Haileybury Students shine on the national stage
LA Rams partnership helping grow Flag Football
As the official Melbourne school partner of the LA Rams, Haileybury is playing a leading role in growing Flag Football in schools and helping create a lasting legacy from the NFL’s historic visit to Australia. Through our ongoing partnership with the Rams, students have been introduced to the sport through coaching development, Come and Try opportunities and the recent LA Rams Flag Football Gala Day at our Brighton campus.
The Gala Day brought together 24 teams from APS and AGSV schools and highlighted the enormous potential of the sport, with students embracing the challenge of learning new skills while enjoying a fun and inclusive competitive environment.
Importantly, the partnership extends well beyond the Melbourne NFL game. In December, a group of Haileybury students will travel to Los Angeles, where they will experience world-class sporting environments including a visit to SoFi Stadium, while other students are pursuing American football pathway opportunities through specialist coaching with ProKick Australia. Together, these experiences are helping create genuine participation and performance pathways for Haileybury students while supporting the growth of Flag Football and American football in Australia.
While we are excited about creating new sporting opportunities for our students, the recent school holidays also provided another reminder of the extraordinary achievements of Haileybury students across an incredible range of sports.
Badminton
Congratulations to Awen (Year 8 Newlands), a member of our First Badminton Team, who became a National Champion by winning the U17 Women’s Doubles title at the YONEX U13/U17 Australian National Individual Championships. Competing at U17 level while still in Year 8 makes the achievement particularly impressive and is a wonderful reward for Awen’s dedication to the sport.
Tennis
It was also a fantastic holiday period for Thaadhie, who won both the Boys U14 Singles and Doubles titles at the J250 Victorian State Final Championship.
Thaadhie also won the U14 Melbourne Qualifier of the Orange Lion Sports Youth Tennis Series Global Elite Series, securing the opportunity to represent Australia in Shenzhen, China, in November. A terrific series of results and an exciting international opportunity ahead.
Taekwondo
Another student reaching the top step of the podium was Isla (Brighton), who won gold at the AusTKD Australian National Championships to become an Australian National Champion. Becoming a national champion in any sport is an outstanding achievement and a wonderful reward for the commitment Isla has made to training and competition throughout the year.
Equestrian
Our Equestrian riders also produced an exceptional set of performances at the Horseland Australian Interschool Championships, bringing home three National Championship titles, with every Haileybury rider finishing inside the top six nationally.
Ethan (Year 7) was crowned National Champion in All Abilities Show Horse and Reserve Champion in All Abilities Dressage. Pearl (Year 11) won the EV95cm Eventing National Championship and placed third in the 105cm Combined Training, while Maddison (Year 6) became National Champion in the 80cm Primary Show Jumping.
There were also outstanding performances from Zara (Year 4), who finished fourth in Primary Novice Dressage, Annabelle (Year 10), who placed fourth in Open Medium Dressage, and Coco (Year 9), who secured a top six finish in 100cm Showjumping. These results represent one of the most successful national championship campaigns the Haileybury Equestrian program has ever enjoyed and are a credit to the commitment of our riders and their families.
Congratulations to all students on their outstanding achievements and for continuing to represent Haileybury with such distinction on the national stage.
Water polo
In a fantastic result for Haileybury Water polo, Jacob (Y11), Cooper (Y11) and Darcy (Y10) all represented Victoria at the 17&U National State Championships. The Victorian team produced an outstanding tournament to reach the semi-finals before two incredibly close matches saw them finish fourth overall. A special congratulations to Jacob, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Goalkeeper, an exceptional achievement made even more impressive given he is a bottom-age athlete and will be eligible to represent Victoria again at 17&U level next year.
Matthew Dwyer
Head of Sport (One Haileybury)
