Associated Catholic Colleges

The Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC) is a group of thirteen independent Catholic boys schools in Victoria, Australia. The Association, formed in 1911, and renamed in 1948, provides the basis for interschool sporting and other competitions between member schools.

Associated Catholic Colleges
AbbreviationACC
Formation1911; 113 years ago (1911)
HeadquartersThe Provence Centre
Mulgrave, Victoria
Location
Membership
13 member schools
(>15,700 students collectively)
Official language
English
Executive Officer
Paul Fahey
Websitewww.accvic.au

History

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Christian Brothers College (now known as St Mary's College) was one of eighteen schools to participate in the first Combined Secondary Schools Athletics Championship conducted by the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association (VAAA) on 7 November 1902 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[1] The Adamson Cup, donated by the headmaster of Wesley College and president of the VAAA, was presented to the winning school. Christian Brothers College East Melbourne (now known as Parade College) was the only Catholic College to ever win the cup in 1910.

The history of sporting competition between Catholic Secondary Schools in Melbourne and Victoria, goes back to 1911, when the Secondary Schools' Championship Meeting was first conducted by the School Amateur Athletic Association of Victoria on 3 November at the East Melbourne Cricket Ground.[2] The colleges that competed in this first competition were the Christian Brothers Colleges of East Melbourne, St Kilda, North Melbourne, South Melbourne, St Patrick's College, Ballarat and Assumption College, Kilmore. This group later became 'The Combined Catholic Schools Association'.[3] The Association was also known as the Associated Catholic Secondary Schools[4] prior to it becoming the Associated Catholic Colleges in 1948. Member colleges took part in an annual athletics meeting, football, handball and tennis competitions. As the competition expanded additional Catholic secondary colleges conducted by other male religious orders such as the De La Salle Brothers, Marist Brothers and others also participated in the competition which included cricket by 1928.[5]

The first swimming carnival for the Associated Catholic Secondary Schools of Victoria was held on 2 March 1932 at the Kew City Baths, with Christian Brothers Colleges of East Melbourne, North Melbourne and St Kilda and De La Salle competing.

In 1940, the Athletics competition was divided into two divisions due to the number of participating colleges.[6] Division 1: CBC Parade, CBC St Kilda, St Joseph's North Melbourne, De La Salle, St Patrick's Ballarat, St Patrick's Sale and Assumption. Division 2: St Kevin's, St. Bede's, St Monica's Essendon, St Joseph's Geelong and St Patrick's East Melbourne.

In 1951, member colleges were divided into the metropolitan[7] (CBC North Melbourne, CBC Parade, CBC St Kilda, De La Salle, St Bede's, St Bernard's and St Kevin's) and country[8] (Assumption, CBC Warrnambool, Marcellin Mt Gambier, Marcellin Camberwell, Marist Bendigo, St Joseph's Geelong, St Patrick's Ballarat and St Patrick's Sale) groups to compete in the athletics championship. The Archbishop's Shield for the Division 1 Athletics Champions was awarded to the new Associated Catholic Country Colleges aggregate winners, and the newly donated Old Collegians Shield was awarded for the city colleges aggregate winners. The final Associated Catholic Country Colleges Athletics carnival was held in 1975.

Aims

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1. The Association endeavours to promote the essential character of its member colleges by mutual :solidarity and support.
2. The Association aims to provide the opportunity for discussion by Principals of matters affecting :the affiliated Colleges and to suggest, wherever desirable, a policy on such matters.
3. The Association exists to facilitate the organisation of inter-College activities and competitions :which accord with the principles and ideals of the member Colleges.[9]

Schools

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Current member schools

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School Location Principal Enrolment Founded Affiliation Gender Year Entered
Competition
School Colours
De La Salle College Malvern Peter Houlihan 973 1912 Lasallian Boys 1920   
Emmanuel College Altona North, Point Cook Dr Janine Biggin 783 (Boys at
Altona North)
1965 Marianist Co-educational 1978   
Mazenod College Mulgrave Dr Paul Shannon 1,442 1967 OMI Boys 1999   
Parade College Bundoora, Preston Mark Aiello 1,936 1871 Christian Brothers Boys 1911    
Salesian College Chadstone Mark Ashmore 1,046 1957 Salesian Boys 1966–1983
re-entered 1999
   
Simonds Catholic College West Melbourne Robert Anastasio 405 1996 Boys 2000    
St. Bede's College Mentone Deborah Frizza 1,900 1938 Lasallian Boys 1940    
St. Bernard's College Essendon West, Aberfeldie Michael Davies 1,594 1940 Christian Brothers Boys 1940    
St. Joseph's College Ferntree Gully Catherine Livingstone 918 1965 Salesian Boys 2017   
St. Joseph's College Newtown, Geelong Tony Paatsch 1,780 1935 Christian Brothers Boys 1935–1975
re-entered 1997
   
St. Mary's College St Kilda East Darren Atkinson 393 (Boys) 1878 Christian Brothers Co-educational 1911    
St Patrick's College Ballarat Steven O'Connor 1,259 1893 Christian Brothers Boys 1911–1975
re-entered 2022
   
