On Friday 22 March more than 430 parents, Old Boys and Newington’s sporting community joined some of the most admired sporting legends to celebrate 150 Years of Sport at Newington. It was a chance to look back at the changes that have taken place – the bygone days of Athletics competitions including novelty three-legged races and a ‘wild goose chase’, to the influence early participation in Cricket, Rugby, Athletics and Rifle Shooting has had, since the founding of the College, in helping to shape its identity.

MC for the day, Head of Geography Mr Shane Serhon, followed a special lunch held at Dockside in Sydney’s Cockle Bay Wharf, by introducing a panel of sporting stars as guest speakers to enlighten and entertain the audience about Sport in Australia today, from the Wallabies training sessions to the culture of doping in cycling. The panel included Frank Farina, Greg Chappell, Bob Dwyer, Johnny Lewis, Barry Ross, John Alexander and Old Boy Olympic Triathlete Greg Bennett (ON ’89). John Alexander made particular note of the importance of sport in school, commenting that exposure to the ideals of sport builds character in the very young – something Newington’s sports department celebrates, especially in boys working towards their personal best in every training session and match.

The event was also a chance to celebrate some of Newington’s sporting and coaching greats of the last 150 years, with ‘Dream Teams’ put together for every position in every major sport. The likes of Jim Maiden (ON ‘1880s), 100 yards champion for New South Wales and Victoria, took a position in the sprints section of the Athletics ‘Dream Team’; more recent Newingtonian James Chapman (ON ’97), who achieved a Silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics, was selected to take the third seat in the rowing VIII ‘Dream Team’.

Special thanks to the Sesquicentenary Committee and in particular Marisa Broome, Mark Bland and Rod Bosman, along with College archivist David Roberts, for their roles in making this a fantastic celebration of Newington sport.

To view the 150 Years of Sport brochure, including history and Dream Teams, distributed at the luncheon, please click here.