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In the 1990s there were changing student and parent demographics and changing teachers. There the realisation that football opens many more business doors than rugby.
Football has been growing in GPS and CAS schools for a while now with the number of teams outnumbering the rugby sides in many GPS CAS schools.
Since the A-League, player numbers have exploded. The schools were once the exclusive domain of rugby.
Football has been steadily growing from small beginnings in the 90s. In the 2014 grand final Adam D’Apuzzo [WSW] and Matt McKay [Roar] started on opposing sides and both are private school graduates.
Newington College began talking to Sydney FC to develop a partnership a few years ago, and it is said that the next Harry Kewell will be from this program.
His name is Jamie Gorgovski and he has just made the Borussia Dortmund side as a junior. Australia should cap him if he is a talented as the below link indicates.
According to his school, they played a key role in his development.
“Jamie’s exploits with the GPS winning Newington College team played an essential part in his development. Playing with older players and some excellent fellow football technicians under the tutelage of Mr Justin Verco and Mr Brian Baker, honed his combative side against the might of Scots, St Ignatius’ and Joeys.”
“A real measure of his fanatical drive to succeed is that Jamie embraced challenges beyond his years. This will stand him very well in the heartland of industrial Germany”.
Scotts college is also boasting about its football programs. “In recent years, the College has employed a significant number of highly experienced coaching staff. These coaches are made up of a combination of teaching staff, Old Boys and professional coaches who are extremely passionate and dedicated to improving the standard of Scots Football.”
“Our focus is on the development of technical skills, physical attributes, fitness and the boys understanding of the game. There is also a strong emphasis on developing a sense of resilience and determination to do well and the importance of teamwork and social responsibility “
These schools are providing excellent coaching and provide brilliant facilities. I could go on and on.
A few years ago, many GPS/CAS schools entered the Bill Turner Cup and Trophy and in recent years the schools have done well. The Bill Turner Cup and Trophy is Australia’s biggest school competition, determining the top school in Australia for boys and girls football.
There are some Combined Associated Schools in Sydney where football is now bigger than rugby, including Cranbrook, Knox, Trinity and Waverley College. The Kings School at Parramatta often have football folk as key speakers and they had a partnership with the Mariners that has shifted to WSW.
Massimo Luongo went to private school and went back to see them during the Asian Cup. Tom Rogic is also from a private school. The funds these schools have to develop facilities has no equal and they have over the years provided many talented players to rugby union and to rugby league.
With the growth of football generally, I can only see football growing in these schools.
I will close with a quote from Craig Foster, “At an end-of-season breakfast for St Aloysius College this week, one father said to me that he played and loved rugby, and was surprised when his son expressed a wish to play football.”
“Now, after a year of being involved, he gets what all the fuss is about. The game is amazing, he said, it had been so good for his son’s growth and his new-found love of football had opened his eyes”.
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