Director's Report
Craig Jamieson - Assistant Principal and RSA Director
Coming towards the end of 2016, it’s been yet another very busy term and successful year.
We’ve had the national championships in basketball and volleyball.
Volleyball is on the way up again – they’re now ranked number 9 in Australia which is a fantastic effort for a school that’s only been going for four years.
In basketball, we had two gold medals, one silver and one bronze. The under-20 boys and girls both took out the national championships which is a fantastic effort, especially with a couple of key players missing.
We had our Year 7 and 8 cricketers on tour in Hobart, Tasmania, playing cricket for four days where probably the highlight was Jack Conroy scoring his initial 100 and having his parents and grandparents there to watch. Above all, more encouraging was the reports back of how well the students represented the College.
Matilda Garrett has been selected in the Australian netball under-21 team even though she’s only 18. She’s off to Fiji at the start of next year to represent Australia and we wish her the very best of luck.
Chloe Bibby represented Australia at the Oceania basketball championships in Fiji, where she won a gold medal and qualifying for the World Championships next July. It has also been confirmed that she’s got a basketball scholarship to Mississippi State University, which will begin next August.
A lot of our Aussie Rules footballers are now in their pre-season with the Eastern Ranges and the Dandenong Stingrays where we’ve got a big crop of students right through the program.
This term also saw our soccer Year 9 and 10 boys play the Melbourne City women’s team in their last hit-out before the start of their season which was once again successful.
Our Year 9 and 10 netballers took the clean sweep this year of the Waverley International Championships and the School Sport Victoria Championships.
In golf, Piper Stubbs became the youngest winner of the Huntingdale Golf Club women’s championship at just 13 years of age.
On behalf of the Rowville Sports Academy and the College, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our coaches for their tireless work across the year, as well our student-athletes for their commitment, sportsmanship and exceptional attitudes when representing the school.
Wishing the wider College community a happy and safe holiday break and New Year
Secrets of the basketball program's success
With a multitude of achievements across 2016, including several championships, gold medals, and alumni setting the world alight, just what makes the basketball program such a success?
Head coach Dean Kinsman takes us behind the scenes...
The highly-renowned Rowville Sports Academy – one of four education programs at Rowville Secondary College – is home to eight sports offering elite opportunities.
The Rowville Sports Academy’s basketball program, one of the foundation sports since the Academy’s introduction in 2008, develops not only the athlete but the person, as students embark on their secondary school journey.
The College’s head basketball coach Dean Kinsman boasts a wealth of experience, including the Australian Institute of Sport, state team coaching and development, and national elite coaching with the Australian Boomers, Opals and Gems.
Kinsman believes the Academy’s program goes well beyond basketball.
“It’s about really connecting with the kids in getting them to understand not just what the program is about, but how to grow up, how to mature and how to commit to all facets – schooling, the school itself and to the (basketball) program,” Kinsman said.
“I think we do an outstanding job of making that connection.
“The coaches here are really well qualified and are good connectors and teachers – not only of the game but life skills. We really stand out in that regard.”
In keeping with development, the Academy prides itself on its values which reflects in the camaraderie of the students, according to Kinsman.
“They look after each other, they stuck up for each other. They’re really good on and off the court which I’m really proud of - we turn out good people here,” he said.
A typical week in the RSA basketball program is broken up across a number of key attributes.
“(We have) a couple of lessons a week with exercise-physiology – learning how to control your body and build your body – a really important aspect,” Kinsman said.
“Shooting on Fridays, so they’re ready for their VJBL games on Friday nights, (and) technical shooting and a lot of refinement of their shot.
“Team training is broken up a lot – it’s not just team practice. It’s a lot of break-down into their positional play.
“We work on the philosophy of their fundamental skills – the more they improve on that, the more they’re going to be able to do in a game (and) the more fun they’re going to have.”
And according to Kinsman, the proof is in the enjoyment of the students.
“The kids are up and about and into it – they absolutely love it. It’s a fun place to be.”
