Queensland girls’ schools revive ball games for 110th anniversary
GIRLS’ schools across the state have found an extra special way to say “happy birthday” to the Queensland Girls Secondary Schools Sports Association as it celebrates its 110th birthday.
Gold Coast
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GIRLS’ SCHOOLS across the state have celebrated an important milestone this month as the Queensland Girls Secondary Schools Sports Association passed its 110th anniversary.
Gold Coast boarding school St Hilda’s School attended a breakfast and an athletics meet to mark the event, which makes the organisation the oldest school sport association in Queensland.
Sports prefect Keely Whittaker said as someone who has been playing different sports since she could walk it had always been important to her to take on a leading role.
“It’s just been a positive influence in my life, making friends and maintaining the qualities of a good sportsman,” she said.
“I find that involving myself in the sporting community at St Hilda’s gives me a chance to share my personal experiences with sport and how it’s positively effected my life and the decisions I make every day.
“I feel like being involved in sport has provided me with qualities to be a leader and really share my experiences with the younger girls at the school.”
St Hilda’s School has played a key role in the QGSSSA since its formation, along with Brisbane Girls Grammar School, Somerville House and several others.
It has now brought its Year 7 team to compete in the traditional sports of Ball Games, which include tunnel ball - played between two teams forming a tunnel and passing the ball through the legs.
The player at the front of the line then takes the ball and runs to start over, with the team running through all players the fastest winning.
St Hilda’s school principal and QGSSSA president Dr Julie Wilson Reynolds said the game had a particular significance to the school.
“The sport of Ball Games was introduced in the 1920s as part of the track and field events, and it was a great sport for its time as it promoted teamwork, enabled high rates of participation with hundreds of girls able to play with very little equipment or space,” she said.
“St Hilda’s was a star school at Ball Games – with the QGSSSA’s Dell Mellafont Cup named after one of our maths staff known for her sporting prowess at Ball Games.
“Although the sport of Ball Games was discontinued in 1996, it is a great example of the magic of the QGSSSA. The organisation has at its heart all the best features of these Ball Games: great spirit, camaraderie, teamwork and achievement.”
Head of Sport Jillian Moore said events like the meet were vital to embracing both the school’s background and future in sport.
“It’s really important for the girls to know that they’re part of the St Hilda’s history, that in 40 or 50 years to come they’ll be the legacy,” she said.
“We really want to pay homage to the girls that have been before and that have helped to get sport to the kind of significance that it’s at today.
“It’s about celebrating successes so that other girls get to see what’s possible. One of our mottos is ‘dream to achieve’ and I think sport is one of those areas that girls are able to achieve this outside the classroom.”
Dr Wilson Reynolds now stressed the importance of continuing the organisation and fostering involvement of women in the Gold Coast’s sporting community.
“The twentieth century saw women’s sport change slowly but steadily, the growth of the modern Olympics saw a new interest in sport, military training from Germany led to the introduction of gymnastics in Australia, and our homegrown success at Wimbledon inspired the inclusion of tennis,” she said.
“In an era where studies show that participation in sport has been on the decline, and where young people are becoming more sedentary and more solitary, the QGSSSA is defying these trends and spearheading a new level of engagement in women’s sport.”
As an aspiring professional athlete and with graduation approaching, Ms Whittaker said she hopes to stay involved with the school.
“I am looking at continuing triathlon, hockey, staying fit and hopefully representing Australia at a high level,” she said.
“Definitely now the QGSSSA meet has always been the highlight of each year I spend here, it’s just about getting involved and really trying to represent St Hilda’s in the best way possible.”
Originally published as Queensland girls’ schools revive ball games for 110th anniversary
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