An AFL competition between Hennessy Catholic College and Young High School finally became a reality last week.
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It was a contest Under 18s coach and senior player Geoff Harmer had wanted to see since the 1980s.
Six teams – junior boys, senior boys and a girls side – converged on Burrangong Oval last Friday for what was hoped to be the inaugural event between the two schools.
And the outcome?
“It was absolutely fantastic,” Geoff said, who acted as umpire for all three games.
“The students conducted themselves [on and off the field] with pride and respect,” he said.
“The whole intention of it [was to make it an annual event], to have the inaugural game…finally! I tried to do this back in the 80s.”
While the day wasn’t really about who won what – not this year anyway – Hennessy did come out victors in both the junior boys game (59-28) and girls match (73-0).
The highlight of the day was the senior boys game, which Geoff described as being an “absolute cracker” with Young High winning 68-56.
But Geoff said the day was mainly about raising the profile of AFL and the Young Saints in town, teaching new skills and having a friendly competition between the schools.
He also noticed students were keen to learn the game and had plenty of questions.
“I didn’t mind having to blow the whistle and pause the game to explain something,” Geoff said.
“For the senior boys, by half time they got the hang of it and it was an absolute cracker,” he said.
“[Those] who had never played before, had natural playing ability or who play three or four other sports adapted themselves very quickly to the game – we were thinking, geeze wouldn’t it be handy to have these guys [on the Young Saints].”
But it was the girls who left many surprised at their attitude and approach to the game.
Geoff said they could not believe the intensity shown by some of the girls and their willingness to get into the spirit of the game.
The girls team consisted of students from Years 8 to 12.
He said to the smaller girls’ credit, they got in there and challenged the bigger players.
“The girls came up at the end of it and asked if there is a Young Saints girls side, [when they found out there wasn’t] their heads dropped,” Geoff said.
“I was a bit taken aback, it’s not something you expect to hear,” he laughed.
But now Geoff said it’s something the club is seriously going to look into over the post and pre season.
Young Saints club president Mark Silk – who was present at the event – said the day, especially one that included a girls match, was a “real positive”.
“It was a great day, and a good way for the club to finish the season,” Mark said.
“As a club, the feedback from players and the school has been very encouraging and we’re very happy with how it turned out and would certainly like to run a similar event next year. More importantly if it attracts new players to the game then this is a further bonus.”
There are now plans for the club to host a primary school version of the AFL competition in 2014, with hopes of inviting primary schools from Harden, Boorowa and Cootamundra.