Girls Sport Victoria

Girls' Sport Victoria

Abbreviation	GSV
Formation	2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Headquarters	Sports House Albert Park, Victoria, Australia
Location	Melbourne, Victoria
Membership	24 member schools (~21,000 students collectively)
Official language	English
Executive Officer	Michelle Barry
Website	gsv.vic.edu.au

Girls' Sport Victoria (GSV) was established in 2001, and is one of the largest independent school sporting associations in Victoria, Australia, with 24 member schools from around Melbourne.^[1]

GSV provides approximately 16,500 girls, from years seven to twelve, with the opportunity to be involved in over 20 sports through weekly competitions, carnivals, tournaments and skill development programs.^[2]

In 1999, the principal of Melbourne Girls Grammar School, Christine Briggs, held a meeting of principals of girls' schools at the Lyceum Club. She felt the need to organise the meeting after receiving a letter of invitation from the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) inviting her school to join their association.^[5] The other schools invited included Firbank Grammar School, Genazzano FCJ College, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Presbyterian Ladies' College and Toorak College.

Many APS boys' schools had introduced co-education and were finding it difficult to provide adequate inter-school sports experiences for their female students. As the oldest schools association, APS felt it was in a strong position to convince independent girls' schools to become members. Briggs was concerned that the APS saw girls' schools as the solution to their problem, and was aware that girls' schools were fragmented into so many sporting associations, that the approach might be successful for the APS, but harming girls' schools.^[5]

Briggs put the issue of girls' sport to the principals at the meeting, and it was agreed that it was time to consider the idea of a new sports organisation catering for the needs of all-female schools. It was stressed by many that the heritage of girls' sport built over more than a century by the involved schools could not be abandoned or seriously affected.

Following this meeting, a forum was led by Diana Bowman, the former principal of SCEGGS Darlinghurst in New South Wales, who had much experience with the successful and foremost girls' sporting association in her State, the Independent Girls' Schools Sporting Association (the sporting arm of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools). It was at this forum that the decision was made to create a new sports organisation to which the 24 girls' schools could belong, and that existing Associations would then cease to exist. In the same year, the name "Girls Sport Victoria" was selected for the new organisation. Further, it was acknowledged that creating "Girls Sport Victoria" would take time, and therefore a Project Officer was needed to undertake the task. Fiona Preston was the person selected, and began work immediately in order to complete preparations for the commencement of the sports program in 2001. She was supported by a Committee of Principals, a Committee of Heads of Sport, and working committees for each sport.^[5]

Preston, along with the first executive officer, Meredith Prime, and a small group of staff, created a program of sports and three major carnivals, track and field, swimming and diving, and cross country in three Divisions. Zoned groups of schools were established for weekly interschool competitions in netball, basketball, softball, tennis, indoor cricket, hockey, water polo, soccer, volleyball, and badminton. In addition, Saturday morning sport, which was especially attractive to boarding schools, offered golf, Australian rules football, taekwondo, and triathlon. Also organised were seasonal competitions in cricket and Surf League, and 'fun days' for students in Years 7 and 8.^[5]

Many challenges were met by the organisers, such as the vast geographic spread of the schools; the varying size of schools, ranging from 300 to almost 2000 students; the differences in quality and number of sports facilities within and outside schools; the difference in strength between schools and within sports; the cost to schools to meet their responsibilities; concern about potential loss of academic time through travel to venues; the determination of GSV rules and regulations; talent identification; promotion of leadership opportunities; and the availability of quality umpiring.^[5]

Prior to the establishment of Girls' Sport Victoria,^[6] there were seven girls' schools sporting associations catering to the sporting needs of the 24 GSV schools, and a small number of other schools. These associations were subsequently disbanded in 2001.^[5]

Church Secondary Schools Sports Association, later the Associated Anglican Girls’ Grammar Schools (AAGGS), was created in 1920 and conducted the first combined girls’ schools sports day in Victoria on 30 April 1920, at Toorak Park, Armadale.^[7] The first cultural event held by the Associated Church of England Girls’ Grammar Schools was a Combined Choir Festival at the St Kilda Town Hall on Thursday 9 October 1941, in aid of Red Cross Funds with the guest of honour being Miss Una Bourne.^[8]

The Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association (GSSSA), later the Girls' Schools Sports Association (GSSA) was formed in 1920. In the early 1990s, it changed its name to the Girls Schools Association (GSA).^[5]

^Tintern participated in the Swimming Carnivals from at least 1949 – 1953 and the Athletics Carnivals from 1956 – 1958

The "Girls’ Schools Sports Association", formerly the Eastern Suburbs Association and later the Eastern Sports Association (ESA), was formed in 1975. In 1984, Loreto Toorak was invited to participate as a non-voting member and in 1988, the girls at Wesley College were also invited to participate as a non-voting member. In 1993, Carey Grammar was asked to re-consider its membership of the new GSSA, as it was the only co-educational school in the ESA. Genazzano was invited to participate as a non-voting member in 1993 before becoming a full member the following year following the departure of Carey Grammar. Athletics and swimming carnivals were conducted and students competed in baseball, basketball, cricket, hockey, netball and tennis competitions throughout the year.^[5]

The Public Schools Association, later known as the Girls’ Private Schools Victorian Sports Association, was created in 1904 and conducted their first tennis competition soon thereafter.^[9]

The Catholic Girls Sports Association of Victoria (CGSAV), formerly the Secondary Catholic Sports Association (SCSA) is a sporting body that promotes and provides sporting carnivals for a group of Catholic girls schools in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia^[10] established in 1980. Membership of the SCSA is restricted to metropolitan and country Catholic Secondary Schools, upon payment of the annual affiliation fee. Membership is open either to girls’ schools or coeducational Catholic Colleges, however events cater only for girls.^[10]

NB: For a brief period, two Associations existed with the name "Girls' Schools Sports Association".

Students from Girls Sport Victoria member schools participate in a wide range of sporting activities including:

Weekly Sports

• Australian Football
• Badminton
• Basketball
• Cricket
• Indoor Cricket
• Hockey
• Netball
• Soccer
• Softball
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Waterpolo

Carnivals

• Cross Country
• Diving
• Swimming
• Track and Field (2023 the GSV conducted its first Years 5 & 6 Track & Field event over two days in August)

Sport Skills Program

• Cycle sport
• Diving
• Fencing

Other Events

• Basketball Tournament
• Five a side Soccer Tournament
• Golf Tournament
• Triathlon
• Year 7 Sports Expo

Representative Sport

• Cross Country
• Netball
• Soccer
• Swimming
• Volleyball
• Water Polo

Head of the Schoolgirls Regatta

• List of schools in Victoria
• List of high schools in Victoria

• Girls Sport Victoria