The Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) are a group of eleven independent schools in Victoria, Australia, similar to the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools in New South Wales, the Great Public Schools Association in Queensland, and the Public Schools Association in Western Australia. The descriptor "Public School" references the historical usage of the term and the model of the British public school.
The first meet of Public Schools Sports was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 November 1870 with Melbourne Grammar School, Scotch College and Wesley College competing and winning that order. The Association was established in 1908 so member schools may compete against each other on the sporting fields, the original competition sports were Australian Rules Football, Athletics, Rowing and Cricket.
Students now compete in a variety of sports, which are split into three seasons, Summer, Winter and Spring. Students in Year 7 and above compete on Saturdays and students in primary year levels compete on Wednesday afternoons. Major annual competitions include the APS Head of the River Rowing Regattas, the APS Combined Swimming & Diving Championships and the APS Combined Athletics Championships.
In 2001, the APS and Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria coordinated to form a combined AGSV/APS girls' sport program. This was due to the establishment of Girls Sport Victoria in 2000 after a letter was sent to principals of Melbourne Girls Grammar School, Firbank Girls' Grammar School, Genazzano FCJ College, Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak, Presbyterian Ladies' College and Toorak College from the APS, inviting them to join their association, which they all refused. The new AGSV/APS girls' sport program was established to provide opportunities for fair competition to female students of schools from both associations. Of the twenty AGSV/APS schools, twelve are co-educational, eight are boys-only and none are girls-only. As such, most of the sporting competitions are dominated by boys and the opportunities for girls' sport are relatively limited in both associations. The AGSV/APS girls competition runs for the Summer and Winter seasons (not applying to the Athletics, Swimming or other sport that is contested outside the main seasons) and is separate from the boys competition, which remains APS-only.
In March 2005, the APS member schools formed a set of guidelines regarding the awarding of sporting scholarships to students, following criticism of recruiting practices employed by some schools. The headquarters of the APS is known as APS House and is located on Church Street in Hawthorn, Victoria.
Schools
Current member schools SchoolLocationPrincipalEnrolmentFoundedDenominationBoys/girlsDay/boardingYear enteredcompetitionSchool coloursBrighton Grammar SchoolBrightonRoss Featherston1,5001882AnglicanBoysDay1958Navy and redCarey Baptist Grammar SchoolKew, DonvaleJonathan Walter2,6001923BaptistBoys & GirlsDay1958Black, blue and goldCaulfield Grammar SchoolCaulfield, Malvern, Wheelers Hill, Yarra Junction, NanjingAshleigh Martin3,6001881AnglicanBoys & GirlsDay & Boarding1958Navy and whiteThe Geelong CollegeNewtown, GeelongSimon Young1,5001861Associated with the Uniting ChurchBoys & GirlsDay & Boarding1908Dark green, white and navyGeelong Grammar SchoolCorio, Geelong, Toorak, TimbertopRebecca Cody1,5001855AnglicanBoys & GirlsDay & Boarding1900Eton blueHaileyburyBrighton, Berwick, Keysborough, City, Tianjin, DarwinDerek Scott4,6001892Previously associated with the Uniting ChurchBoys & GirlsDay & Boarding1958Magenta, black and goldMelbourne Grammar SchoolMelbourne, CaulfieldPhilip Grutzner1,9001858AnglicanBoysDay & Boarding1900Oxford blueSt Kevin's CollegeToorak, RichmondDeborah Barker2,1201918Roman CatholicBoysDay1958Green, gold and navyScotch CollegeHawthornScott Marsh1,8701851PresbyterianBoysDay & Boarding1900Red, gold and navyWesley CollegeMelbourne, Glen Waverley, ElsternwickNicholas Evans3,4001866Associated with the Uniting ChurchBoys & GirlsDay & Boarding 1900Purple and goldXavier CollegeKew BrightonLee MacMaster1,6001872Roman CatholicBoys Day & Boarding1900Red and black
Sports
Boys Athletics Australian Rules Football Badminton Basketball Cricket Cross Country Diving (since 2015) Futsal European Handball Gymnastics Hockey Rowing Rugby (VSRU runs this competition) Sailing Soccer Squash Swimming & Diving (combined with Diving from 1998 to 2015) Table Tennis Tennis Touch Football Volleyball Water Polo
Girls Athletics Australian Rules Football Badminton Basketball Cross Country Diving (since 2015) Gymnastics Hockey Netball Rowing Soccer Softball Swimming & Diving (combined with Diving from 1998 to 2015) Tennis Touch Football Volleyball Water Polo
Combined Sports Students from the Association's member schools participate in a number of Combined Sports (Championship Carnivals) during the year including Swimming, Diving, Rowing and Athletics.
The APS Regatta (Heads of the River)
The Victorian Head of the River race is contested between the eleven APS schools, the race is usually the last race of the official APS rowing season and has recently been rowed on Lake Nagambie which is a full buoyed international standard course allowing six boat finals. Girls from the APS also participate in the Head of the Schoolgirls regatta, where they compete with schools from other Associations including Girls Sport Victoria (GSV) etc.
See also List of schools in Victoria, Australia
References
External links