The Rowville Sports Academy works closely with Basketball Victoria, as well as hosting a number of local clubs in the Rowville Sports Precinct, including the Keysborough Cougars.
“We’ve got a lot of affiliations with our community and a lot of kids come from community-based representative programs – and that’s an ever-growing situation,” Kinsman said.
“We’re really proud of that. We rely on our community areas to have good relationships with, so students can come here.”
Elite pathways are common-place at the RSA basketball program, with Kinsman seeing many of his basketballers over the years make the transition into elite programs.
“A number of our kids are identified for high-performance programs and national programs,” Kinsman said.
“We’ve got kids in state teams, have progressed through to division one, and five girls in NCAA division one schools now which is huge.
“In the last three years, we’ve had 34 athletes progress through to NCAA division one and two – it’s really outstanding.”
Innovative thinking has also seen Kinsman implement a ‘transition’ program in the last three years.
“I put in a transition program in place three years ago for our athletes who are going to leave us at the end of year 12 and potentially want to go on to college, WNBL, SEABL programs - there was a need to give them some additional work,” Kinsman said.
“Especially if a kid’s going to college – if they graduate in November, they don’t go to college until August the next year - I put a 26-week program in place for them.”
Based at the Rowville Sports Precinct, the facilities are second-to-none. With commercial gym RISE Health onsite, the basketball program offers the utmost of elite opportunities.
“With our partnership with RISE Health, we’re a one-stop for everything,” Kinsman said.
“Our school is so unique, probably more unique than any school in Australia - by having physios on site, Monday to Friday and the conditioning centre here.”
But among the elite opportunities is the bigger picture of the journey of development and progression, which Kinsman believes is the most important.
“It’s about the whole journey, and Rowville is truly based around long-term progression and development.”
Chloe Bibby: Mississippi State University's missing piece?
BY - LACHY FRANCE - THE PICK AND ROLL
Spurning a number of offers from schools on the west coast, Dandenong Rangers WNBL squad member and Under 19 Oceania champion Chloe Bibby has verbally committed to high-flying Mississippi State and will be the only Australian woman playing in the entire state in 2017. The Pick and Roll caught up with Bibby to get some insight into her decision.
“Back in ‘Warricks’, I was 7 or 8, just playing in local comp. My mum, she plays a little bit,” Bibby explains casually when explaining her introduction to the sport of basketball.
In this case, ‘Warricks’ refers to Bibby’s hometown of Warracknabeal, a Victorian wheat belt town of around 3,000 people, 4 hours drive northwest of Melbourne. It is a town more famous for producing Australian Rules footballers than anything else. Growing up in such a small town often means that young sportspeople are forced into long car trips and eventually permanent moves away from their hometowns if they want to expose themselves to more elite competition, and Bibby was no different.
“When I was 14 I started playing over in Horsham, and from there I went to 16s at Dandenong,” Bibby explained. With Horsham being the nearest representative program to Warracknabeal, it was an obvious stepping stone despite the 45 minute commute to training. Moving to Dandenong was a whole different prospect entirely – it would require Bibby to move to Melbourne at the age of 16. However, it was a move she has pinned as assisting her in being more open in her choice of college. With schools such as Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga, Illinois, and Fordham after her, there was definitely scope for Bibby to make the move to one of the more glamorous areas of the US – like New York or Northern California – but that was never a factor in the decision for the young Victorian.
“Because I was in the country and then I moved, I’ve had that experience of moving away from home and living away from home, so I was kind of just ready for anything,” Bibby explained in outlining her decision to make the move to Mississippi State. “So that’s why I think location and all of that wasn’t really a big deal for me. I was kind of open to everything, and I feel like that really did help.”
Obviously going in with no preconceptions about a school or the recruiting process, it allows a player to make a more informed decision about a school than would otherwise be possible, which Bibby was able to do.
“The SEC is one of the best conferences in the country. I’ve heard it’s top 3, definitely. And for me location wasn’t a big thing, I was just like ‘what’s the best fit for me?'” Bibby explained.
Players talk about that word – ‘fit’ – a lot during the recruiting process, but it means something different to every player. For Bibby, coming out of regional Victoria, it sounded eerily similar to what you would expect if you think about the idea of a country town in Australia.
