Girls Sport Victoria - History

History

In 1999, the Principal of Melbourne Girls Grammar School, Christine Briggs, held a meeting of Principals of girls' schools at the Lyceum Club. She felt the need to organise the meeting after receiving a letter of invitation from the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) inviting her school to join their association.

Many APS boys' schools had introduced co-education and were finding it difficult to provide adequate inter-school sports experiences for their female students. As the oldest schools association, APS felt it was in a strong position to convince independent girls' schools to become members. Briggs was concerned that the APS saw girls' schools as the solution to their problem, and was aware that girls' schools were fragmented into so many sporting associations, that the approach might be successful for the APS, whilst negatively impacting on girls' schools.

Briggs put the issue of girls' sport to the Principals at the meeting, and it was agreed that it was time to consider the idea of a new sports organisation catering for the needs of all-female schools. It was stressed by many that the heritage of girls' sport built over more than a century by the involved schools could not be abandoned or seriously affected.

Following this meeting, a forum was led by Diana Bowman, the former Principal of SCEGGS Darlinghurst in New South Wales, who had much experience with the successful and foremost girls' sporting association in her State, the Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association (the sporting arm of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools). It was at this forum that the decision was made to create a new sports organisation to which the 24 girls' schools could belong, and that existing Associations would then cease to exist. In the same year, the name "Girls Sport Victoria" was selected for the new organisation. Further, it was acknowledged that creating "Girls Sport Victoria" would take time, and therefore a Project Officer was needed to undertake the task. Fiona Preston was the person selected, and began work immediately in order to complete preparations for the commencement of the sports program in 2001. She was supported by a Committee of Principals, a Committee of Heads of Sport, and working committees for each sport.

Preston, along with the first Executive Officer, Ms. Meredith Prime, and a small group of staff, created a program of sports and three major carnivals, track and field, Swimming and Diving, and Cross Country in three Divisions. Zoned groups of schools were established for weekly interschool competitions in Netball, Basketball, Softball, Tennis, Indoor Cricket, Hockey, Waterpolo, Soccer, Volleyball and Badminton. In addition, Saturday morning sport, which was especially attractive to boarding schools, offered Golf, Australian Rules Football, Taekwondo and Triathlon. Also organised were seasonal competitions in Cricket and Surf League, and 'fun days' for students in Years 7 and 8.

Many challenges were met by the organisers, such as the vast geographic spread of the schools; the varying size of schools, ranging from 300 to almost 2000 students; the differences in quality and number of sports facilities within and outside schools; the difference in strength between schools and within sports; the cost to schools to meet their responsibilities; concern about potential loss of academic time through travel to venues; the determination of GSV rules and regulations; talent identification; promotion of leadership opportunities; and the availability of quality umpiring.