Participation in sport can increase confidence, strategic thinking, leadership and teamwork. Our Senior School sport programs cater for those for whom sport is purely a leisure activity as well as those who aim to enter into elite competition or pursue professional sporting pathways.
Local and international competitions
We participate in the Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) Sport program, together with another 10 independent schools. All students compete in inter-school competitions that are generally held on Saturdays, participating in at least two APS sports over the course of year.
Training normally occurs before or after school, twice a week. Choices include athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, cross country, football, futsal, hockey, rowing, soccer, swimming and diving, table tennis, tennis, volleyball and water polo.
Students may also choose from sports offered by other associations. These include rugby and snowsports.
Along with local competitions, Melbourne Grammar School also provides opportunities to for sporting teams to compete against interstate or overseas teams. Teams have competed in rugby in New Zealand, South Africa and the UK, cricket in England and water polo in USA.
Senior School sports facilities
Our students are supported to achieve through the high standard of our sporting facilities and expertise of coaches across our sports curriculum. Our purpose-built sports facilities for senior students include:
- Strickland Physical Education Centre, which includes a gymnasium with facilities for volleyball, basketball, badminton and table tennis; four tennis courts; a weight training room and an indoor heated swimming pool.
- Edwin Flack Park, which includes nine tennis courts, an AFL football/cricket ground, hockey field and soccer/rugby ground.
Students also regularly use the well-maintained playing fields and tracks around nearby parks and gardens including the Tan running track, while rowing is organised around the School's boathouse on the Yarra River.
Opportunities for elite athletes
Some of our students use the sports program at Melbourne Grammar School as a stepping stone to a sporting career. Every AFL club has had a Melbourne Grammar alumnus playing in its senior team at some point, with elite athletes in cricket, gymnastics, soccer, basketball and snowsports also part of our alumni community.
Numerous Olympians are Melbourne Grammar alumni including gold medalists in rowing, sailing and athletics. In fact, Australia’s first Olympic representative, Edwin Flack, is an alumnus, with our main sporting complex – Edwin Flack Park – is named in his honour.