Scotch College

Scotch College: Great Scot -<NT/Tiwi Is Football Tour 2002

NT/Tiwi Is Football Tour 2002

In late March an Under 16 Football Development Squad headed for the heat and humidity of Darwin for the fourth Football Tour of the Northern Territory and Tiwi Islands.

The purpose of the Tour was to provide a physical and mental challenge for the boys in a rich and unique cultural environment.

The Tour consisted of three games, punctuated by some sensational sightseeing. Scotch College is now a regular football visitor to the Top End and it was interesting to read how we are perceived up there, the write up in the Northern Territory Grand Final Record referring to us as 'Victorian private school football power Scotch College'.

The first game was against the City Thunder Squad (the best of Darwin's Under 16 players). In intense heat and extreme humidity Scotch played some very good football and only inaccurate kicking prevented the team from scoring a memorable first up win.

With a support team of parents, doctors and staff working overtime to maintain the players' hydration with ice jackets, water drinks and drenches, the boys were able to play out the game without any adverse effects from the climate.

A rest and recovery day followed with a visit to the Jumping Crocodile Cruise and much time in the pool.

The next day was the moment of the tour that is always the most keenly anticipated - day on Bathurst Island (the biggest of the two Tiwi Islands), with a game against Xavier School.

Getting to the island is half the fun, five to twelve seat planes flying over eighty kms of crocodile and shark infested water between Darwin and the Tiwi Island, before landing at the tiny airstrip at Nguiu (the island's main settlement).

It is worth noting that the population of Bathurst is only fifteen hundred, which is about the size of our senior school.

This time we had a plan to surprise the Tiwis by playing them at their own game ie: no team rules, no pre-game warm up, try to take a specky from behind, kick around corners and over our heads.

Our plan was somewhat thwarted when a Tiwi player was discovered in our pre-game huddle listening intently to coach Argent's instructions.The plan looked to be working to perfection when we snapped the first goal early in the game.

Unfortunately the Tiwi boys then began to play their famous brand of football, zig-zagging around us and exhibiting their unique ability to pick the ball up at full speed.

Scotch regrouped after half time and we were pleased to prevent the Tiwis from scoring in the second half but were unable to bridge the gap, chalking up a honourable three goal defeat.

After the match our boys were set another challenge: basketball against the girls. Nothing different here with the girls showing the same ball sense and triumphing over us. 2 - 0 to the Tiwis.

We were delighted to present Xavier School with a $1000 cheque to assist them in their trip to Melbourne later in the year to play some exhibition matches before an AFL game.

We plan to play them on our Main Oval and duly informed them that we will turn the sprinklers on for a week beforehand and hope that it snows.

The school assembly at Xavier was a real treat, with traditional dances and a song with the students, accompanied by their Vice Principal on guitar. They sang, with audible passion, of their home of forty thousand years.

A comment from one of our boys summed up the day perfectly 'Why can't all kids be like this; happy, friendly and mad about their footy?'

The day after the visit to Bathurst Island brought us to the final game of the tour against the Country Thunder Squad (with boys drawn from thousands of kilometres away, coincidentally including some Tiwi boys who we played against the previous day).

After a slow start Scotch played its best football of the tour and had a stirring five goal win.

Sincere thanks to the medical staff, Dr Cate Clark and Dr Keith Stokes, indefatigable parent assistants Peter Oughtred, Ian Gibson and Jim Naish for providing such essential support. Special thanks to Barry Price, Chris Naish and Andrew Argent for their enthusiasm and hard work in preparing the boys for the challenges of the tour.

Without this combined support, the tour would not have been such a great experience for the boys.

Hopefully the tour provided the boys with a fantastic opportunity to develop their football skills and knowledge, and gave them an insight into a people and culture so different to ours.

Dr Robert Smith
Teacher in Charge Football and Tour Leader