Westfield Sports High School showcased in documentary
WHAT do Harry Kewell, Michael Clarke and Jarryd Hayne have in common with 72 NRL players, 30 A-Leaguers, 11 Matildas and six Socceroos?
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WHAT do Harry Kewell, Michael Clarke and Jarryd Hayne have in common, along with 72 current NRL players, 30-odd A-Leaguers, 20 W- League players, 11 Matildas and six Socceroos? Answer: they all went to the same school.
Westfields Sports High School is one of the key links in Australia’s seemingly never-ending supply chain of elite sportsmen and women, yet many people seem unaware of its long history of success.
A recent Fox Sports documentary has helped to rectify that, and principal Roger Davis feels it’s about time.
“Our success shouldn’t be a secret, and it’s helping to sell our story to the wider public,” Mr David said.
“It has been really excellent, fantastic publicity, not just for us but for public education.
“It’s a wonderful endorsement of all that’s good about what we do.”
With 1700 students, the Fairfield campus is the second biggest school in NSW.
Around half of its students are local area intake and half are sports students.
Despite its phenomenal record of producing elite talent, the school sees its role primarily as an educator.
Of the 230 students who sat the HSC last year, 130 are now at university, and three achieved an ATAR score of 99.
“We have high expectations on the training field and in the classroom, and that’s the key to our success,” said Mr Davis, who is also president of the Sporting High Schools Association.
“The sports kids are role models. We want them to be good examples, and that’s drilled into them from day one.
‘We provide an opportunity for kids to be the best they can be, to make their dreams come true.
“We tell them, ‘We don’t care how talented you are at sport, we want to see you on the back page of the newspapers, not the front page’.
“You’ll find that none has been involved in any of the scandals that have rocked sport.”
Two “really talented” players were benched from Westfields’ Australian rugby league school championship winning team last year because their attendance record was “not up to scratch”.
“We have high expectations. That’s why we have the reputation we do,” said Mr Davis.
The principal, like most of the staff, has a physical education background as a teacher and was a keen Aussie rules and rugby league player in his day.
“I will watch any sport,” he said.
“Fox is always on the TV at home.
“And when it comes to Olympic and Commonwealth Games, I end up with battle fatigue.”
SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
The Once Upon a Sport documentary, screened on Fox Sports, provided an insight into NSW sports high schools and their talented students.
The athletes are nurtured on a career path in elite sport, while striving to reach their full academic potential.
The documentary included a feature story from each of the seven sports high schools in Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.
Students are offered flexible timetabling while having access to elite coaches, strength and conditioning programs and a unique range of on-site sports facilities and support services such as physiotherapists and sports psychologists.
Sports high schools collaborate closely with state and national sports bodies to provide athletes with the skills to take their place in elite sporting squads.
Talented athlete programs are offered in 25 sports: AFL, athletics, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cricket, cycling, dance, football, girls’ development, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, Oztag, rugby league, rugby union, softball, swimming, surfing, tennis, touch football, volleyball and water polo.
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