Whitefriars College Donvale Mark Murphy 1,041 1961 Carmelite Boys 1999    

Former member schools

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School Location Founded Years
Competed
School Colors
Assumption College Kilmore 1893 1911–1975^    
Cathedral College East Melbourne 1968–1994 1988–1994   
Chisholm College
Now part of Caroline Chisholm Catholic College
Braybrook 1979–1996 1979–1987
Champagnat College
Now part of Galen Catholic College
Wangaratta 1955–1973 1961^–1973
Christian Brothers' College
later St Joseph's Christian Brothers' Technical College
South Melbourne 1905–1988 1911–1931
Marcellin College Bulleen 1952 1952–1963    
Marist College
Now part of Red Bend Catholic College
Forbes 1926–1976 1966^–1975
Marist College
Now part of Tenison Woods College
Mt Gambier 1931–1971 1951^–1955
Mentone College
on the site of St Bede's College
Mentone 1896–1920 1912
Monivae College Hamilton 1954 1971^–1975
Mount Carmel College Middle Park 1918–1970s 1927–1931
Salesian College Sunbury 1927 1958^–1975
Samaritan College
Now part of Parade College
Preston 2000–2008 2000–2008   
St Colman's College
Now part of Notre Dame College
Shepparton 1951–1983 1961^–1975
St John's College
Now part of Caroline Chisholm Catholic College
Braybrook 1965–1996 1971–1996
St Joseph's College
Formerly known as Marist Brothers College, Brunswick East
Became part of Samaritan College
Fitzroy North
1930–1999 1958–1978
St Joseph's College
Formerly known as Christian Brothers and later St Joseph's College, North Melbourne (1903–2010)
and St Joseph's College, Pascoe Vale (1956–2009)
North Melbourne 1903–2010 1911–2010   
St Joseph's College
Formerly known as Christian Brothers and later St Joseph's CBC
Became part of Emmanuel College
Warrnambool 1902–1990 1951–1968^
St Kevin's College Toorak 1918 1940–1957    
St Mary's Technical College
Also known as CBC Geelong
Amalgamated with Goold College in 1990 to form Catholic Regional College
Became part of St Ignatius College
Geelong 1919–1934 1919–1934
St Monica's CBC Essendon 1918 1919–1931
St Patrick's College
Formerly known as Christian Brothers College
Became part of Catholic College Sale
Sale 1922–1976 1922–1975^
St Patrick's College East Melbourne 1854–1968 1928–1948
St Paul's College
Now part of Lavalla Catholic College
Traralgon 1956–1978 1963^–1975
St Vincent's College, Bendigo
Now part of Catherine McAuley College
Bendigo 1893–1982 1958^–1975
Trinity College
Now part of Antonine College
Brunswick 1967–2001 2000–2001
University College Armadale 1895–1929 1913

^Country Colleges competition

Possible future member school

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School Location Enrolment Founded Affiliation Year Entering
Competition
School Colours
Marcellin College Bulleen 1,422 1950 Marist Brothers Unknown
(1952–1963)
   

Sports

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Current

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  • Athletics
  • Swimming
  • Cross Country
  • Basketball
  • Cricket
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Hockey
  • Soccer
  • Table Tennis
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball
  • Debating
  • Chess
  • Badminton
  • Bowls (Lawn)

Former

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  • Handball

Trophies awarded

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Athletics

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The aggregate division 1 winners are presented the Old Collegians Shield.

Swimming

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The aggregate division 1 winners are presented with the Walsh Shield (donated by P S Walsh).

Cross Country

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The aggregate division 1 senior winners are presented with the Brother Bouchard Cup. Joe Bouchard was the founding Principal of Chisholm College, and member of the ACC from 1970 to 1987.

The aggregate division 1 intermediate winners are presented with the Martin Hickey Cup. Martin Hickey was a member of the Parade College staff for over 25 years and Hon. Secretary of the ACC for 10 years.

The aggregate division 1 junior winners are presented with the James Delahunt Cup. The cup was donated by the Ryan Family in memory of James Delahunt, a Year 7 student at De La Salle College who was killed in an accident in 1981. James was an outstanding athlete who won the U/13 ACC Cross-Country.

Carnivals

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Students are given the opportunity to participate in a number of carnivals thought the year including Athletics at Lakeside Stadium, Cross Country, and Swimming at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Academic events

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Students can also become involved in events conducted off the field such as Chess, Debating and the Performing Arts.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Athletics (12 November 1904). "Leader", p.16. Retrieved 10 August 2021 from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196720580
  2. ^ Secondary Schools' Championship Meeting (11 November 1911). "The Australasian", p.29. Retrieved 7 February 2021 from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/142953969?searchTerm=secondary%20school%20east%20melbourne
  3. ^ School Sports Combined Catholic Schools (31 October 1929). The Argus (Melbourne), p. 13. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4046906
  4. ^ Newspaper report on the 1946 Annual Sports Carnival. (6 November 1946). 'The Advocate" (Melbourne), p. 21. Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172231801?searchTerm=associated%20catholic%20secondary%20schools
  5. ^ First Catholic Secondary Schools’ Swimming Carnival (2 March 1932). "The Herald", p.5. Retrieved 10 August 2021 from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article242828566
  6. ^ Annual Athletics Carnival (24 October 1942). "The Herald", p.12. Retrieved 10 August 2021 from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245120044
  7. ^ Catholic Colleges Sports' at St Kilda (1 November 1951). "Advocate", p.14. Retrieved 10 August 2021 from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/172521501
  8. ^ College Wins Junior Shield (5 November 1951). "Gippsland Times", p.4. Retrieved 10 August 2021 from https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63303703
  9. ^ The Associated Catholic Colleges Incorporated: Handbook 2014. Retrieved on 22 February 2014 from "Association Handbook". Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
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