Meet your Student Council President candidates!

Before I start, I just want to apologise in advance to Kathrina and Megan because when I was recording your speeches the camera cut off and I had to change do a battery pull and restart, so I'm sorry that I didn't catch your speeches in their entirety.

In alphabetical order:
1. Jodi - Ann Chung
2. Kathrina Dabdoub
3. Julia Foote
4. Megan Wong

I contemplated being cute and typing in all the names of our candidates on urban dictionary and using what I found in describing them all...but then I realised that was stupid.

Anyway, let's begin now shall we?

First up! Jodi - Ann Chung! Seventeen year old first year IB student, who has been a member of the student council for six consecutive years, serving as both the Secretary and the Vice President.

Jodi's Campaign Video!

Next up is Ms. Kathrina Dabdoub! Eighteen year old first year IB student, who has also definitely served her time in student council, 4 or 5 years on the council as well I believe!

Our third candidate is Julia Foote! Coming from Immaculate, Julia is a new addition to our Hillel family  and has gelled well with her first year IB grade and the entire school, and has definitely made her mark in this competition with her short and spicy speech!

  

Last, but definitely not least, we have Megan Wong! This bubbly first year IB student has been here since what? What's it called? Registration? Basically she's been at Hillel from day one and even though she is new to the council, she's not new to the compound or the student body and faculty.

So now that you've read this little synopsis, watched the videos (apologies again Megan and Kathrina), seen the campaign flyers etc...
Are you gonna put your best 'Foote' forward and vote for Julia Foote? Are you gonna choose 'Chung for Change' and vote for Jodi-Ann Chung? Wait, I moustache you another question though? Are you gonna vote for Kathrina Dabdoub? But then again, you know you can't go wrong with Megan Wong!

So who's it gonna be? The countdown begins: 3 days left 'til the winner is revealed!

Best of luck to all the candidates!

Alysia

INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL: Day 3

Arguably one of the most pulsating inter-house football matches took centre stage as the Flawless Maccabees took on the clinical Sinai in the decider for the Interhouse Football Crown. Prior to the game, Maccabees sat on 6 points from their 2 games while Sinai had 4 points from their 2 games. The equation was simple, if Sinai beats Maccabees, they would win the Upper School Interhouse Football Tournament for the 2nd time in succession. If they had tied or lost the game, Maccabees would claim their hands on the title they had not won since 2009.

So who would it be? The assiduous Maccabeasts, or the expeditious and dynamic Sinai unit?
The game became a mouth-watering affair as of the Starting 8 players that both teams fielded Maccabees fielded 6 players who represented Hillel in the JISA U-19 Private School Competition (Joshua Karram, Simon Preston, Brandon Heitman, Sage Marley-Spence, Charles Tufton, Zachary Jones), While Sinai fielded 7 players who represented Hillel in the same tournament (Christian Benjamin, Andrew-David Gunter, Jacob Adam, Adam Hylton, Jevon Warner, Bradley Chen-See, William-Chase Ashley), so it was bound to be a competitive affair. In the fixture last year, Sinai beat Maccabees 4-1 on their way to clinch the crown; Maccabees knew they have to put away the bad memories with an encouraging display.

The game started as Sinai made their intentions known from early to get on the scoresheet as the put together a spell of short quick passes together, however once they got into the Maccabees box, Sports Captain Joshua Karram cleared the danger with a thumping header. Maccabees played a quite unorthodox approach as they kept possession through long range and made it clear to give the ball to two of their danger men 5’11 inch striker Charles Tufton and 5’8 inch striker Sage Marley-Spence.

Maccabees almost put themselves in a dangerous situation as a mix up in play allowed Warner of Sinai to shoot with acres of space in front of him. He hit the post and Maccabees breathed a sigh of relief. A vivacious build up from Andrew-David Gunter allowed Sinai to step on the ascendancy as his acute passes put Maccabees central defenders Simon Preston and Joshua Karram under a little bit of pressure but due to their composure and their cohesion in the heart of the Maccabees defense, Maccabees cleared the danger and went in at half-time locked at 0-0. Maccabees knew they were 20 minutes away from the title, however they knew they could not afford to sit back and play deep as Sinai would exploit them.

The 2nd half started how the 1st half ended, with Sinai in domination of possession and could have gotten a break through as through a rough tackle from Simon Preston, Maccabees were down to 7 players for 2 minutes and Sinai had the opportunity to take the lead with a man advantage.  However a sturdy clearance off the line kept Maccabees in business.
Due to sneakiness from the Sinai unit, William-Chase Ashley had the opportunity to put Sinai up 1-0 but Brandon Heitman made a brilliant save to keep things equal. Sinai turned up the tenacity levels as Adam Hylton pulled the trigger from his trademark long range shots but the shot was blocked by Simon Preston.

With Maccabees in possession from that blocked shot, Sage Marley-Spence went on the counter and was fouled right outside the box. It was an opportunity for Maccabees to put some salt in the wounds of Sinai and they did. A venomous freekick from Sage put Maccabees up 1-0 and gave Maccabees one hand on the trophy as the final whistle was fast approaching.
Sinai was in a grim mood after the goal and they started to push as they knew they needed 2 goals in the remaining 3 minutes.  A lapse in concentration from the Maccabees defense gave Sinai the equalizing goal and the crowd got wild. Maccabees had their head down but they knew the final whistle was close.

