A full weekend of grand finals

It was a huge weekend for Radford’s winter sports, with the College competing in 13 grand finals in football, basketball and netball.

Our Under 18 Girls Division 1 Football team won the minor premiership and went into the grand final against Weston Molongolo as the favourites. Radford did not disappoint the crowd and dominated from the beginning, walking away 4-1 with the premiership.

In netball, Radford appeared in four grand finals across the Cadets and Inters divisions. The day started with Inters Navy down by a small margin at half-time. However, they could not close the gap in the second half, going down 10-20. It was the reverse for the Inters Yellow in what was an exciting game. Going into the last quarter two points ahead, they overtook a strong Daramalan team 30-28. Cadets Maroon played their hearts out in a hard-fought game, going down 18-21. The day ended with Cadets Silver playing. Starting the game with only six players was always going to be tough, and the team was down by 16 at half-time. However, they fought their way back and needed one goal to level the scores in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. In the end, the opposition was too good, with Silver beaten 32-35.

As our biggest participation sport at Radford, we had eight basketball teams earn their place in the grand final for their respective divisions. Of these eight teams, four went on to become runners-up, including the U12 Girls Div 3 Eagles, U14 Boys Div 4 Falcons, U16 Boys Div 2 Falcons and U16 Girls Div 4 Harriers. Our championship-winning teams included the U14 Girls Div 3 Eagles, U14 Girls Div 4 Harriers, U16 Boys Div 6 Maroon Ospreys and U19 Boys Div 3 Maroon Eagles. A special shout out to siblings Isla Baran (Year 7) and Callum Baran (Year 12) whose teams both won their respective grand finals on Sunday. It will be a day to remember for the family.

Congratulations to all 13 teams for playing hard and with excellent sporting ethics. Thank you to all our wonderful parents/carers who were rostered on bench duty, the fantastic supporters who cheered loudly, our coaches for guiding their teams and the Radford teachers and sports staff for all their support and management behind the scenes. The weekend marked the end of another outstanding winter sports season – it’s time to rest, recover and recuperate in preparation for the start of our summer sports.

Basketball Grand Finals

Football Grand Finals

Netball Grand Finals

School Sports (SS) ACT achievements

From 10-15 September, Radford will be represented by five students at the School Sport Australia 18&U Girls and 16&U Boys Football Championships in Canberra. Sophia Doumos (Year 12), Alex Couldrick (Year 10), Daniel Barbatano (Year 10) and Xandy Lulic (Year 10) will be playing in the SSACT teams, and we wish them all the best.

Charlie Dunn (Year 6) has also been selected to compete at the School Sports Australia 12&U Boys Football Championships in October in Victoria. The selection for this team is always highly competitive, with a large number of boys trialling. The coach of the team is Tony Olivera, who is the current Radford U13 NPL team.

Sporting achievements

Congratulations to Eric Hood (Year 12) who has been named in the ACT U18 Boys Volleyball Team to compete at the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships in Bendigo in late September. Good luck, Eric!

Sophia de Castella (Year 12) has recently been named with another 82 hopefuls from across Australia to take part in the 2023 AFL Women's (AFLW) Draft Combine. The Draft Combine will showcase the country’s most talented draft-age female footballers and will be held across multiple locations in Australia throughout September and October. All players invited to attend the Combine are eligible for the 2023 AFLW Draft, which will be held following the 2023 NAB AFLW Season. Selection was based on the number of nominations provided by AFLW recruiters, with all 18 clubs submitting a list of preferred attendees. Sophia has been a member of the ACT/NSW Giants Academy for the past four years and played in the Allies (ACT, NSW, NT and TAS) team at the 2023 U18 National Championships. Sophia was also named in the 2023 ACT AFL Rising Stars Women's Team, and as Overall Best Player in that competition this year. Congratulations Sophia on your achievements - we wish you all the best at the 2023 AFLW Draft Combine.

Furthermore, at the 2023 AFL Canberra Awards Night, Radford College current and former students were a prominent feature. Nelson Marks (Year 11), Cameron Terry (Year 11), Joey Slater (Year 12) and Partick Walker (Class of 2022) were all named in the Future Stars Men’s Team of the Year. Congratulations to all four players.