“You know, the coaching philosophy, and just the community feel when I got over there, everyone was great, super-family oriented. I just felt welcome straight away. I can’t even describe anything else, it was just a gut feeling, I just felt like it was right.”
Finding a cultural fit with a college on a recruiting trip is one thing, but of equal or perhaps even more importance, is finding a program that exhibits the kind of basketball ideology that will ensure a prospect grows as a player throughout their four years. Bibby believes that she has found this in a Mississippi State program that is certainly beginning to make a serious impact on women’s college basketball.
“I seriously think that they’re on the rise at the moment,” Bibby explained. “The players they’re producing are high-quality, hard-working players. I think just everything that the coach at Mississippi State can offer me, he’s a defensive coach, he works really hard, and it’s a great conference.”
To call Vic Schaefer, the Bulldogs’ women’s basketball coach, a defensive coach may be somewhat of an understatement. Schaefer has earned the nickname ‘Secretary of Defence’ in college basketball circles, and with good reason. In over 30 years as a college basketball coach, his teams have regularly finished among the top of their leagues in steals, blocks, and turnover margin. However, Bibby has already been earmarked as an offensive weapon for the Bulldogs as they look to overhaul SEC powerhouse South Carolina in the coming seasons.
“I think the main thing with me is that they said I’ll come in and make an impact straight away because they haven’t really had that swing player to score for them, and that’s what they kind of need at the moment,” Bibby revealed.
“I’m looking forward to coming in and giving that a go and just giving everything I can. Obviously your spot has to be earned, and that’s the same anywhere you go. I’m just looking forward to showing them what I can do, and hopefully I can help.”
Bibby clearly realises that she has set herself quite a challenge, but having made the move from a country town at age 16 to force her way into a WNBL squad and the Australian Under 19 team, challenges aren’t exactly a new prospect for the Victorian.
“I mean, obviously it’s going to be hard, and I wouldn’t expect anything less, so I’m excited about that, to just push myself and see how far I can go so,” Bibby said. “They’ve come a long way from where they were, and I think they’re only going to continue to go up, and I’m just looking forward to going over there and helping them keep rising.”
Whilst Bibby clearly had her eyes wide open with regards to the recruiting process and what to look for in a college, there is no doubting that having an experienced head in your corner can be of massive assistance, which is what Bibby found in the form of Nathan Lovett from Activ8. Lovett is vastly experienced in helping Australians realise their dreams of playing in college, and was the first name on Bibby’s lips when discussing who helped find her way to Mississippi State.
“Some of the schools came to me first, and then I kind of had help from Nathan and a couple of others. I had heaps of people help, but Nathan, he was pretty good with kick starting it all,” Bibby explained. Perhaps a little casual in her choice of words, Bibby’s enthusiasm shines through in her tone when discussing working with Lovett.
Whilst the move to Starkville is all but set at this point, Bibby still has the best part of a year to develop and conquer a couple of goals, both in Australia and overseas. Having recently averaged 14.2 points per game to be third-highest scorer for the Gems in their demolition of the recent FIBA Oceania Under 18 Championships, Bibby has her eyes firmly set on representing her country on the world stage again, having played at the Under 17 World Championships in 2014 in the Czech Republic where the Sapphires finished in fifth position.
“Obviously I want to make this next Under 19s for the World Championships, I want to make that first. That is really my main goal, and then having a good SEABL season,” revealed the current Gems squad member.
“I’m not really sure where I’m playing yet, but to just have a good SEABL season, keep improving, and hopefully make this 19s World Championships, then go over for the next journey in America.”
Journeying is certainly something that Bibby has experience in, and if this one can be as successful as her others, her time at Mississippi State could be something special for both herself and a program which is already well on the way to success.
Matilda Garrett earns national selection
PICTURE: Jarrod Potter
By Netball Victoria
National selectors have announced the 14 athletes nominated from the 2016/2017 Australian Netball World Youth Cup squad, who will tour Fiji in January 2017.
