The College by the Harbour - St Aloysius
The College by the Harbour - St Aloysius
The College by the Harbour - St Aloysius
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Before School Activities<br />
Swimming: Mr <strong>St</strong>eve Badger and Damien Pasfield<br />
It’s 5.30 am and still dark. Boys are dozing in <strong>the</strong> front seats<br />
of cars, towels wrapped around <strong>the</strong>ir necks, <strong>the</strong>ir Speedos<br />
on underneath <strong>the</strong>ir tracksuits. <strong>The</strong> North Sydney Olympic<br />
Pool is already alight and alive, and <strong>the</strong> first trains carry early<br />
commuters to work on <strong>the</strong> Bridge above. Luna Park is merely<br />
dark shadows. Our swimming team, all goggle-eyed plunge like<br />
dolphins into <strong>the</strong> rectangle of blue and commence <strong>the</strong>ir first set<br />
of <strong>the</strong> several kilometres <strong>the</strong>y will each swim this morning.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y are a remarkably friendly and likeable group who have<br />
chosen this sport because <strong>the</strong>y love it despite <strong>the</strong> early rising<br />
and <strong>the</strong> arduousness of <strong>the</strong> training. <strong>The</strong>y all swim evenly and<br />
with grace under <strong>the</strong> tuition of <strong>the</strong> <strong>College</strong> Swimming Coach,<br />
Mr <strong>St</strong>eve Badger.<br />
Back at school from its depths comes <strong>the</strong> belting sound of<br />
a ghetto blaster; its pulsing, percussive music urging a group of<br />
over 40 boys through <strong>the</strong>ir routines on a fitness circuit in <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>College</strong> Gym. Mr Ben Gavan, one of <strong>the</strong> PDHPE teachers,<br />
has designed <strong>the</strong> course and is in <strong>the</strong> thick of it with <strong>the</strong> boys<br />
as <strong>the</strong>y climb ropes, pump light weights, jump, do sit-ups, roll<br />
on large inflated balls, run up fifteen flights of stairs. <strong>The</strong> boys<br />
are all ages, sizes and levels of fitness. No one is excluded. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> weights’ room, surrounded <strong>by</strong> mirrors, older boys do <strong>the</strong><br />
heavy stuff. Biceps bulge, pectorals swell, thighs thicken. It is<br />
too glib to dismiss all this as mere vanity. <strong>The</strong>se boys have<br />
discovered <strong>the</strong> sense of well-being and confidence which being<br />
fit bestows. <strong>The</strong>y are relaxed and sociable even at this hour.<br />
Mime, left to right: Mat<strong>the</strong>w Perkes, Jean-Paul Bell<br />
(Famous Australian Mime), Joseph Crews<br />
From <strong>the</strong> heights on <strong>the</strong><br />
fourth and fifth floors come<br />
much more melodic sounds.<br />
Already, a very different<br />
group of boys have ported<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir violins and cellos and<br />
trumpets and saxophones<br />
and trombones and violins<br />
and violas and double bass<br />
up <strong>the</strong> steep 84 steps to <strong>the</strong><br />
music rooms for early<br />
rehearsals. Teachers having<br />
quickly gulped cups of<br />
bracing coffee conduct, hum<br />
tunes and urge <strong>the</strong>ir pupils Music: Angus Ryan- Cello<br />
on. <strong>The</strong> concentration and<br />
focus command reverence.<br />
At 7.45 am tables are being laid in <strong>the</strong> large room off <strong>the</strong><br />
playground with mega-sized bowls, mega-containers of milk<br />
and huge boxes of Nutragrain. Soon <strong>the</strong> swimmers will file in,<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir bleached hair still smelling of chlorine, to quell <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
ravenousness.<br />
Next door, Mr Des Sheehan and Mr Michael Donohoe<br />
(SAC 1967), two lawyer-parents, sit in a circle, <strong>the</strong> Bridge<br />
arcing through <strong>the</strong> windows in front of <strong>the</strong>m leading boys<br />
through <strong>the</strong> rules of our trial system for <strong>the</strong> inter-school Mock<br />
Trial competition. <strong>The</strong>se are <strong>the</strong> intelligentsia, <strong>the</strong> future<br />
advocates and prosecutors in our legal system, <strong>the</strong> would-be<br />
politicians. <strong>The</strong>y have already eaten, no Nutragrain for <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
Anyway, it is not on grain alone that man lives.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> corner of <strong>the</strong><br />
quadrangle boys are<br />
pushing and shoving to<br />
gain access to <strong>the</strong> <strong>St</strong><br />
<strong>Aloysius</strong>’ equivalent of <strong>the</strong><br />
soup kitchen. Here<br />
<strong>St</strong>udent Representative<br />
Council members serve<br />
bread and jam to those<br />
who have left home<br />
without breakfast. This<br />
will see <strong>the</strong>m through to<br />
recess when <strong>the</strong> Canteen<br />
will be open.<br />
Fitness Training: Harry Grace<br />
Finally, Mr John Caillard’s<br />
jogging squad are arriving back from <strong>the</strong>ir run across <strong>the</strong> Bridge<br />
and around <strong>the</strong> Rocks. <strong>The</strong>y have taken in <strong>the</strong> rising sun above<br />
<strong>the</strong> Heads across <strong>the</strong> waters of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong>, been vibrated <strong>by</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> buses, trucks and cars heading across beside <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong><br />
metropolis and journeyed around <strong>the</strong> old and relatively quiet<br />
back streets of Walsh Bay. <strong>The</strong> runners are flushed, perspiring<br />
and eager for a shower. <strong>The</strong>y’ll have to be quick. Soon <strong>the</strong> bell<br />
will ring and classes commence. <strong>The</strong>y will join <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs for<br />
six hours of lessons. For all of <strong>the</strong>se boys, though, <strong>the</strong> day’s work<br />
began much earlier. <strong>The</strong>y enter <strong>the</strong> remainder refreshed, relaxed<br />
and feeling good. Mens sana in corpore sano (a healthy mind in a<br />
healthy body).<br />
Mr Robert Schneider (SAC 1958)<br />
Senior School <strong>St</strong>aff<br />
25