Year-by-year GPS scorecard: Elite schools’ sporting records revealed

A quarter century of sporting records for seven of the city’s most illustrious private schools, competing against each other in the Athletic Association of Great Public Schools, have been revealed. See the full results here.

A quarter century of sporting records for seven of the city’s most illustrious private schools, competing against each other in the Athletic Association of Great Public Schools, have revealed St Ignatius College Riverview as the champion for the millenium thus far - but there’s one accolade no school is yet to accomplish.

Year-by-year results for the GPS schools, consisting of Riverview, The King’s School, St Joseph’s College, SHORE, Newington College, The Scots College, Sydney Grammar and the single government school in the pack Sydney Boys’ High School, can now be revealed.

While St Ignatius College Riverview and The Scots College have taken home a ‘triple crown’ of championships by winning three sports in a single year, no school has won all six.

In fact, no school has ranked first in five of the six major sports in a single year, or even four.

This elusive holy grail could remain forever out of reach for the elite schools and their young athletes, insiders say, as the next generation of students tend to pursue the sports their schools are best known for greatness in.

One former student and sportsman said the youngest students look up to the Year 12 teams that return from championships victorious, and set out to “follow their legacy”.

“You always wanted to be a member of the year group that dominated the field,” he said.

2020 GPS rowing champions from Scots College. The Scots' First VIII won the prestigious Head of The River. Picture: Supplied

“But you can’t be great at everything. In my year (we won) rowing and basketball, but we were crap at rugby, even though we wanted to be great.”

In the early 2000s it was Riverview’s students who proved the most consistent across all codes, winning the 2002 football and cricket competitions while scoring the most points in the athletics championship that same year.

The following year Riverview were again the top point-scorers in athletics and won the football league, and also came first in rugby.

Then-headmaster Shane Hogan put the results down to a combination of the school’s Jesuit philosophy and the “mountain of work” put into attracting the best coaches.

Outside St Ignatius College at Riverview, former school headmaster Shane Hogan. Picture: Richard Dobson

“If you want the best sporting results, then you need to find the best people,” he said.

“In the early 2000s the emphasis changed - parents are now beyond having someone who doesn’t know anything about the game coaching their children.

“Eventually every school sees the school that’s winning, and they copy what they’re doing.”

All but one school, Sydney Boys’ High, have scored two titles in at least one year since the turn of the century.

In 2022 three different schools ended up with two wins each, thanks to a tie at the top between Newington and Riverview in cricket. The most individual titles took place in 2011, where a three-way tie in basketball meant a seven-school split for sporting victories.

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