Sports Update

PE and Sport updates
There continues to be numerous sporting competitions our students have/are participating in. Here is a summary of what’s been happening during late October and early November.

Hoop Time Regionals
TPS had three teams progress to the Hoop Time Regional Finals over the last couple of weeks, all held at MSAC. They were the grade three boys team, a grade four boys team and a 5/6 girls team. Representing TPS in the 5/6 girls team was Ella, Eloise, Josie, Kat, Ruby, Kaaya, Lily, Pia, Matilda and Emma. They played incredibly well as a team, winning two games but unfortunately lost a critical game by one point knocking them out of the finals. Thank you to Stuart for coaching these students over numerous years.
Representing TPS in the grade three boys team was Guy, Liam, Sam, Kevin, Charlie, Axel and Orlando. They played strongly as a team and train regularly but unfortunately didn’t make it through to the next round. Thanks to coach and NBL player Anthony who trains them.
Well done to our grade four boys basketball team who did exceptionally well in their Hoop Time competition, making it through to the finals on the day and ultimately winning the tournament. Highlights of the match I’m told were the three pointers shot by Will and Charlie. A very well done to Henri, Will, Hugh, Charlie, Tony, Apollo, Felix, Mac, Harry and James. A big thanks to James Hutton and Steve Hwang for coaching these students twice a week. They now progress to the State Finals on Monday November 26 in Dandenong.

Southern Metropolitan Region Athletics Carnival
Congratulations to Mak, Tom, Daniel and Alex from the under 12 boys who represented Toorak Primary School at the recent athletics competition in Cranbourne. Mak did very well placing 4th in hurdles with a time of 14.11 seconds and came 9th in the 100m sprint with a time of 13.43 seconds. Tom placed 7th in Long Jump with a distance of 4.43cm. The four boys did exceptionally well to place 3rd in the 4 x 100 metre relay. There was a mere 0.05 seconds between 2nd and 3rd place so they were very very close to making it through to the state champs! (as 2nd and 3rd place go to the next level). They ran the race in a time of 56.06 sec which was .20 seconds faster than their district time and 2 whole seconds faster than their 2017 time…well done boys, you did very well as a team representing Toorak in the relay over the last three years. Whilst on the topic of athletics, for those moving onto high school, there are a number of events to consider entering in 2019, run by Athletics Victoria for the under 14s and above to look out for next year, such as the Victorian All Schools Track & Field Championships, for more info see: http://athsvic.org.au/events/competitions/avcompetitions/schools/

Boys Softball and Girls Softball Southern Metropolitan Regional competition
Thanks to Mr Andrew Patterson who took the 5/6 boys and girls softball teams to the Southern Metropolitan Regional Championships in late October. The girls had a very convincing win and progress to the state final on Wednesday November 28 at Jells Park. We wish them very well for this event!

Softball lessons in PE
This week we have commenced our whole school softball program and welcome Kylie Steemers every Monday for four weeks. Kylie is an endorsed softball coach and for a number of years has played as a member of the Victorian open women’s team known as the Titans (playing on first base).  Because we have a number of senior students who are committed softball players at TPS, we’re trying something a little different and these 5/6 students are joining in sessions to observe Kylie and help with the lessons. Kylie was very generous in helping with our softball girls training at lunchtime as well, what a bonus! It’s great professional development for me to work with Kylie and I know Mr Patterson will enjoy getting some tips from her when our girls are training for their big game coming up. It’s fair to say that all students from prep- grade six will have a terrific softball experience over the next four weeks!

5/6 tennis team
After completing our four week tennis coaching program, we were fortunate to have 16 senior students participate in an interschool tennis championship held at Tennis World at Albert Reserve. Our tennis captains Dimitri “Nadal” and Stefan “Djokovic” (seeded one and two) joined Albert, Marco, Kevin, Matt, Max and Lachlan who represented TPS in the boys’ team. Katya B and Atara (seeded one and two) led the girls team including Carla, Claire, Scarlett, Zahra, Olivia and Katya G. We fielded very strong teams and played in some close games throughout the day. The boys team won the championships (each scoring a pair of socks!) and the girls came a close second. A big thank you to both Stefan and Dimitri who ran the warm up, taking the students on a jog around the courts and doing lots of tennis related stretches before warming up on the courts. This freed me up to talk to the coordinators of the event who commented on how well our school conducted themselves. Well done Toorak!

Blind Soccer to coincide with Invictus Games
Whilst the Invictus Games were on, we discussed how some sports are modified and designed for players who are blind, visually impaired or need sports to be modified in order to participate. Students enjoyed the challenge and marvelled at the skill level of players. The junior years watched some footage of blind soccer from the 2012 Paralympics, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRDkX_Zv3mY and the senior students watched a clip from the New York Times see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA34tcqneFw  before having a go with the audible ball (a hollow ball with a bell in it) and working in pairs with one person wearing a blindfold!

Miss White’s “TPS Uber Drivers” on call
Thanks to parents such as Tracy S, Kerie W, Novka L, Mel F, Crystalle K, Annabel H and Katie W who have been prepared to fill out all the paper work beforehand and then help ferry children to sporting venues for competitions when I’m unable to leave the school due to on-site school teaching commitments- very much appreciated!

5/6 Frisbee Gala Day
Our 5/6 students will participate in the Frisbee Gala Day this Friday, versing students from five schools in our region. Throughout the day students will rotate around and compete in short games of frisbee and return to school around 3pm.

3/4  Soccer Gala Day
The 3s and 4s had a great time at their second ever Gala Day participating in soccer. Throughout the day students rotated around and played short games of soccer. Thanks to grade six students Kevin, Sam, Tom, Daniel, Harry and Mak who attended to help on the day and who read the rules of the game beforehand and were prepared to ref and manage teams on the day if required.

Fun Run
Well done to all who participated in the Fun Run at Orrong Romanis Reserve on November 14. A very big thank you to the teachers and parents who helped on the day and to Ms Milligan for all the time and effort she put in coordinating such as event!

TPS students doing well in sport
A big shout out to Carla D in grade five. She is a member of Elwood Surf Lifesaving Club and represented them in the 2018 Life Saving Victoria State Championships back in June. Carla came home with three medals including a bronze in the U11 Girls 25m Manikin Carry, a bronze in the U11/Short Course Mixed 2x25m Manikin Carry Relay and a Silver in the U11/Short Course Mixed 4x25m Obstacle Relay. Well done Carla!

Sport Shed
The sports shed has had a clean up! Thanks to the grade 2s and 5s who helped sort all the equipment, sweep out and rearrange the shed with me whilst doing a stocktake.

ACHPER Conference
I look forward to attending the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation Inc. (ACHPER) state conference for PE and Health teachers on November 29 and 30. I hope to learn some more practical athletics coaching tips and I have also enrolled to do some sessions on Traditional Indigenous Games, which will be run by the people who created this document with the Australian Sports Commission, see: https://www.sportingschools.gov.au/resources-and-pd/schools/yulunga

Warmly,
Jennifer White
Physical Education
Toorak Primary School