Sport makes its mark at Bray Park State High School

Providing a healthy environment for students to pursue their sporting aspirations and boost their physical and mental wellbeing is important to Bray Park State High School Principal Peter Turner.

The school offers multiple sporting teams for students to join, as well as friendly interschool sport competitions and fun fitness sessions with the aim of catering for everyone.

“Sport at Bray Park is highly valued because of its ability to bring students together from different classrooms, as well as help them strive for excellence, build their teamwork skills, and teach them how to win and lose,” Peter says.

“We have lots of students who live and breathe sport and others who just enjoy the social aspect.

“We also have students who focus on their fitness, and some who don’t take it too seriously and just want to have fun and try a wide variety of things.

“Whatever activity they choose, they are all receiving the benefits that come along with sport including improved fitness, better mental health, socialisation and building resilience.” 

From basketball to volleyball and everything in between, Peter says the students love to get out and play.

“We have a wide range of sports on offer and different programs to help students who want to progress further,” he says.

“We have an excellence program in volleyball, which has classes across all year levels, as well as academies in basketball and soccer, and that comprises of lots of  training outside classes.

“Bray Park also has the Future Athlete Specialist Training program, which was established to provide a balance between academic and sporting aspirations.

“We know students can face challenges when it comes to their school work and sporting endeavours, which can leave them abandoning one in favour of the
other, but this program helps them get the balance right and offers them training programs, structured support systems, and career and sporting pathways.“

For those students who like to compete socially, a new interschool sport competition will be launched in 2024.

“This interschool competition will be held at Brendale and will have a total of six local high schools taking part, including Bray Park, Albany Creek, Ferny Grove, Pine Rivers, Mitchelton and Everton Park,” Peter says.

“This will give the kids an opportunity to make friends from other schools and engage in some healthy competition on a weekly basis.”

The school also offers a program called Blue Edge, which is run by Rohin Power, the School-Based Police Liaison Officer. 

“This program is sponsored by Blue Light Association and is for those who might not feel confident in one particular sport and would rather try a few different things,” Rohin says.

“We hold group fitness sessions and play games before school and then the kids cook breakfast.

“It’s an eight-week program and at the end, if the kids have successfully completed the program, they will get to go on an excursion.”

Given Bray Park’s commitment to sport and the need to transport students to multiple games and events, the school bought a 12-seater bus thanks to grants from Ausbuild and the Queensland Government’s Gambling Community Benefit Fund.

To see more photos, click through the gallery below.

Passing on skills to the next generation

When it comes to helping the next generation achieve their sporting goals, Bray Park has several role models and sporting stars the students can look up to.

“My staff spend countless hours outside of school time, including weekends, to give these kids every opportunity to succeed in their chosen sport,” Peter says.

“These teachers have achieved lots of milestones in their sporting careers, and because they are passionate about sport and teaching, they want to be there to train the kids and coach them in local sporting competitions.” 

Emily Baldry, who plays for the Queensland Pirates volleyball team, loves teaching up-and-coming players.

“I believe playing a team sport is a crucial part of school because not only does it teach the kids discipline and resilience, but it also helps them form good relationships with other students and adults.

“These are all important lessons they can take into their studies and life in general. I love seeing how dedicated they are to the game. Many of them dream of representing Queensland and I want to help them achieve that.” 

Peter says he is proud to lead a school where 25 passionate and dedicated staff freely give of their time to coach and train students in sport.