thunderdoc
Team Captain
Helps having PBC High as a School of excellence helps NQ Suns players locate to PBC if seriously want to be drafted as do kids that live in Northern NSW. No equivalent setup in Brisbane to date
QAFL 2023 Season
- Thread starter Thommo 42
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I know its nothing to do with our comp up here but disturbing news down south in the major league be it Ovens and Murray is that Corowa -Rutherglen have gone into recess,, now thats big time stuff in country footy in the heartland
Do any of the Brisbane SHSchools have an AFL program?
I wonder if AFL now being played in the private schools here could see further development. From what I read on BF, there are quite a few Lions academy kids at St Laurence's and Villanova.
Another one in the Kyneton league as well I think. When people like saying we should take our lead from footy in the south i'm not sure they are actually fully across what a dire situation it is in country Vic in particular.
Park Ridge SHS had a program - not sure if still do? Victoria Point SHS?
Only ones I know of in Brisbane with Narangba Valley SHS and Mountain Creek SHS servicing the northern end. Possibly none of these schools will attract kids to them though with scholarships. Not sure overly necessary though to have schools that offer and there is some chat at EQ level that these "excellence schools" may be a thing of the past. None of these schools have had anyone drafted from them though.
- Thread starter
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There are a bunch of "AFL Schools of Excellence" in Brisbane, none of them producing anything remotely excellent. Its a laughable system.
PBCSHS do it well though, in multiple sports.
PBCSHS do it well though, in multiple sports.
That's regrettable. I'm going back to the very early 90's, but a number of Brisbane schools had CAD programs for various sports or artistic endeavours. I had hoped these still existed.
Sunnybank SHS used to have an athletics program with a lot of the school aged national level athletes, had kids go to the olympics and I'm pretty sure the director at the time was an ex Australian track and field coach. MacGregor had volleyball, and I think hockey, as well as a CAD dance program. Wavell SHS of course had league. They're the ones I knew about.
Sandgate?
- Feb 10, 2018
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Not any more. They just do an “Athlete Development Program”
Named it after you
thunderdoc
Team Captain
The new Brisbane South High school has a relationship with the Lions Academy but they will be Brisbane kids already aligned to clubs
PBC and Helensvale High by far run the most successful Aussie rules school programs in the whole state. Helensvale seems to feed most of their players into Labrador at the club level but it doesn't seem to translate into QAFL success as much as it does for PBC. Either way, the Q Cup Schools Championship Final is basically a two horse race every year to see who wins out of PBC and Helensvale. No other school even comes close to those two in all of Queensland.
Definitely a leg up for Labrador and Palmy, particularly Palmy having that school AFL program literally right next door.
Obviously the rugby codes still dominate school footy in QLD though
On another subject, Anyone willing to have a go at predicting the ladder
Aspley
Cats
PBC
Redland
Noosa
wilston grange
——-
Maroochy
Sherwood
Surfers
Lab
Morningside
Mt Gravatt
I’m a bit concerned there could be a bigger gap between top and bottom this year
BrisbaneBlue
Senior List
If the QAFL wants the best juniors they need to get the GPS schools to play AFL. At the moment they don't and I haven't heard that there are any plans to. GPS is the elite private schools including Grammar, Nudgee, Churchie, Southport School, Toowoomba Grammar, Terrace, BBC, as well as Brisbane State. They run their own comps and are ultra competitive. These schools have really good development programs for the sports they compete in such as rugby, swimming, basketball, cricket, cross country, soccer, etc. If talented kids go to these schools they get great scholarships. Parents actually get there kids into specific sports to get their kids to get scholarships to these schools. These are the schools that have the resources to develop juniors.
Park Ridge SHS are getting their program back on track after being off the rails last 4-5 years as few key staff had outside interest that stagnated program.
Craig McBrien back involved who had it flourishing on his watch when they were state champions and always competed well against Palmy and Helensvale. Apparently record in take this year of Year 7’s not that means it has talent though, but a step in right direction.
Thommo thought Sherwood have done alright out of program at Park Ridge with likes of Baker, Greene, Briggs, James, Bonney etc all playing seniors at Sherwood? So probably not that laughable?
Assuming they need to be developed as athletes in these sports at school of course?? The school AFL is a participation numbers activity basically. The AFL, unlike many of these other sports, such as union, have a very strong basis outside of school for developing athletes. What could change in a state like Qld is that kids select AFL as their preferred sport over league and to a lesser degree union whilst young. Getting the right athlete is a great start.
benchwarmer101
Team Captain
- Oct 31, 2019
- 319
- 232
- AFL Club
- Gold Coast
Aspley
Redland
PBC
Cats
Noosa
wilston grange
Maroochy
Morningside
Surfers
Lab
Sherwood
Mt Gravatt
Redland
PBC
Cats
Noosa
wilston grange
Maroochy
Morningside
Surfers
Lab
Sherwood
Mt Gravatt
BrisbaneBlue
Senior List
That is where the GPS schools do well. They get kids to choose the sport, so they can get scholarships. Really the parents get them into the sport so they can get a scholarship to a top school. They do develop well though as they get great coaches, and develop strong support systems. They put a lot of money in. They play most sports on Saturday which allows kids to play both days, as most Qld underage is played on Sunday. They they help develop prestige for a sport as it is played by the elite schools. It also encourages to keep playing until they reach grade 12 as they are on scholarships and their school mates are with them. My kids go to a GPS school and these are big schools with a massive gap. My kids are swimmers, basketballers, and soccer players for their school, but they would much prefer to play AFL, although they do in club land. There are some of their mates playing AFL, but school sports are almost mandatory and the schools have policies that penalise them if they miss training or don't play a sport for the school. That being said, these are great competitions and a very good standard. The private schools in Victoria have strong AFL programs with scholarships etc and they develop great players. I think this is a huge gap in the Queensland AFL landscape.
Miller1971
Club Legend
- Jun 15, 2020
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you tick a box saying you play club footy, you get entry to the school regardless of of your postcode. You don't actually have to be any good.
The best school based footy programs in Brisbane are the likes of Lauries, Villa, Iona etc who are actually now putting resources and time into it and if you watch some of the AIC games, the standard is very very good.
The GPS system is being completely left behind, where the dying sport of Rugby Union is king and other than that, they likes swimmers, track athletes and cricketers. AIC is the dominant private school sporting competition these days that the GPS once held for 100 years, but is fast becoming irrelevant. They remain prestigious schools, but sporting wise they are being left for dead.
Aspley
Broadbeach
Noosa
PBC
Redland
Labrador
___
Sherwood
Maroochydore
Surfers
Wilston Grange
Morningside
Mt Gravatt
though Grange might finish a bit higher than this prediction, as if you take a look, they have a seriously sweetheart fixture.
