Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius
Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius
Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius
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senior school sport<br />
included Pier 39, as well as the intriguing festivals along<br />
the way. The twin peaks along the back of the city provided<br />
one of the best views of the entire harbour affording many<br />
of us good snapshots.<br />
After acting like tourists for much of the first day, we<br />
were more than happy to meet our very hospitable billets<br />
from <strong>St</strong> Ignatius Prepatory. The next day was the cultural<br />
and insightful part of our trip. The first few days with this<br />
school and our second billeting school Marin Catholic<br />
proved to be one of the best times on the tour itinerary,<br />
a view shared by most of the boys. The two Water Polo<br />
meets with these schools proved to be difficult with out<br />
Senior Team going down to both teams. Our Junior Team,<br />
however, proved to be a different story. Even though<br />
many boys had never played the game before, they won<br />
both games convincingly and continued this success right<br />
throughout the tour.<br />
After sightseeing, particularly at the famous Golden<br />
Gate Bridge, we continued our journey to a small city town<br />
in Santa Barbara County, known to the locals as Santa<br />
Maria. <strong>St</strong>aying at nice accommodation at the Travelodge,<br />
we embarked upon a swimming meet over that weekend,<br />
in which we swam against teams such as Santa Maria<br />
Swim Club and Puma – to name a few. Many of the boys<br />
achieved great times, some pulling away PB’s. But it was<br />
the friendly nature of the Santa Maria Swim Club (especially<br />
the Santa Maria girls!) that saw many boys make friends.<br />
By the end of the meet, we were invited to a party at which<br />
a great time was had and we all made good contacts with<br />
these hospitable people.<br />
Continuing on with our journey, we eventually made<br />
our way down the scenic coastal roads to Los Angeles.<br />
The tourist destinations here were plentiful, and a lot of the<br />
boys’ time and money was spent on them. These highlights<br />
included the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, The<br />
Hollywood Walk of Fame, and yes, even Universal <strong>St</strong>udios<br />
and Disneyland!<br />
However the ease of this place was starkly contrasted<br />
to the fierce Water Polo demands when we competed<br />
against schools such as <strong>St</strong> John Bosco High, Inter City High<br />
<strong>St</strong> <strong>Aloysius</strong>’ College<br />
A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879<br />
and La Jolla High. I believe we rose to the occasion with<br />
our Senior Team winning two of these three games, one of<br />
which lasted a gruelling nine quarters! The one and only<br />
Junior Varsity game played in LA saw us win by an immense<br />
eleven goal margin.<br />
This concluded the Water Polo meets of the tour. Our<br />
Junior team was proudly undefeated on tour. The Varsity<br />
level is very strong as they trained generally twice a day<br />
(cleverly called ‘two-a-days’ by the Americans) and had<br />
extremely high swim standards.<br />
By giving equal time to both sports, we had many<br />
swimming training sessions throughout the tour, and when<br />
we weren’t training, we were competing. The two major<br />
swim meets held, spanned over the two weekends that<br />
we spent there. So for those tough boys who managed<br />
the overlap of both Swimming and Water Polo, there was<br />
very little time to rest their weary legs. When we weren’t<br />
Swimming or playing Water Polo, we were sight seeing<br />
and shopping. Every man had a busy plan. We had<br />
people to see and places to be. One of these places was<br />
of paramount importance to us all. Disneyland, all “nine<br />
lands”, meant that the boys spent a lot of time on rides and<br />
in shops. This large expanse was a tourist haven. When<br />
the boys were not riding joyfully on the roller coasters or<br />
singing merrily on the ‘it’s a small world’ ride, they were<br />
waiting in lines, queuing up for hours. A select few boys<br />
were so overjoyed by the time spent there that they lasted<br />
well into the night. Myself, of course, being one of them.<br />
Now, with all the fun having been had, and with all<br />
our energy expended, the last few days were spent gladly<br />
in our quality accommodation. The ‘Quality Inn’, rightly<br />
named. However, without losing sight of why we were<br />
there, the last day or two were indebted to the swimming<br />
cause. Being a high profile meet, the competition was tight.<br />
I can honestly say, we swam well, and made our presence<br />
known.<br />
As the sun set on our final day, the camaraderie of<br />
the boys was best felt when we visited Newport Beach,<br />
famously known as the “O C beach”. We all got together<br />
and immersed ourselves in the culture by playing a social<br />
game of grid iron (or ‘football’ as we were often corrected!)<br />
Special recognition needs to be shown to George, our<br />
good friend and bus driver who sang a good tune or two<br />
at his own expense.<br />
A great opportunity and an even better experience.<br />
We thank the touring party, who held great responsibility<br />
and were the source of discipline (although little was<br />
actually needed) and organisation. The boys’ thank you Mr<br />
Langley, Mr Zolezzi and Mr Tenisons for all your efforts.<br />
Christian McMahon (Year 11)<br />
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