The team was named by Australian World Youth Cup Coach Tania Obst, alongside national selector Jill McIntosh and Netball Australia’s National Pathway Manager Stacey West, following a selection camp at Netball Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Canberra, where all 21 athletes in the extended 21/U squad were in attendance.
For Obst, the selection camp in Canberra provided an opportunity for national selectors to work with the players, but just as significantly, provided an opportunity for the players to build connection among themselves.
“Last week we threw different challenges at them and the whole squad responded really well.
“Their ability to connect with each other on and off the court was really pleasing and will service us well heading into Fiji, before Botswana in July,” said Obst.
The team of 14, alongside national coaches and selectors will travel to Fiji on the 11th January for a friendly tournament spanning four days, where they will take part in games against Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa.
“Fiji will offer more international match play experience as well as an opportunity for the girls to build on the on-court connections put into place on camp.”
The final 2017 Australian Netball World Youth Cup squad will be named in April, taking into account performances from Fiji, as well as performances in the inaugural Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) and the Australian Netball League. Final team selection will take place in May to determine the players who will travel to Gaborone, Botswana in July for the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup.
Coaches have seen new layers of intricacy added to the National 21/U players moving into the inaugural SSN in February next year, with a large majority of the team contracted to SSN teams or listed as training partners.
“I have seen a growth in maturity in the girls in managing those complexities,” said Obst.
“The ability to be training with the best netballers in the world is only going to enhance our national programs and national pathway in the future.”
Netball Australia thanks the Australian Commonwealth Games Association – through its NextGEN AUSComGames squad program – for its support of the 2016-17 Australian Netball World Youth Cup Squad.
FULL STORY HERE.
In the spotlight
Congratulations RSA Year 8 volleyball program athlete Damien Bahr, named in the 2017 Volleyball Australia Youth Boys squad.
This squad was selected based on current performance, future potential and team behaviours observed at camps and tournaments over the last 18 months.
Teams will be selected from this squad to represent Australia at the 2017 Thailand development tour at the FIVB development centre in Bangkok and the Thailand U21 National Championships.
Year 9 RSA volleyballer Lucas Durant took out the coveted Intermediate Trainer of the Year award this week.
The Trainer of the Year award is the Sports Academy's most prestigious award.
It is based on daily coaches votes in consistent dedication and commitment to the program's four core training values, including ready to train, constructive voice, intensity and positivity.
GU17 2016 National School Basketball champions!
BU20 2016 National School Basketball Champions!
Senior girls volleyball wins the national championships with a 2-0 win over Harristown.
Senior boys 1 volleyball team finish the national championships with a huge 2-0 win playing almost the perfect game of power volleyball.
With all but 1 of our squad returning in 2017 the future looks very bright indeed.
13 year-old RSA golfer Piper Stubbs became the youngest ever winner of the Burtta Cheney Club Championship at Huntingdale.
Diaries from the Tasmanian cricket tour
A look back at the week that was the College’s Tasmanian cricket tour, with Tanya Vandevelde….
The boys (were) immaculate in terms of their behaviour, sportsmanship and their representation of the College. They had an absolute ball.
On the Monday we arrived, got to the accommodation and headed out to the first match pretty quickly, against an under-14s rep side. We batted and made 369 from 50 overs. Jack Conroy made his first ever 100 so that was pretty spectacular. His dad and grandfather came to watch him so it was really special to see them witness it.
On the Tuesday, we bowled and bowled them out for 220. That morning we spent some time at Bellerive Oval watching the Sheffield Shield and exploring the museum of cricket history there.
On the Wednesday morning we went to the beach for a quick recovery session and then to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where the boys met Tassie devils and fed kangaroos. That afternoon we played another under-14 representative side from Southern Rep and played a different format of 25 overs a side and they beat us in the last over. Then back to Bellerive to see more of the Sheffield Shield under lights.
(On Thursday) we went to an indoor cricket centre as it was raining and played indoor cricket and a bit of futsal. We then played the same side as yesterday, in another 25 overs per side match.
