Collegians topple SKOB, Saints on the March

Collegians outlasted SKOB at Harry Trot Oval on Saturday in the highly anticipated Grand Final replay. It was a terrific match, with Collegians once again prevailing at home over their rivals  - bringing them even with SKOB with a 7-1 record. The result reaffirmed many pundits’ view that these two teams are likely to be there at the busy end of the season.

Our Saints sides are back on the march with the Gold and Blue sides recording wins. SKOB Saints Gold played host to Kew at Basil St Reserve, defeating the Bears by just 2 points.  The Blue Saints recorded its second win for the season, defeating Kew by 43 points. 

There were mixed fortunes for our remaining sides, our Reserves just fell short against Collegians, results were split in the Thirds competition whilst our Under 19's Premier Reserves and Thirds sides both recorded impressive wins. 

Overall a reasonable weekend of results for the Club, the Seniors and Reserves particularly looking to forward to getting back on the winners list this weekend against De La Salle.  

GO SKOB

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Overall, it was a good weekend for the club with more wins than losses. The club registered 5 wins.

• Thirds Gold beat Uni Blues by 54 points (two Ring boys starring … defying the theory proposed by S Ring that football ability is passed down from father to son; the Doble boy kicked a couple – potentially re validating the theory ….).

• Under 19 (2) beat Old Xavs by 44 points – thereby consolidating their position in the four and enhancing their reputation as a team that just keeps improving.

• Under 19 (3) beat Therry Penola by 27. “The Gypsies” always give their best and have certainly got plenty more wins ahead of them.

• The Saints (1) beat Kew in a tight game by 2 points thereby consolidating their top four position (by a game and huge percentage).

• The Saints (2) also beat Kew kicking 5.14 to mimic their AFL namesakes for inaccuracy but still managed to win by 43 points! They are one game outside the 4 but are improving every week.    

On the flip side - it was a “tough day at the office” for the Seniors, Thirds Green and Under 19 (1) – going down to Collegians (Seniors), Uni Blacks and Old Xavs respectively.

After the Seniors game I took the opportunity to congratulate the Collegians players and coaches on a good win. Collegians are the oldest club in the Amateurs (a Wesley Headmaster in 1890’s being the effective Founder of what became the VAFA). It is only right that we recognise and pay respect to our opposition. By seeing the best in our opponents and letting them know – we set a high standard of sportsmanship. This can only benefit the whole competition.

Finally, please see the information below on the Youth Mentoring Program. This is a worthy cause that needs hands on (game day) support from volunteers. Anyone who can help someone less advantaged will get a tremendous sense of satisfaction. Your assistance will be practical and meaningful .. and could just help a less advantaged member of the community to break a cycle of disadvantage.

YOUTH MENTORING PROGRAM

To the St Kevin’s Old Boys’ Football Club community,

I am pleased to update the SKOB community on a very important community based initiative which is already showing real, measurable benefits.

The Youth Mentoring Program (YMP) is a SKOB initiative that seeks to actively mentor less advantaged youth from surrounding inner city locations.

The 2017 inception of the YMP stemmed from an existing relationship between the SKOB U19 coach, Wayne Oswald and the City of Stonnington – Horace Pretty Foundation (HPF). The HPF operates under the City of Stonnington Social Services Section, aiding underprivileged children, specifically those under achieving in school due to low socioeconomic circumstances.

The YMP saw SKOB U19 players acting as mentors for participants in the program. The young participants were given the opportunity to perform matchday duties for the U19 teams – such as running water. The aim is to foster strong bonds between the players and the program cohort by immersing them in club life and club match day activity.

The YMP trial was designed with a dual focus; participants were provided guidance and support while participants developed their personal strengths while improving their weaknesses.

Following the overwhelmingly successful pilot, we have committed to the program again and the SKOB community will see the official roll-out of the program during 2018.

This program will see increased social awareness and social responsibility among the playing group. Participants will receive strong role modelling from male and female club members who can set an example in terms of aspirations, study habits and general healthy attitudes towards life. Completing specific roles throughout the season allows for a sense of continuity, belonging and ownership, participants are paid for the match day roles which again drives a sense of responsibility and commitment.

Long-term, the goal is that this initiative can provide a template for all community sporting organisations in Australia to create similar mentoring programs for their local communities.

To fund the program, we have secured tremendous financial support from a range of donors. Balwyn Rotary, The Reject Shop, Chris Aylward, Ocean Eight Wines and APN Funds Management have all made significant contributions that have underwritten the program. 

However, to make the program work we need help. 

The aim of this program is to attract one volunteer per participant to provide oversight and a one-on-one relationship building. The Club is currently seeking expressions of interest from the SKOBFC community. Would you like to participate?

This call is open to anyone in the SKOB community.

I often reflect on what a magnificent Club SKOB is – as I know it is a central point in the lives of so many people.

