District Sports Athletics 2013
District Sports Glory for Holy Family!
Yellow shirts, blue shorts and white socks is an iconic sports kit made famous by the all-conquering World Cup winning Brazil side of 1970. In our final team meeting before Wednesday's ERPSSA District Athletics competition, we talked about attempting to re-create the glory days and perform like Brazil. That was our goal...we wanted to perform to the best of our ability. I felt confident that we had prepared well, we knew what we had to do and we were determined however little did I realise what would happen next!
The weather at Stompond Lane was sunny and warm as we joined 19 other schools at the competition. We were competing in the small schools section (10 schools) and we were up against some very talented teams including St Charles, St Cuthbert's, Notre Dame and Claremont Fan Court. Right from the start, I knew it was going to be exciting. Our team performed superbly on the day, qualifying for all the finals except one. Finals mean points and that meant the first part of the job was well done.
Over in the field events, our 'unsung heroes' were really shining. The long jump and ball throw get little limelight as they take place away from the main stand but they are absolutely vital to the overall success of the team. Our long jumpers in particular were excelling and all our weekly trips to St Paul's to train really payed dividends as we picked up 3 first places and 3 second places from the 8 available age group jumps - sensational stuff!
Back on the track, our 600m runners braved the oppressive heat and talented competitors to pick up more valuable points with one gold and 2 silver place finishes from the 6 races. Points were stacking up on the scoresheet! The track finals then took place and once again Holy Family were right there in the mix with plenty of top 3 finishes boosting the points total.
Trophies are awarded to each year group on the day as well as a fifth trophy handed to the overall District Sports Champions of the small schools competition. To win one trophy is always a great achievement, to win more than one should be regarded as sensational. Our haul on the day of 4 trophies was way beyond my wildest expectations and it is fair to say that I was exceptionally proud of our team as the results were read out. As always, the children behaved impeccably and were a delight to be around all afternoon. My thanks go to Mr Seuke for all his hard work in helping to prepare the team and to Mrs Holt, (supported superbly by Mrs Rawlinson) for taking on the challenging role of Team Manager on the day. Also, I would like to give a very special mention to our travelling army of parents who supported the team so enthusiastically all day. I think it's fair to say that Holy Family received the biggest and loudest cheer during the banner parade - clearly this served to inspire the children to attain such a glorious level of performance. Congratulations to all the team - DISTRICT SPORTS CHAMPIONS 2013!
