To be the best, these young athletes board
Farm kids at the top of their game are using boarding schools as an avenue to leverage their sporting dreams.
Sporty country kids are using boarding school as an avenue to reach high level competition dreams.
Ballarat Grammar School director of sport Dean Rossato said 90 per cent of their 280 boarding students were from rural areas and the tyranny of distance alone made boarding attractive.
“So many families make that commitment for their children to ferry them back and forth (for coaching and competitions) and many kids travel a four hour round trip or more to Ballarat, three to four times a week,” Dean said.
“That adds up to potentially 12 to 16 hours in the car a week rather than practising or recovering or doing school work.
“It makes it attractive to stay on site.”
At Ballarat Grammar, almost all sporting facilities are on site or within one kilometre, providing a complete package for students like Floyd Burmeister, who hails from a sheep and cattle farm at Willaura in western Victoria.
Currently finishing Year 12, Floyd started boarding in Year 7 and while his hopes and dreams are dominated by playing football, boarding at Ballarat Grammar also allowed him to reach a national level in high jump.
“The school supported me on a side quest, high jump journey and in Year 9 and 10 I got second in the state at Melbourne and flew to Sydney and got second at the Nationals,” Floyd said.
“I still love athletics but it’s been a dream since I can remember to play AFL and get to that highest level … it’s not looking too bad and nothing is set in stone yet but I’ve had an uninterrupted year with no injuries, played the full season with the Rebels and think I’ve put my best foot forward this year.”
Dean said quality boarding staff with sporting backgrounds were able to identify talent and make connections to help students pursue it.
DISCIPLINE AND DRIVE
Caulfield Grammar School assistant head of boarding Darren Lowe said as sporting passions grew for students they naturally sought out more opportunities to pursue their talent in larger regional towns or cities.
“The opportunities and facilities provided in the city are far in excess of anything offered in the country,” Darren said.
“A lot of students are already coming to Melbourne anyway to access better teams and facilities and set ups and they are driving hours each way to do it.
“From a boarding perspective, they have everything on their doorstep … facilities and coaches at their fingertips … they can practise and hone their skills, be close to rep teams and they aren’t having to get up an hour earlier to travel 150km to get to training sessions.”
The biggest intake of boarding students was in Years 9 and 10.
“From age 15 and 16, young people are ready and find the transition to living away from home easier,” Darren said.
“They are more independent, disciplined and are able to knuckle down and explore what they are capable of.
“A lot of students are very determined and serious about their sport and they are often leading the charge for boarding, rather than parents, because they can see the opportunities.”
Yarrawonga’s Jobe Fraser is nearing the end of his first year boarding at Caulfield Grammar School.
The Year 10 student was already playing state level cricket but has had more opportunities since being in Melbourne.
He plays for Caulfield Grammar School’s open team and Camberwell seconds.
“The wickets and outfields of boarding school are amazing,” Jobe said.
“The grounds we play at are almost the best I will ever play at – the facilities and ovals are fantastic.”
Jobe dreams of playing cricket for Victoria and said the Caulfield Grammar School’s boarding community allowed him to “have the best shot I can” at achieving it.
“There is nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said.
“The best thing is playing with your mates for school. You live with them, train with them and it is a really good community to have playing with your friends.”
FUN AND GAMES
MLC Year 8 student Tayah Dickson is from Glenrowan and has been boarding for almost two years.
She agreed that the best thing about sport at boarding school was the social aspect.
“It’s been a good way to meet new people and get heaps more friends,” she said.
“It’s also really fun.”
Initially, Tayah was attracted to the quality facilities at MLC, the coaching and opportunities.
“I was swimming at a state level and MLC had quite a high level swimming program,” she said.
“They have good coaches and it is easier to access everything, it is in the one spot only a five-minute walk to the physical education centre.”
Since joining MLC, Tayah has taken up rowing, becoming one of the school’s top ranked juniors, and has her sights set on attending Nationals.
MLC director of sport Michael Jenkins said the benefit of being close to training facilities was significant.
“It means students can get more sleep as they don’t have to factor in extensive travel, they have more time to balance academics and recreation time, and they are supported by a network around them of experienced boarding staff and sport coaches,” Michael said.
“We’ve had students from smaller regional towns describe that their hometowns don’t have the same sporting opportunities available to them, especially for girls. There might be limits on participation numbers, or the infrastructure can only get them so far.
“In the case of high-level athletes, we want to provide the coaching, support and facilities to allow them to reach their performance goals.”
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