SA under-18 stars set to feature in Rostrevor and Sacred Heart clash as principal stakes his allegiance
IT IS one of the biggest rivalries in Australian school football and is still going strong 95 years later. But one principal has a link to both camps for this intercollegiate clash.
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BRIAN Schumacher may have ties to both Rostrevor and Sacred Heart colleges but says his allegiance is clear ahead of their highly-anticipated annual intercollegiate clash.
“It’s the red and black all the way for me,” says Schumacher, who is Rostrevor’s principal and a former head of middle school at Sacred Heart.
The 95th intercol between the two schools kicks off on Friday night before attention turns to Rostrevor’s main oval on Saturday for the First XVIII game.
Schumacher is really looking forward to the contests.
“The rivalry and level of competition is fantastic,” he says.
“Every now and then I’ll run into some Sacred Heart boys who give me a bit of a ribbing and I’m great mates with (Sacred Heart principal) Steve Byrne, so there’s a bit of bragging rights there.”
Rostrevor recorded a seven-point victory when the two sides met in May.
The college expected more than 1000 spectators, including AFL scouts, to descend on its Woodforde campus on Saturday to watch some of the state’s best junior footballers.
Rostrevor’s team includes SA under-18 captain Luke Valente and fellow state squad members Jacob Kennerley, Ben Jarvis and Cameron Taheny.
Sacred Heart will be lead by captain Liam Wisdom and goal machine Darcy LeCornu.
Schumacher says the intercol contest is one of the great schoolboy traditions in Australia and evokes tremendous pride.
“The boys really look forward to it and it brings out the best in them,” he says.
“For us, we have four boys in the state squad and they’ll all be able to play so hopefully we can get the win.”
In 94 years of intercollegiate games, Sacred Heart leads the football win/loss record 49-43. Rostrevor has won 26 of the 30 soccer matches, while Sacred Heart is ahead 22-1 in basketball.
