Interschools returns to Thredbo after 3-year hiatus

The Interschools Championships have returned this domestic season, with over 620 athletes aged 5 to 18 descending on Thredbo for the Subaru Northern NSW and QLD Interschools Championships this week.

In the first Interschools event in NSW in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the buzz on the mountain demonstrated how excited athletes were for a week of friendly inter-school rivalry and snowsports competition.

The excitement continued off the mountain, as Olympians and Interschools legends Torah Bright, Valentino Guseli, Mark Pigott and Paralympian Ben Tudhope were on site to award the medals at the presentation ceremonies.

Winner of the Female Division 1 Moguls competition, Lucy Pernice from Frensham School in the Southern Highlands, NSW, said that while standing on the podium was great, her highlight of the week was seeing all her Interschools friends from around the country.

“It’s definitely exciting to be back at Interschools,” she said.

“The energy up on the moguls course was great and it was exciting to be around people I haven’t seen in years since COVID hit.”

Pernice credited Interschools for her start in the sport, and her dream to pursue her moguls career.

“I started skiing when I was about three years old, but Interschools introduced me to moguls and it was how I met everyone. I then got into club sports like the Perisher Winter Sports Club and then from there, I decided to properly pursue moguls.”

The King’s School had a very successful week, standing on the podium 22 times across multiple disciplines and male age divisions.

Joel Bradford was a member of the gold-medal winning King’s Team in the Male Division 1 Snowboard Cross, Snowboard GS and Moguls, and placed second in Alpine.

“I’ve been competing in Interschools with Kings since 2014, and it’s been great to be back on the board and the skis and racing with my teammates this week,” Bradford said.

“It’s been great because we didn’t have the same atmosphere during COVID. I had just been skiing by myself and there’s been no motivation to achieve without having the races.”

Bradford’s teammate Max Morgan agreed it’s the camaraderie on the slopes that makes Interschools so special.

“When we went up on the podium today for the Division 1 Alpine, even though we came second, Travis [Cox, winner from Knox Grammar School] and I still congratulated each other and had a good chat, it’s the interschools community that’s so great,” Morgan said.

Following the interschools hiatus, the slopes have been full of a lot of Interschools debutants this week in Thredbo. Bradford’s advice for the new competitors is to “stick with it”.

“Even if you’re not getting the results you’d like straight away, if you keep putting in the training and the hard work, the results will come.”

Morgan agreed that the opportunities Interschools provide keep competitors coming back and hungry for more.

“Interschools has given me so many opportunities to make new friendships within the sport, and gives me new opportunities to push myself,” Morgan said.

“I am 18 now, and once I leave school at the end of the year, I am planning on going full time with Cross Country skiing, and seeing how far I can get in the Australia team with that.”

Next week the Interschools Championships moves to Perisher for the Subaru Sydney Interschools Championships, running July 11-15.
 
Over the five-day competition, there are 2,200 entries across the 5 snow sport events. with over 1000 students representing 88 schools.
 
See all results from the Subaru Northern NSW and QLD Interschools Championships HERE.

Competitors can view and  purchase their Interschools photos ibimages.com. Log in using your Google or Facebook account. Find the event, and log in using the below username and password below.
Username : snow
Password : 2022