In Principio v18 no2 (2007)

Fremantle & Sydney students compete at the 2007 Australian Unive~sity Games Dave McLean, Manager of the Fremantle Student Life Office reports: The 2007 Australian University Games were a huge success both on and off the field . The University was represented by a rugby 7's team and two mixed netball teams, one comprising students from the Sydney Campus and the other comprising students from the Fremantle Campus. A total of 30 Notre Dame students travelled to the Gold Coast to join over 6500 students from across Australia for the week long multi sports event. Despite some extremely unfortunate injuries to key players Karlie Moran (Sydney - knee) and Fiona Paige (Fremantle - arm) the results in the Mixed Netball were outstanding. The Fremantle side were undefeated in Division 2, which was made up of 21 teams, and won the competition with a thumping of Deakin University in t he final. The score was 51 - 26. This earns the side promotion into the Division 1 competition next year, and with the dominance displayed, the team would be a huge chance to succeed in next year's competition. The Sydney side were equally as impressive. With a win loss record of 5 - 3 during the week the side fin ished thirteenth in the same competition. After losing the first two matches, the team put together a sensational win, smashing the University of Western Sydney 51 - 20, then backing that up later in the day to defeat RM IT 50 - 26. The Rugby 7's team w as competing at the Uni Games for t he fifth consecutive year continuing the tradition that has been nurtured from year to year between our Rugby players. The t eam finished fourth overall, equalling the performance of the first team that competed in Newcastle in 2003. It was a brave performance especially considering the injuries sustained by some of the players. Prior to leaving for the games, one member was forced to withdraw from the Games with injury. This was a sign of things to come with the side battling through the week to make it into the bronze medal match with only seven fit players remaining. The bronze medal match against Macquarie was a tight battle and at half time the scores w ere level with neither side troubling the scorers. A clash of heads just before half time saw the team reduced to six players, forcing the side to play one short for the remainder of the match. This proved too much for the team, despite their brave efforts. Well done to Andrew Smit h who earnt selection in t he Green and Gold team for Rugby 7's. The Green and Gold team consists of the best nine players of t he tournament, as voted by t he umpires. Andrew was a standout player, with his strength, speed and endurance coming to t he fore in the gruelling competition. One of the highlights of the week was t he unity displayed between students from the Sydney and Fremantle Campuses. Despite studying on opposite sides of the country, the camaraderie shown between the students made it seem as though they were from the same classroom. It was a fantastic week and all students are to be congratulated for thei r superb performances on the field, and the sportsmanship t hat was displayed during the week. 25 • \/) --i C 0 rn z --i C ,, rn