Last weekend the AIC hosted another successful weekend of “Invitational” carnivals with the AIC Touch, esports and Water Polo Carnivals held.

esports
The sport of “esports” is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. The global esports industry is worth billions of dollars each year. Villanova again hosted the esports ‘carnival’ and in the second year of the event, for the first time, all eight AIC Colleges competed. The competition consisted of teams of five players contesting the Minecraft Education game “Capture the Flag”. Just like the traditional “Capture the Flag” historically played on an open field, esports “Capture the Flag” requires teamwork and communication for players to work together to both retrieve the oppositions flag but also defend their own flag.

To increase participation in the event, each College were permitted to enter two teams into the competition. At the end of the qualifying rounds, the top ranked team from each school progressed into the elimination rounds. Congratulations to Villanova who were crowned 2023 AIC esports Champions. Villanova defeat St Laurence’s 2-0 in the grand final of the competition.

The set up of such an event is huge with 3 ‘fields’ of play occurring at the one time. This requires the deployment of 33 computers and the lighting and commentary that support the atmosphere inside the venue. Thank you to Villanova College for hosting, Mr. Jason Lane for his organisation and convening of the carnival and to the Villanova students who assisted with both commentary and ‘hosting’ each match.

Touch
The game of “Touch Football” is incredibly popular in the Association. For the third year in a row, St Laurence’s hosted the AIC Touch Carnival at Runcorn with 42 teams competing over 4 divisions. This is a wonderful event that grows every year with games both being competitive but also played with great spirit and comradery between participating schools.

Congratulations to the following champions and runners-up in each division.
Primary Division- Champions: Padua College; Runners-Up: St Patrick’s College
Year 7 Division- Champions: Iona College; Runners-Up: Villanova College
Year 8/9 Division- Champions: St Laurence’s College; Runners-Up: Villanova College
Year 10/11 Division- Champions: Iona College; Runners-Up: Marist College Ashgrove

The Association would like to thank St Laurence’s for their hosting of the carnival which included the preparation of the 10 fields required for the carnival. Thank you to Mr. Pat Byron, Ms. Charlotte Wilson and Mr. Pat Richards for convening the carnival. Thank you to the dedicated group of Touch referees who supported the carnival by officiating so many games.

Water Polo
Marist College Ashgrove hosted the AIC Water Polo Invitational Carnival. After the 2022 event was interrupted and subsequently cancelled during the carnival, due to severe storms, it was wonderful to be greeted by a beautiful spring day this year.

The carnival consisted of three divisions with the Year 7 and Year 8/9 Divisions held in the morning. The focus of these two divisions was to introduce the sport to a large group of students and to allow younger Water Polo players in each school an opportunity to represent their college in their chosen sport. There is no formal competition or trophy for these divisions, but this did not prevent teams from playing with great spirit and pride.

The Year 10/11 division consisted of each school playing 3 matches and after those three games Marist College Ashgrove were crowned AIC Champions by remaining the only school undefeated. Villanova and Padua College were runners-up, only being defeated once each in their three games.

Thank you to Marist College Ashgrove for hosting the event and to Mr. Ryan Apps and Mr. Derek Lennon for their organisation and convening of the carnival.