Coffs Harbour Primary School wins cup
By Tara Waniganayaka
Coffs Harbour Public School returned to school triumphant when they took out the North Coast leg of the Paul Kelly Cup on the 20th of March.
Held in Coffs Harbour, the competition brought kids from nine schools across 16 teams together, and they displayed their best skills and spirit despite the dampening weather, leaving with incredible stories to tell their family and friends.
The Paul Kelly Cup is the largest AFL primary school competition in NSW/ACT, consisting of local round robin competition for students in Years 5 and 6 culminating in regional and state finals.
Games are played on a smaller field using modified 12-a-side rules.
A number of students of the Coffs Harbour Public School team are currently participating in an AFL NSW/ACT multicultural program. However with only a few regular AFL players on their side, teacher-coach Scott Murphy capitalised on the team’s initial first round loss to Sawtell Public School to further develop their understanding of the game.
Murphy’s pep talk was evidently successful, with Coffs Harbour charging through to win their next two pool games to scrape into the semi finals.
They then played the previously undefeated Bellingen Public School, but defeated all odds and victoriously marked, kicked and ran their way into the grand final.
With the grand final being a rematch of their first round loss to rival Sawtell, Coach Murphy was tentative and unsure about Coffs Harbour’s chances.
Before the game he stated, “The development of the boys’ skills and their understanding of the game have been phenomenal today. I’m not sure if we can win but it will be closer than last time.”
However the kids of Coffs Harbour pulled through, jumping almost immediately to a three goal lead in the first half.
The multicultural program students, many of whom had a Sudanese background, improved incredibly during the game and fought back Sawtell to win 5.1.31 to 4.1.25.
In a token of good faith, Murphy was quick to point out that he was proudest of “how you’ve listened, tried your hardest and improved today.”
Coffs Harbour will now undertake regular training sessions leading into the Regional Final for the Northern NSW division of the Cup, to be held at BCU International Stadium on Monday May 27th.