Aside from the Club Committee and Coaches, it comes as no surprise that each weekend more than 50 people volunteer for match day roles. That count does not include the magnificent effort of many Mums and Dads who contribute to providing a beautiful meal for our SKOB community every Thursday night at TH King.  There is nothing better than seeing more than 100 young SKOBBERS – men and women – sharing a meal and enjoying each other’s company in our first-class facilitates. The sense of community is spectacular. 

The SKOB Youth Mentoring Program is our latest expression of our on-going commitment to the broader community. It is good for our players and volunteers (as key mentors) and it is great for the participant. Please contact Wayne Oswald (0418 543 694) or Brian McGuinness (0438 859 628) if you would like to participate. 

Regards,

Michael Doble  AROUND THE GROUNDS IN PREMIER

Old Scotch broke their seven-game winless streak with a hard-fought six-point victory over Old Xaverians at Camberwell Sports Ground.  The Cardinals move from 10th to ninth in the wake of their first win.

Old Brighton secured their seventh win from eight starts with a 39-point victory over Old Trinity at Daley Oval. The Tonners, who now trail SKOB and the Lions on just percentage, led at every break throughout the day and had a total of 32 scoring shots to 18. 

Old Melburnians moved to within half a game of the top four following their 35-point victory over De La Salle. Trailing by nine points at quarter time, OMs piled on 14 of the last 21 goals as Al Armstrong roamed the forward 50 and finished the game with five majors. 

Four goals from Ayce Cordy in a best-on-ground performance helped University Blues to a 46-point victory over St Bedes/Mentone Tigers at Uni Oval. 

MATCH REPORTS

UNDER 19's THIRDS

The boys started slowly against Therry Penola Being 19 points down at quarter time. Caption Ed Bourke set the standards for the second quarter with great efforts coming from Hugh Gastin and Luke Suhr. At half time the boys were up by 3 points and controlled the second half to allow a 27 point win. Nick seletto  and Alec Oldis were fantastic up forward kicking 7 between them. 

SKOB GOLD HOLD ON

In a low-scoring affair, SKOB played host to Kew at Basil St Reserve, defeating the Bears by just 2 points. With both teams goalless in the first quarter and both kicking a single goal each in the second, the half time score was equal at 8-8. In a sharply contested match, Kew kicked the only goal of the third term and took the lead going into the fourth, however SKOB kicked a sealer, allowing them to edge past the Bears in the final minutes. Alexandra Hynes was pivotal for SKOB in the ruck gathering 55 hitouts, Margaret Gleeson racked up 18 touches and 8 marks, while Bree Doyle and Georgia Cropley attained plenty of touches, 24 and 20 a piece respectively. Sarah Cameron was also influential as she is on a regular basis with a goal, 16 disposals and 6 marks. 

Final Scores: SKOB 2.6. 18 def Kew 2.4. 16

Goal Kickers: M. Gleeson, S. Cameron

Saints Blues dominate Kew on May Day

“SKOB don’t lose on May Day – it’s a long standing tradition” was the call from the coaches on a glorious Saturday afternoon at Basil. “Really – is that a thing, what are the actual stats on that Rich?” asked the inquisitive Molly Howard. “Yes it’s a thing Molly now get ready to play!” And so it went in the lead up to the game – more fake tan than a body building competition and discussions on everything about the impending evenings events – dresses, prees, how are you getting there, and the list goes on.

When we finally got around to the footy the Blues were determined to keep the tradition going and had Kew in their sights from the first bounce. Georgi Conlan and Sare Minahan were great additions to our team and both made an impact – Georgi with 3 goals for the day and Sare added one too. 

We concentrated on keep possession and looking for our team mates and it worked – the link up handball and kicking to each other was awesome to watch. It was a hot day so our runners were feeling it and Karen was working hard on the changes to try and keep everyone fresh. Chloe Hunt had a blinder – heaps of marks and contested possessions across the center of the ground meant we were able to push forward at every opportunity. The Senator (Chloe Sennitt) was stoic indefence and was ably assisted by Lucy, Bella, Spinksy, Jess. Wardy and Morgs – all stood tall for the Blues. 

Our onballers ran all day and managed to win possession more than Kew which meant we were able to head into the forward line more times than we ever have. Nasty popped up for her first goal for the Saints and although we kicked some awesome points, goal kicking will be on the agenda at training this week.

We have now played everyone once for two wins and four losses – the coaches are very confident we can do better than this as we turn the corner for the back half of the season.

Our footy has improved out of sight and we are all getting used to playing with

each other and it shows on the paddock – we will surprise a few teams when we

play them again. Everyone is getting a game and the smiles around the Blues

shows how much we are enjoying playing for SKOB. As it turns out SKOB Saints don’t lose on May Day and both teams kept the tradition going.

Final Scores: SKOB Saints 5.14.44 def Kew AFC 0.