleeson was exceptional as Goal Shooter, what a man! Josh De Hoog complimented Jacob as our Goal Attack- he was lively, fast, creative and a real hand- full for our opponents. Josh Varcoe was more machine than man on the day – he worked really hard and was just brilliant on the day – we can be grateful to Greg and Rachel for their excellent sporting DNA. David Baird – Mr Athlete himself, worked himself into the ground and if he did not suffer cramp in the final we may have had a more favourable outcome. Nat Stubbings too suffered cramp in the final due to his high work rate and was just such a great team man. Tom Berry our Goal Keeper in his very relaxed manner, made intercepts regularly due to his excellent reading of play. Luke Nowlan, another really hard worker- great team man, great work Luke! Our captain, Luke Sacco, led the team with respect and fun and his injury was greatly felt because it reduced his effective as our WD in setting up plays. A very creative and intelligent player!

In summary, I believe the A Team was the best team in the competition, but unfortunately did not win on the day, but that is sport, and that is why sport is such a great character builder. Our boys won well AND they also lost well. They were humble in defeat. They were disappointed at their loss and I believe that this hunger will spur them on even further to work harder. We are looking forward to seeing this group continuing to grow and realise their full potential – what an asset to Covenant. Well done boys, we are so proud of you!

A summary of the B Team members’ performance – Daniel Alexander played GS and performed admirably, Dan is a calm and relaxed guy and was a good influence on his team. Jack Whatnall was crack-a-jack! He combined well with his partner in crime, Dan the man. Jack read the play well and was one of our major scorers. Ash Broome, sensational, just sensational! Stef Luong – inspiring and led the B side to an unlikely victory against the Geelong Baptist A Team! We were down 10 – 6 at half time and Stef along with his trusting colleagues like aforementioned Ash Broome, through sheer determination and skill and hard work, outscored GBC in the second half to win the game 13-12, with Jack scoring the last 3 goals of the game. What a win! We had other schools cheering us on. This game was probably the most enjoyable for me on the day. James Erskine’s hard work in the gym at lunchtimes paid off on the court – he worked hard and rarely lost a contest against his opposite number. James worked so hard that he was starting to fall asleep on the bus not long after we left Bendigo. Unfortunately, he found falling asleep on the bus a tad difficult due to someone periodically calling out “Jimmy, Jimmy, wake up Jimmy”. Joel Griffin, too, tried to fall asleep on the bus but he gave up because he sensed that that person was not about to give up calling out to him as soon as his head dropped off. Joel was brilliant in defence and even more brilliant when asked to play a more creative role as Wing Attack – loved his work! Josiah Bashta-the fearless in and under man. He was the most courageous player because nearly everyone was taller and bigger than what he was but that did not stop the little big man! Shaun Howard was steady all day, very consistent and very focused. Our captain, Rylan Copperwaite is a real man’s man. People liked being around him and he treated his players with respect and performed all his Captain duties well. Rylan was brave and worked hard on the court and was steady all day.

I would like to thank Luke Pisano-Daniels for assisting in all those little things and for doing it with such a great attitude- thank you Luke.

This tournament represented the launch of the Covenant Warriors, and while we did not have the new uniforms, we certainly fought hard and played hard and did Covenant proud. You boys will go down in history as the first Covenant Warriors and you guys performed with distinction – what a great start. You have set the bar really high for all of those that will follow, well done!

Coach Johannes