Here is a short message from Craig Cornwell after receiving the SSV Life Membership Award.
"I began my journey into secondary school sports in 1984 at McAuley College, a secondary catholic school in St.Arnaud. McAuley College had been granted entry into the North Central Schools Secondary Sports Association (now the North Central Division) at the end of 1983. It was allowed to compete against local secondary government schools but not allowed to be represented at any higher levels. My first year saw me thrown into the sports coordinator role. It was a steep learning curve. However, I had great mentors from local schools who were able to assist and guide me. This is where I first experienced that great camaraderie and a sense of family, which existed until I retired at the end of 2023. In particular, I'd like to make mention of Barry McKenzie and Gary Armfield who were always willing to give their time to help me in those early years. This was usually done via phone calls (landline, not mobile) or fax (no email), a little bit different from today!
I quickly learned that school sport was something I loved. I developed a passion that was difficult to explain. I loved working with other sports coordinators, my fellow teaching staff, and most importantly the students. At a local level, students could be involved in what I call the five core sports. These were football, netball, cricket, tennis and basketball. However, at a school sports level, more sports could be offered and students could experience a wider variety. In particular, I became hooked on swimming, athletics, and cross country. I began developing systems to run local and district carnivals. Each year I would want to make sure these days run as smoothly as possible, always looking to improve experiences for the competitors and staff who acted as officials on the day. As well as the organization of these carnivals, I thought that if students were to compete at a house or inter-school level, they should be as best equipped as possible. Therefore, I began to run training sessions. These took place at lunchtime, after school, or even on weekends. Most students loved attending these sessions and saw vast improvements in their performances. This slowly became a 'culture' and students were increasingly keen to be selected in inter-school teams to represent our school at a higher level.
I made the change to St.Arnaud Secondary College in 2021. Again I took on the role of sports coordinator. One change was I had now become the secretary of our division. In the past, the secretary role had alternated between schools in our division. It was decided that coordination of inter-school sport would be better and more efficient if one sports coordinator could coordinate it. With my passion for school sport, I put my hand up to fill the secretary's role, a decision I have not regretted one bit. I feel that our division went from strength to strength over the ensuing years. Our North Central Division continues to achieve excellent results and there is still a strong working relationship with all member schools.
In my time I have seen many changes, from initially 6 member schools to now 9 member schools. I have witnessed an increase in students participating in sports offered in our division. More recently I've seen a Triathlon event added to our sporting calendar, an event that seems to have more students entered each year. However, the biggest change and achievement I've been part of has been bringing the Loddon Mallee Region Cross Country event to St.Arnaud. We are very proud to run this annual event that sees as many as a thousand students compete. We believe the event is continually running smoothly and efficiently, a belief backed by many positive comments we continue to receive over the years.
It has been a huge thrill over the years to witness students from our division get the chance to progress to the regional level and ultimately state level. I have seen so many students able to achieve this feat and feel very proud of their achievements. I'm sure they will reflect on their school years and their sporting achievements with a great sense of enjoyment and pride.
During my time as a sports coordinator, I have had the privilege of working with numerous like-minded colleagues. I have been amazed by their professionalism and their commitment to school sports. It has certainly made my job a lot easier. I have been able to mentor many teachers over my journey and have loved this challenge. Maddi Cua and Beau Knight are two such people who I have been able to mentor. Maddi now is the coordinator of the Loddon Mallee Region and Beau is the secretary of the North Central Division. I know for a fact that these two bodies could not be in better hands.
I am extremely proud to have been made a life member of School Sport Victoria. Thank you so much for School Sport Victoria bestowing this honor on me. In my retirement, I intend to continue to remain in contact with secondary school sport as it has been such a large part of my life.
Again, thank you.
Craig Cornwell."