Jake Simpson took 7 wickets off 17 balls. You won’t be able to wipe the smile off his face for weeks. It was an intense finish, we needed to score one run per ball for the last five overs and it ended on a tie.
It (was) a very exciting and rewarding week for all the students as they had an opportunity to gel as a team and immerse themselves in their love of cricket.
In particular it (was) really pleasing to see them grapple with the social demands of such an intense week of team sport and use their social skills, maturity, empathy and team work to bring out the best in each other.
Tennis academy set to launch
Rowville Secondary College’s renowned Sports Academy is set to launch its new tennis academy at the beginning of 2017.
Tennis will join an already prominent line-up of sports available at the Rowville Sports Academy, including AFL, basketball, cricket, netball, golf, volleyball and soccer.
Level three high performance coach, Adrian Muscillo (pictured right), better known as ‘AJ’, will be heading up the program.
AJ is an internationally-renowned tennis coach, having won the 2015 Coaching Excellence – ANZ Tennis Hot Shots award at the Newcombe Medal, and the 2014 Victorian Coach of the Year.
AJ is one of only 70 level three high performance tennis coaches in Australia, where he has spent time at all major international academies and has worked with Tennis Australia and Tennis Victoria.
“I’ve got a good understanding of the whole pathway (and) the content that’s required to get the kids through the levels,” AJ said.
“It’s more about educating the whole team, being able to provide that entire pathway for a kid that’s coming through the Hot Shots program and then becoming a high performance player and understanding the tournament pathway.”
The challenge of coaching juniors is one embraced by AJ, as well as appreciating the diversity of the junior program.
“It’s what I love about it – you have to respect the different personalities and the upbringings, and the physiques of the kids and you’ve got to match the game-style to it so they like it,” he said.
“We create a good rapport with the kids and they see us as their role model a bit. We do sort of become long term good family friends.”
AJ cannot wait for the launch of Rowville Sports Academy’s tennis program, where he believes it provides unrivalled value for money.
“It’s pretty exciting,” he said.
“It’s fitted inside their school day curriculum, from nine (am) and three (pm). They basically don’t do PE and they don’t do a language, that way we can run four squads for them and they do two supervised gym sessions as well as physiotherapy and that type of stuff.
“It’s only $4000 a year and that covers everything, so that’s all of their tennis, all of their physio and gym plus their academics,” AJ said.
“The only extra expenses they have outside of that are their uniform and a bus if they need it. They even get all the local bus trips for free. That will all be supplied inside that initial cost. “It’s a huge deal and nobody can compete with that.”
The facilities at the Rowville Sports Academy add to the value of the program, according to AJ.
“At the same time we’ve got state-of-the-art facilities, the gym is incredible, we’ve got ice-bath rooms and last year I won Australian Coach of the Year so we know what we’re doing and the kids are going to get the best possible service at a very, very competitive rate,” he said.
AJ believes the program will impress from day one, with the demand for spots in the Tennis Academy growing, as the program is open to all age levels from year seven to year 12.
“That number’s only going to grow and grow over the coming months as we promote a little bit more and get the word out there,” he said.
“People will be really impressed when they turn up initially, as to how professional we are, what we offer and how deep our knowledge is.”
“That will hold the program in good stead and it will really set us apart from the couple of schools that are around, there’s not many.
“I think we’ll be a major competition and the kids will get a lot of satisfaction and development out of the program, and we’ll be ready to go full steam ahead day one.”
RSA students -
production 2017 wants YOU!
Following on from the smashing success of 2016’s College production of Legally Blonde, productions coordinators Julia Duke and Kacey Hocking are buzzing with excitement off the back of the announcement of 2017’s show.
The Witches of Eastwick was announced as the 2017 production last month, which is set to hit the stage in the second week of August.
The Witches of Eastwick tells the tale of the people of the little town of Eastwick. It is a town where everyone knows everything about everyone else, and it is presided over by the indomitable Felicia Gabriel.
