Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales

Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales
Formation 1892[1]
Headquarters Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Membership
The King's School
Sydney Grammar School
Newington College
Saint Ignatius' College
St Joseph's College
Sydney Boys High School
Sydney Church of England Grammar School
The Scots College
The Armidale School [2]
Official language
English
Secretary General
President: Phil Harry AM Grammar
Chairman: Michael Curran
Grammar
Hon Secretary:
Mark Gainford
High
Hon Treasurer:
Mark Ticehurst
Shore [3]
Website aagps.nsw.edu.au

The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS), also known as GPS or Great Public Schools is an association boys' schools in New South Wales, Australia that contest sporting events among themselves. AAGPS was formed on 30 March 1892,[1] and today has nine members - eight Sydney schools and one northern NSW country school[2]

GPS representative sports sides are selected for matches are typically against representative sides of the Combined Associated Schools (CAS), Independent Schools Association (ISA) and Combined High Schools (CHS).

Of the 130 Rhodes Scholars from 1904 to 2006 and from New South Wales, 85 attended a GPS School.[4]

History

The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS) was formed at a meeting held at Gunsler’s Café, near Circular Quay, on 30 March 1892. The schools represented at this first meeting were The King's School, Saint Ignatius' College, St Joseph's College, All Saints College, Bathurst and the North Shore Grammar School (Shore). On 12 April, representatives from Sydney Grammar School, Newington College and Cooerwull Academy joined those who had attended the first meeting.[1]

A third meeting was held on 28 April 1892, where membership of the AAGPS was clarified, and St Patrick's College, Goulburn, St Stanislaus College, Bathurst, and The Scots College joined those Schools who attended the first two meetings.[1]

Sydney High School applied for membership in March 1894, but were not accepted for admission until 14 February 1906. The final entrant was The Armidale School, who were admitted to the Association on 7 May 1897.[1]

Schools

Current member schools

School[2] Location Enrolment Founded Denomination Day/Boarding Year Entered
Competition
Also known as
The King's School North Parramatta 1500 1831 Anglican Day and Boarding 1892 Kings
Sydney Grammar School Darlinghurst 1109 1854 Non-denominational Day 1892 Grammar
Newington College Stanmore 1600 1863 Uniting Church Day and Boarding 1892 Newington
Saint Ignatius' College Riverview 1569 1880 Roman Catholic Day and Boarding 1892 Iggies, View, Riverview
St Joseph's College Hunters Hill 900 1881 Roman Catholic Day and Boarding 1892 Joeys
Sydney Boys High School Moore Park 1180 1883 Secular Day 1906 High
Shore School North Sydney 1600 1889 Anglican Day and Boarding 1892 Shore, SCEGS
The Scots College Bellevue Hill 1800 1892 Presbyterian Day and Boarding 1893 Scots
The Armidale School Armidale 800 1894 Anglican Day and Boarding 1897 TAS

Former member schools

School Location Founded Denomination Day/Boarding Year Entered
Competition
Current Status
St Stanislaus College Bathurst 1867 Roman Catholic Boys
Day and Boarding
1892 now a member of the
Independent Schools Association
All Saints College Bathurst 1873 Anglican Co-educational
Day and Boarding
1892 now an associate member of the
Independent Schools Association
Cooerwull Academy Lithgow 1851 Presbyterian Day and Boarding 1892 closed during World War I
St Patrick's College Goulburn 1873 Roman Catholic Day and Boarding 1892 now Trinity Catholic College

Sports and trophies

St Joseph's students at AAGPS athletics, 1939
The King's School eight-oar crew, 1932
Sydney Grammar School 5th XV, 1945
The Armidale School 1st XI Cricket Team, 1895
Newington's eight-oar crew, 1932

The sports contested are:

Rugby union

Main article: AAGPS (NSW) Rugby

The official rugby union competition commenced in 1892.

Athletics

The official athletics competition commenced in 1892. In 1912 the competition was divided into two levels – Senior and Junior. In 2012 a third level, intermediate, was added.

Cricket

The official cricket competition commenced in 1893. As early as 1897 the competition was in First and Second Grade.

Rowing

The official rowing competition commenced in 1893. Some schools had competed at club competition before then. The Head of the River is the main event of the rowing season. It takes place annually in the first term at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

Rifle shooting

The official rifle shooting competition commenced in 1905 but results of the National Rifle Association competition are recorded from 1893. The AAGPS decided in 1903 to formally admit Shooting as one of its sports.

Tennis

The official tennis competition commenced in 1972.

Basketball

The official basketball competition commenced in 1975.

Swimming

The official swimming competition commenced in 2000. Unofficial competition commenced in 1987 among all nine schools but competitions between the schools via a GPS Relay at each School’s Swimming Carnival started in 1922. Between 1903 - 1921 All Schools races were held over various distances at each School’s Swimming Carnival.

Cross country

The official cross country competition commenced in 1988.

Football

Main article: AAGPS (NSW) Soccer

The official football competition commenced in 1988

Notable GPS sporting alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "AAGPS History". Info. Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  2. 1 2 3 "Member Schools". Info. Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  3. "AAGPS Convenors". Info. Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
  4. "NSW Rhodes Scholars"University of Sydney list, (retrieved 29 June 2006)

External links

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