Caica Cup

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (15:26): I am sure you would recall, Deputy Speaker, that Thursday 4 May was a beautiful, typical autumn day up to 25º, a cool morning, one of those days that makes autumn so good and that we really love. But what made it an even more wonderful day was the fact that it was the seventh running of the Caica Cup.

Members have heard me speak before about the Caica Cup. The Caica Cup is a whole-of-school sporting challenge between two outstanding high schools in my electorate: Henley High School, the member for Chaffey's and my old high school, and St Michael's College, where my wife Annabel attended school. It is easy to say that it is named in recognition of the support—this is what the school would say—that the member for Colton (me) gives to both of those schools. It was a terrific event. It was originally created to celebrate the relationship between the two schools and, since the advent of the cup, the relationship between the schools has got even better. What we are seeing today is a very friendly rivalry in the various sporting events that are contested between the two schools.

Just for your information, Deputy Speaker, some of the events they have there—and, as I have said, it is whole-of-school—are girls basketball and boys basketball across all the divisions within the school. We have soccer—which St Michael's is exceptionally good at—boys soccer and girls soccer, tennis and sprinting, which they call the Caica Gift Sprint. I saw very good sprinters on that day. Of course, they have both boys and girls Aussie Rules football, volleyball and netball, and even surf lifesaving and golf.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Calisthenics?

The Hon. P. CAICA: Calisthenics is not in it. It is interesting that you should say that because not only are we the two outstanding schools but we have two outstanding principals: principal John Foley from St Michael's and our new principal at Henley High School, Eddie Fabijan. They are talking about how we can expand the Caica Cup in the future. Not everyone plays sport, so we are looking at some other types of events. It might be music, it might be debating, it could be whatever they decide to expand the number of events they have to actually engage others who might not be as interested in sport as some are.

The competition between the schools has always been tough and this year was no exception. It was exciting to attend both campuses over the day. They are in close proximity to each other, the different team events. If you were playing at Henley High School and you were from St Michael's, you would just walk down to Henley High School or to the seaside tennis courts, or to the Henley Surf Life Saving Club if you were competing in surf lifesaving. It is always a very well-contested event.

As the day progressed, Henley managed to take charge in a couple of events and come away with victory on that particular day in that Caica Cup. As I said, it was the seventh one. I think Henley has won most of them, seven of the two or six of the three—I will have to look for that—but, not withstanding that, it is a great event. I was probably a little bit saddened during the presentation because I just presumed that it was going to be the last Caica Cup. I would have thought that the schools would determine that I am no longer the local member and they might name it after the next local member after I have gone, but what the principals decided was that such a tradition has been created that they will continue with the Caica Cup.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: For perpetuity.

The Hon. P. CAICA: Forever, that's right, which is a really nice thing. I was heartened by that and very pleased. I again thank principal Foley and principal Fabijan for coming to that conclusion. As I said, and I can correct the record because I was wrong, Henley has won five Caica Cups and St Michael's has won two, but every one of those, where Henley has won, has been very tightly contested.

Most importantly, I see the spirit in which the events are contested. The kids at the school, the students at the school, really like playing in it and enjoy it very much. I am looking forward to next year, being there again and also presenting the medals for each of the events. It is a good full day's event. I think it is a very good initiative that has been established between St Michael's College and Henley High School, two outstanding schools in my electorate, and I thank them very much for continuing the tradition.

A big thank you to the sport coordinator at SMC, Jordan Young, and James Treagus from Henley for helping to coordinate the event. Of course, a huge thank you to all the staff and students involved from both schools, as this is what the day is really about. We had over 200 students and 15 staff involved in the day and, if it were not for the assistance and support from the schools' administration, the day would not go ahead.