Sporting Excellence Camp 2010
On the 25th of August, the Bairnsdale Secondary College Sporting Excellence class headed down to Melbourne. We hit the road at 6:10am as Mr Martin was the last to arrive.
We belted out tunes along the way like “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers, which soon became THE ultimate camp song.
Upon arrival we were dropped off at Melbourne Storms new headquarters AAMI Stadium. We were given a tour with the highlights being given a complimentary hat and watching "the boys" train. Robbie Kearns and Peter Robinson (Robbo) gave us an inspirational speech about his life and how he came from a place just like Bairnsdale and how it is possible for anyone to succeed in life if you just put your mind to it.
We were lucky enough to watch a training session up-close of Storm and also the Collingwood Football Club during a private training session.
In cold weather with wind and rain, we ran the famous TAN running track which is 3.8km long. We continued our suffering in an intense training session with hill sprints and body weight training.
We were given a tour of the Shrine and an extensive, in-depth speech about the Shrine and its background.
That night after checking into our accommodation, we hopped back on the bus to the Westfield shopping centre where we feasted, and then continued our trip to Braybrook. We stayed at an arcade for 4 hours which had laser tag, mechanical bull riding, dodgem cars, bowling, mini golf and much much more.
On day 2 we got up bright and early and headed down to the beach for a training session. After frolicking in the sand for a while we headed up to the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre for a dip in the wave pool, and a slide down the water slide.
For the next 4 hours we had a team competition called Mad Dash, which is like the amazing race but just in the city. After covering many miles and participating in many embarrassing tasks, the victory went the group consisting of Zoe Redshaw, Cam Ingram, Iylish Egan and Phil Donnelly who smashed the field returning an hour early and winning by over 200 points.
We went to the Crown Casino food plaza for a feed. After we ate we headed off to the new Ice House where we skated on an Olympic sized ring. We also met an Olympic skater.
After packing up camp and piling back onto the bus, we went to the Victorian Institutes of Sports Velodrome where we were given a lesson on cycling and safety tips. We also meet Shane Perkins who placed second at the World Championships. After time trials around the Velodrome, we had a few games of carpet bowls.
After dieing of starvation for many hours, Mr Martin finally decided to feed us, so we hopped back onto the bus and headed home.
The trip was a great experience and we thank Mr Martin and Miss Clarke for taking us. J
By Zoe Redshaw, Chris Ellul and Tara Aikas.