Bored and fed up with their small town lives, three women--Alexandra (Alex), Sukie, and Jane--share a wish for “all manner of man in one man” to rid them of the monotony that Eastwick brings. That man arrives, literally in a flash, in the devil-like form of Darryl Van Horne. Darryl teaches the women powers, which they never knew they had.
Witches of Eastwick is a musical of self-discovery as the leading women in the show learn that they are more than what society sees of them and that they have the ability to achieve their wildest dreams if they put their minds to it.
Kacey and Julia welcome all to take part, in what promises to be yet another incredible journey.
“The biggest thing that we want to push is that it’s not just a RIA event – everyone is welcome,” Kacey said.
“We really want Sports Academy, MSA, General Excellence, we want everyone to come in.
“The performing is secondary to it all. It’s the experience.
“You don’t have to have any performing experience whatsoever to be involved. But the journey of putting on a show and having that experience, it’s amazing.”
Julia Duke has extensive experience with The Witches of Eastwick, where it has something for everyone.
“I had done it a few years ago, I loved the show and loved the music,” Julia said.
“We think about our cohort when we put together a show (and) it has a really interesting ensemble, lots of little bit parts for students to get involved with, it’s got some great dance numbers, lots of harmonies for the singers as well.
“We’ve got some great character actors and actresses to bring those characters to life.”
Producing a unique show each year is a challenge Kacey and Julia thrive on. With The Witches of Eastwick containing spellbinding illusions and magic, 2017’s show looks set to dazzle.
“We always look for something a bit different as well because it’s got the magic to it as well – there’s a lot of illusions that we need to do on stage.
“It’s at a complexity but we love that challenge as well.
“I think the perception that (each year’s show is) better than the previous show, is that it’s different to the previous show.
“You can’t compare them, in a sense, it’s great in its own right.
“There’s still people that say they really loved Hairspray or they really loved Seussical, because they are so different, they appeal to different people.”
“There’s going to be some stagecraft that’s going to be pretty special – the witches in the show have to fly so we’re going to have a way of doing that, and the magical elements as well,” Julia said.
“One of the characters is a devilish sort of character, so bringing those special effects in to the show to try and portray that magical element.”
With the widespread talent of the students at the College, Kacey says The Witches of Eastwick fits the bill perfectly.
“What we do think when we choose a show is, do we have the kids that can pull it off? And yes we do - we’ve always got to keep that in mind,” she said.
“We’re always surprised during auditions,” Julia said.
“There are always kids that come out of the woodwork or have been in the ensemble for a few years that just step up and they’re right for those characters.”
Part of the production journey includes the production camp each year, where Julia and Kacey enjoy the ‘family’ element that the experience invokes.
“It’s like our favourite time of year, we love it. We love going and getting involved with the kids,” Julia said.
“You’ve got year 7s that come in or anyone having their first production experience and the other kids just envelop them and bring them into the little family – it’s awesome.”
“It’s like taking 100 kids who love what they do and want to be there 100% - they just love it,” Kacey said.
To get involved in The Witches of Eastwick, simply access the following website to book an audition date and time: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/409054baead2ba5ff2-witches
Home-stay opportunities
Providing home-stay accommodation for an international student offers the chance to learn about another culture and build lifelong friendships.
This is an opportunity for you to join other families who are currently hosting international students at Rowville Secondary College. Students are typically aged between 15 and 18 years of age and need accommodation ranging from a few months to up to three years.
In return for accepting a student into your home and family you will be paid a generous weekly amount for your hosting and hospitality.
Student application enquiries are increasing with interest being shown in all of our programs – in particular VCE, Sports Academy golf and cricket, RIA Dance and Drama and MSA.
For further information or to register your interest in this unique opportunity, please all Chris Rodier on 9755 4555 or email rodier.christopher.j@edumail.vic.gov.au
Promotional
Performing Arts Centre Hire
Rowville's Performing Arts Centre is available to hire!
Contact Susan Thompson (Manager) on 9755 4629 or at thompson.susan.l@edumail.vic.gov.au
The PAC will provide a professional platform to deliver an outstanding result for your next event!
Visit the Facebook by clicking here, or the official website for the venue by clicking here.
