Dear Parents and Guardians,
The results of our focus on building sports programs at Camberwell Girls are impressive. Through the Girls Sport Victoria (GSV), Interschool Sport and School Sport Victoria (SSV) programs, students from Year 5 through to Year 12 play sport throughout the year and participate in a range of sports carnivals.
In addition to our Swim School program, CGGS Aquatics was established in 2017 enabling greater access to talented coaches for our students. Swimmers commencing in Junior School develop their skills through additional morning training sessions which has resulted in increased participation and success for our students in interschool carnivals.
This year, ten of our Junior School students qualified for District Swimming to compete at the Division level, and five of these swimmers qualified to swim in Regional finals. We also saw 55 Secondary School students compete at the GSV Division 2 Championship Carnival. In 2017, we were competing in Division 3; however, in 2024, Camberwell Girls won the Division 2 Carnival with a gap of 76 points to the second-placed school!
Progressing to the Finals Evening for all GSV schools, our swimmers competed in 28 individual events and eight relay events. Two bronze medals were won on the night, and swimmers achieved equal to, or better than, their seeded placing. Our swimming program, supported by our CGGS Aquatics Head Coach Yuri Burunov, continues to develop strongly.
Sports programs at Junior School have expanded significantly over the last 18 months. In 2023 we introduced a GSV competition across Years 5 and 6. This has allowed our students greater access to Swimming, Cross Country, Track and Field and Diving events. As a new sport, Diving started with eight students and now has 17 students training one morning each week. Ormiston Active is another optional co-curricular program where we offer, for selected year levels, Taekwondo (Term 1), Gymnastics (Term 2), Strength and Conditioning (Term 3) and Cricket (Term 4).
Our Athletics program in the Secondary School also continues to grow. After introducing Jo Bowden as a qualified coach into our programs in 2019, the skill sets of our athletes improved significantly. From being placed in GSV Division 3 in 2019, in September 2023 Camberwell Girls finished 7th in Division 2 (with only two points separating 5th and 7th places). In addition, every event was filled at all levels for the Carnivals, with 51 top-three finishes, 17 individuals, and two relays qualifying for the Finals Evening with one Gold, one Silver and three Bronze medals won on the night.
This year, due to work commitments, Jo Bowden notified us that she would need to leave our program. I am delighted, however, to announce that we have secured the services of Elitewellbeing Sports, a company operated by four-time Olympian and World Championship and Commonwealth Games medallist Craig Mottram. Craig will provide a tailored program for our students, supported by qualified coaching staff working under the guidance of our program manager, Kelly Peel.
Kelly is a former Australian 800m champion and represented Australia at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow in 2013. She will bring together specialist senior coaches in the areas of sprints, middle distance, jumps and throws to improve the knowledge and skill sets in these areas.
Our specialist Athletics program will run for eight weeks in Term 3 in preparation for the GSV Championship Carnival and Finals Evening. Training will be held twice weekly: Wednesdays from 7.00am to 8.00am and Fridays from 3.30pm to 5.00 pm. All students are welcome to attend training, and selection for the GSV team will be made as the term progresses. Further information will be available towards the end of this term.
This year, some final highlights to celebrate include our Junior Triathlon Team achieving a ranking of 7th place from 82 teams and one of our Year 9 students attaining a place as a GSV Tennis team member. Our Inter A Cricket Team were Runners Up Premiers for the whole of GSV, and our Junior Tennis A and B were Semi-Finalists, finishing in the top four of the GSV competition. We are proud that 415 Middle and Senior School students have actively participated in sports across Terms 1 and 2!
As we continue to build our programs, I look forward to sharing further updates with you.
With best wishes,
Debbie Dunwoody
Principal
