Written by Iain Robertson, Coach

St John Paul II College defied the odds by reaching the National Quarter Finals -15 Years and under Boys - of the Bill Turner Cup, qualifying as one of the top eight national boys soccer teams.  They had shown brilliance and determination in their first foray into this competition, and were narrowly defeated only in extra time in their quarter-final game against a well-known Sydney Sports Academy School.

The Bill Turner Cup is a popular and prestigious annual school football (soccer) competition with around 500 school teams from NSW, Qld, ACT and Victoria participating each year. Bill Turner, a former NSW teacher, worked tirelessly in school and youth soccer for many years with a vision to develop young footballers and regional elite academy programs. He valued fitness, fun and fair play and this competition pays tribute to these values. 2018 marked the 40th year anniversary of the Bill Turner cup, a year that would see the introduction of St John Paul II College Canberra to the contest for the first time. The talented boys’ team, made up of players who are 15 years and under, started their exciting journey early in Term 1.

JPC opened the competition at Radford College where they were victorious winning by 9 -2. This followed with a game against the renowned sporting school Lyneham who run a specialist sport program called SEAL (Sporting Excellence at Lyneham). JPC were again dominant winning by 2 – 0. In the next fixture JPC were required to travel to Goulburn for a game against Trinity where they were eventual winners defeating the opposition by 5 -1. This meant JPC had made it to the regional final (Southern NSW/ACT) of the competition. Another away fixture ensued, this time against Yass High School. The talent of the JPC team prevailed, a strong performance resulted in another triumphant display with the score ending 11 – 1.  

The next stage of the competition, the final 32 teams in Australia, required an overnight trip to Albury early in term 2 where JPC would be up against the regional champions of Riverina, Marian College, Griffith. The nerve-wracking contest ended in a 4 – 3 victory to JPC with a last-minute goal helping Canberra’s newest Catholic school reach the final 16. The following day, JPC were up against Rowville Sports Academy (Regional Champions of Melbourne); an internationally recognised school for offering ‘talented’ and ‘elite’ student athlete development programs in football. A 2 – 1 victory to St John Paul II College in what were atrocious weather conditions left the team and visiting support in pandemonium; JPC had reached the quarter finals.

It was St John Paul II College’s inaugural appearance in the competition and they had raised eyebrows across the nation with some scintillating displays of footballing brilliance. The quarter final stage would take place in the nation’s capital at the Hawker Football Centre on Wednesday 22nd August. Cheered on by families, staff and the JPC principal Mrs Catherine Rey, it was a memorable occasion for all involved. JPC were up against Bossley Park High School Sydney, another school with national recognition for its Talented Football Enrichment program. The game ended 1 – 1 meaning extra-time followed. It was there that the exciting journey would end for St John Paul II College; they were cruelly knocked out with a golden goal in extra time.

The boys played with incredible heart, tenacity, pride and selflessness. They showed everything that’s right in sport and certainly did the entire College proud. Thanks to the St John Paull II College Bill Turner Football team and to all those involved for an unbelievable ride. Well done!