Medina, Deana, Aaron, Dean, AJ, Tamu, Ben McGee, Luke, Daniel, Joseph, Keelan, Ben, Guy, Mary, Shane and Travis McIntosh are ecstatic at the news Eumemmerring Secondary College will be offering scholarships in its sports academy program next year. Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Marc McGowan
EUMEMMERRING Secondary College is set to strike a blow for the public school system by offering scholarships into its ground-breaking sports academy program.
Two scholarships will be offered for each of the six sports in the program – Australian Rules football, cricket, basketball, soccer, rugby league and netball – and are available to both genders.
Each scholarship has been valued at $700 annually and will cover all costs involved in the sports academy.
Students will be awarded the scholarships for a two-year period, but will be assessed after the first year.
Eumemmerring Secondary College sports academy director Ben McGee is thrilled with the news.
“We want to produce a really strong sporting culture at the school and we see sport as one of the flagships that the region is going to identify us with,” he said.
Potential scholarship holders will have to reach certain standards to be accepted, McGee said.
“Talent is a criteria, and sportsmanship, and definitely academic achievement is one of the criteria,” he said.
“We’re not expecting straight As, but we’re expecting them to show historical commitment to their studies.
“We also want sport to play a major role in their future pathways and we’re looking for them to show leadership.”
Netball is the latest sport to feature at the college, and Gillian Lees, who coaches Monash University Central in the Netball Victoria State League, has been employed as the high-performance coach.
McGee believes Lees’ appointment last month further enhanced the quality of the program.
“Basically, she will direct our coaching, our match play, our conditioning, and work very closely with Rhonda Johnstone, who is our staff member, and that particular scheme reciprocates itself over each sport,” he said.
“To be able to claim it as an academy of excellence, you need two things – you’ve got to be providing high-performance environments and you’ve also got to have people who have got expertise in their field.”
Travis McIntosh and Sean Goss are the directors of coaching for the sports academy program.
