Australind delighted by Country Week success

A team of 142 students and 16 staff from Australind Senior High School took part in the School Sport WA Country Week last month and they did not return empty handed.

Seven of the school’s 13 teams earned a spot in the finals at the competition in Perth, with the A-Grade mixed touch rugby team taking out first place.

School deputy principal Ben Lagana said the touch rugby team was successful all week in the lead-up to the grand final win.

“They went through all their matches undefeated, and in the end they won against Esperance in the finals,” he said.

“It’s the first time we’ve won the A grade touch rugby.

“We’ve made the finals before, but to win it is fantastic.”

The boys B-Grade and the girls A-grade soccer teams made grand finals.

The boys taking second spot behind Cape Naturaliste College and the girls only narrowly missing out to Denmark.

The boys and girls basketball and football teams all finished third, the girls netball team finished sixth, and the volleyball team finished sixth.

The boys hockey team finished in seventh place and the dance team finished ninth.

The speech and debating team finished seventh, the girls A-Grade volleyball team finished in sixth place and the boys team finished in fifth place.

“Out of 53 schools and just over 4000 students, they all did pretty well,” Mr Lagana said.

“I think we were the only school to compete in all 13 sports.”

This year the school sent students from years 8 to 12 to compete against the cream of the State's regional crop at events in the UWA sporting precinct, Challenge Stadium, the Perth Netball Centre and the King Street Arts Centre.

Despite taking out spots on the podium at the tournament, Mr Lagana said the real win was the team spirit the students developed during the week.

“The beauty of Country Week is that no matter the year group, they all bond and come together – it’s lovely to watch,” he said.

“The kids were fantastic – we had a great week.”