The Journey to Becoming State Champions
July 16 - District Soccer Round Robin - the boys won their Grand Final against St Luke’s, Blackburn South. The boys were coached by our Year 11 SEDA student James (who is specialising in soccer) and assists our PE program on a Friday.
August 2 - Division Finals - the boys won their Grand Final against Mulgrave PS. The boys coached themselves with teacher supervision.
August 17 Regional Finals - the boys won their Grand Final against Serpell PS, Templestowe. Again the boys coached themselves with teacher supervision.
August 30 - State Final - the boys won their Grand Final against St Bernadettes, Ivanhoe 2-1. One of our parents Leigh assisted our boys with coaching
James, our SEDA student, ran a few training sessions for the boys on a Friday morning during sports time to help prepare them for their next rounds of competition.
Each round we would select a captain (and sometimes a co-captain) who took on the role of player positions and subbing players on and off the field.
The students were very mature in selecting the right person for this role. Always coming to a consensus of who would be best for the team.
The captains were always fair and allowed all players to have an opportunity to shine.
It was truly a wonderful team effort which ultimately led to their success. We have some very talented players that just all enjoy playing together.
It was a struggle fighting to get to state. The team was pumped when we won. The other teams were crying on the ground when they lost.
We got through tough times when we lost. But we fought back
Our hard work and training before every game pulled off.
Listening to our captains and trying to do our best
Even if someone did something wrong we figured everything out without a coach.
Versed a team that trained every day
We had to try hard to get past our opponents no matter how hard they were.
Trained everyday
Our parents supported us all the way through
Even though we lost some games and won some we respected them all.
- It was awesome representing our school and opposing tough teams. Before everything happened we never dreamed of this to happen in reality. We were all so excited to be the first Holy Family School soccer team to win GOLD.
- It was a great experience and I'm so glad I got the chance to go to state. I think we did such an amazing job at SSV at every level from the main schools we always verse to some schools I have never heard of. The whole team did so well all the way and never gave up even when it looked like it wasn't in the team's favor. So congratulations to all the players that played for the 2023 Holy Family soccer team you all did great.
- It was a fun experience representing our school in state and coming first.
- I never expected to make it to states and represent Holy Family. Everyone played so well and we wouldn't have won without playing as a team. The whole team performed so well from district to state. We knew it would be tough and we needed to win every game and so each game we just played even better. We felt like we were finished when we let in our first goal in the finals, but we lifted our heads and clawed our way back. I have not felt so good in years. I'm super sad to have finished, I think I found my spot in the team. I played various positions and did the best job I could. Throughout playing with the team we let in around 7 goals and scored over 30.
- We were all pumped to represent our school in the soccer state tournament. We won our first game 1-0. Our next game was a bit easier, with us winning 4-0. Throughout the tournament, we gelled as a team. We knew where we were going to be on the field. Our third and final game of the group stage, we were versing Castlemaine North. We comfortably won 3 or 4 nil. If we had lost that game 5-0, we would have not made it to the state final. After our third game, we walked to the cafe. We had a 40 minute break before the final. I had asthma throughout the whole tournament and struggled to breathe in the games. Me being stressed out was not helping. St Bernadettes (the team we were about to verse) were sitting next to us. The whistle blew and the state soccer final began. They started with the ball, and scored in the first 10 seconds. We tried our best not to drop our heads. They had another great chance and scored but luckily for us, it got ruled out. After that, George scored an absolute beauty. 1-1. In the last minute of the game, Jake scored and we screamed in joy! We won the state final! It was the happiest moment in my life!