In their first year of competing at the Origin Energy Vicki Wilson Championship, Ignatius Park College surprised everyone, including themselves, by taking out the 2022 Boys Open title with a 27-26 victory over St James College.
Coached by Pudy Timbs, and managed by Alyssa Deer, it’s a fabulous story about a group of enthusiastic individuals getting together to have a go, who end up forming a winning team. Timbs has taken some time out to share this wonderful insight…
This was the first time you’d competed in the Vicki Wilson Boys Open, what’s the school’s background in netball?
The college has a relatively short history with playing netball. In fact, it was only three years ago when we had our inaugural “School of Origin” competition set up with our sister school – St Margaret Mary’s. This has become a hotly contested annual event which the boys really enjoy, and trials for a spot on this team is a massive affair with over 50 boys vying for a spot. This year, the boys were again victorious in defeating a very competitive girls team, and this sparked further interest to continue playing. One of the players made mention about wanting to compete in QISSN or Vicki Wilson Cup, to which we thought, “We’ll give it a go!” So we signed up and the rest is, as they say, is history.
The boys at our college are hugely competitive, so when a local competition was up for grabs, the Iggy boys were up for a shot at the title. They wanted to have fun playing in a different code to what they normally do, and of course, they were keen to miss a day off school!
What was the team’s attitude/expectation heading into the competition?
Iggy boys are by nature, full of talent and larrikinism. They have this amazing ability to switch from being jokey to being serious. After our initial regional win in Townsville, I realised we needed to up the training schedule as the stakes were higher. I am a big believer in the adage, “It takes a village” so I immediately accepted any and all help to develop this rag-tag bunch of boys into semi-netball competent players. Cue help from Netball Queensland who guided me with some of the training runs I had. The boys quickly picked up the new skill sets that were taught to them, and despite being told how much more serious the Brisbane competition would be, they still entered the competition with the attitude of wanting to win but still have fun. We really didn’t know who or what we were up against in Brisbane but that didn’t phase the boys one bit.
What are some standout memorable/funny/emotional moments from the weekend?
There were many moments on our trip away that will be forever etched in my memory bank – from being followed by some crazy man in the Westfield carpark, to the recovery baths in the pool with the ladies, to the 100 push-ups I had the boys complete for every infringement they made (even at the Brisbane airport and on the way home!) to the disco van we drove around Brisbane which pumped out adrenalin-fueled beats to get the boys excited for game day! But nothing can beat the sheer exhilaration and complete disbelief we experienced after our win. Ok, disbelief from me! My final words of encouragement before we went into the final game were, “We can’t control the outcome, we can only control the moments…go out and have fun but control each moment of the game boys!” And that’s exactly what they did. If you watch the last 1.30 of the game, you will notice that the basketballers in the team controlled the outcome. It was gut-wrenching, stomach churning, nail-biting to watch!
What has been the response to the team bringing home the title?
Our community is so amazingly positive about anything an Iggy boy does. While football is often thought of as the main focus of our college, the sheer number of other sports we play and are successful in really demonstrates our school spirit. The support from both staff and students has been overwhelming. Netball is the new football at our college 😊.
Will you return to defend your standing?
Funnily enough, I have had many boys in year 11 coming up to me saying, “Miss, I’m going to be your new shooter next year” or “Miss, I make a great WD”. It makes me smile. Of course with that much interest, it would be silly to not continue with playing netball in 2023. But for now, I need a break from all those 7am trainings and having no free lunchtimes!
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Personally, a huge thanks to both Deb Eastlake and Maddy Searle from NQ for the support, help and love they showered on our team. I have learnt so much in training the boys, getting advice from the gurus of the sport (thanks Amanda Loechel), and being exposed to such a high level competition which is the Vicki Wilson Cup. For a bunch of undisciplined, naive country boys who only four months ago played their first game of netball, they are testimony to how with a bit of skill and love of the game, amazing things are possible. So what do two NRL contracted footy players, and QRU representatives have in common with state waterpolo, cricket, soccer, basketball and surf life saving titleholders? They all LOVED playing netball and became state champs – now that’s something to celebrate!
