Sports News

ATHLETICS UPDATE

Before the Covid interruption we had a strong team of over 40 students busily training for the Hunter Region Athletics Carnival. The Glendale event was postponed from its original July date and will now be held early in Term 4. This has meant that the NSWCHS Carnival has been pushed back to the first week in December, held, as usual at the Homebush Athletics Stadium. It is hoped that the current situation is resolved enough by then to allow our Athletes to compete at both the Regional, and if they qualify, at the State Event.  Students will be informed of any updates as they happen.

LUNCHTIME COMPETITIONS

One of the biggest successes the Sport Program has had this year have been the hugely popular lunchtime competitions. As has been the case for the last six years, the Term 1 Lunchtime Soccer competition was huge, with six weeks of competition every lunchtime culminating in a thrilling Final made memorable by a heart-stopping penalty shootout to determine the winner. Not to be outdone, an equally well supported Volleyball competition saw our two outdoor courts operating every lunchtime for four weeks. Just between these two competitions we were able to engage over 400 students. Not to be outdone, while the Volleyball was happening in one part of the school, a Junior and Senior Basketball competition was happening on our front courts. Hopefully we will be able to conduct another competition during Term 4. A huge shout out to the PE Staff who have given up many, many lunchtimes in organising and refereeing the various tournaments.

CROSS COUNTRY UPDATE
The NSWCHS Cross Country was one of the victims of the Covid crisis when it was postponed in Week 1 of Term 3. The good news for our many students is that it has been rescheduled for Term 4. Hopefully there will be some provision made for our dedicated group of Year 12 runners.

KNOCKOUT TEAM SUCCESS
Every year our School enters numerous teams in a variety of State Knockout competitions. One of the most pleasing aspects has always been the huge numbers of students who turn up to trial for these teams. It is, therefore, no surprise that the team that eventually represents Merewether High is dedicated and has the depth of talent required to succeed - 2021 has been no exception. 

The real tragedy of our sporting year however has been the fact that the Covid crisis has seen the cancellation of the finals of many of these competitions. This has meant that for at least a few of these teams, a realistic chance to win a State Championship was taken away from them. Our Girls Soccer team were through to the Final 8 and had a strong chance of going all the way. It will be interesting to see how the team backs up in 2022 because, even though we have a hugely talented group of young girls involved in the team, we had a core of Year 12 Girls that provided the stability and the experience, especially when the games got tough. 

Our Boys Hockey team won't face the same challenges as the whole team, who were dominant Hunter Champions will be back again in 2022. Watch out for them to be amongst the favourites for the title next year. Our Netball team were also robbed of the chance at State glory. Netball is one of the most competitive sports at CHS level and the very fact we won the Hunter section suggests the team may have very well gone on to NSW glory. We will lose a few of our Year 12 girls next year but we have a huge depth in the sport and we will hopefully see some more of our junior girls step up to the mark in 2022.