The whistle blew and Maccabees became Champions of the Interhouse Upper School Tournament. This was Maccabees’ first title since 2009 and they relished the success.

Standings 2013

Maccabees – 7 points

Sinai – 5 points

Masada – 4 Points

Carmel – 0 points

Golden Boot – Top Scorer

Charles Tufton – 6 Goals

MVP of Tournament

Sage Marley Spence

Golden Glove – Least Goals Conceded

Brandon Heitmann

Simon Preston

INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL: Day 2

Junior Sinai continues to blow the competition away with a 4-1 over Maccabees. McMaster continues to impress with fine displays for his young team. He is certainly one for the future, we have high hopes for this young one.

Masada’s juniors are having a turbulent time in this competition losing, 3-1 to junior Carmel who has been outclassing their competition so far. This is an outrageously talented squad and surely they have not disappointed any of their supporters.

Masada lost 3-1 to an in-form Maccabees squad. A goal from Marley opened the scoring then an equalizer from Mairnaldo made it all square at the break. A cheap foul was awarded at the edge of the box which allowed Marley to get his second goal of the match and is now top scorer in the tournament. A late goal sealed it for Maccabees when an unaware Masada squad was caught flat footed after a quick restart in play. 

Much controversy surrounds this match as the Masada squad felt they were not awarded the sufficient amount of time after a lack of footballs delayed the match for several precious minutes. We were unaware that this time was not given back to us until the referee blew the final whistle soon after the ball was kicked off again and Maccabees scored their 3^rd goal.

Things keep on getting worse and worse for the struggling Senior Carmel squad as Sinai smashed home 6 goals passed them. All hope is lost for Carmel with a -15 goal difference and they still remain on 0 points. They face Masada tomorrow where they will only have to play for their pride as they have no hope of acquiring a medal awarded to the 1^st and 2^nd teams in the group. 

It will be tough for them tomorrow as Masada will be looking to win this match after suffering their defeat to the buzzing Maccabees that seems unstoppable at the moment.

Matthew Harrison

INTER-HOUSE FOOTBALL: Day 1

A pulsating match between the junior Masada squad and the firing Sinai resulted in a 2-1 scoreline. Most of the match was even key at 1-1 until Sinai scored the winner 5 minutes before time to a shell shocked Masada squad who found it difficult to form any sort of a fight back. It was unlucky for the boys but a great result for Sinai. In the other match Carmel beat Maccabees 3-1 with goals superbly taken by the players. It was an easy match for Carmel who simply walked over their opponents.

In the Upper School however, Maccabees annihilated Carmel scoring 10 goals one of which was a classy finish by the boy they call Marley who added another 3 to his tally. The other scorer was Tufton who scored 5 goals. Carmel started the fight back late by grabbing a late consolation goal but it brought nothing to ease the pain of the players that were distraught by the abysmal scoreline. If Carmel has any hopes of at least competing in this competition they have to put this scoreline behind them and go out there with more fighting spirit.

In the next match of the day, roaring Masada came out firing from the start of the game, grabbing 2 goals in quick succession. Sinai had something to say about that! They quickly responded and took one back. The players continued to pepper the Masada goal as their weakness was evident with an inexperienced goalkeeper. They finally got the breakthrough just before the end of the half due to a fine piece of midfield play which led to the goal.

At the start of the second half Sinai came out flying by firing home 2 goals and it seemed all hope was lost for Masada. They tried endlessly taking shot after shot until finally, a bit of flare from Masada's midfielder, O’Brien made them get back in the game at 4-3, dribbling majestically through the field and rocketed it into the bottom corner of the net. Masada continued to press along searching for the equalizer and seconds before the end of the game a Sinai player was dispossessed and Masada pounced on the chance which would be the last kick of the game. It took a perfectly placed through ball which split the heart of the strong Sinai defense that gave way for the in-form striker Isaac ‘Mairnaldo’ Mair to score the equalizer right at the death and complete his hat-trick. The game ended 4-4, showing the resilience of the Masada team who were counted out before the game. Their fighting spirit was evident throughout the game it will be difficult to beat them.

After an incredible day of proceedings it was a brilliant game of football overall and we are all looking forward to what the next day will bring. This has been a glorious start for the boys’ inter-house competition. It was everything we expected and more. Let's hope the other days will be equally as exciting.

Matthew Harrison

It's that time of year again!

ELECTIONS!

Keep up with elections, speeches and campaigns on the Hillelian!

Look out for posts during this week about each of the candidates, videos of their speeches, and their campaigns! They need all the publicity they can get in trying to convince you all to vote one of them into this term of office as 2013 Student Council President!

Wow, look at those game faces!!!! The competition is on fellow Hillelians, you can just see it in their eyes.

I only have one thing to say to the candidates... What better way to 'up' your campaign efforts than to post it on The Hillelian to constantly remind the students why they should vote?

Alysia

Inter-House Round Up!

Last week we saw the girls in Maccabees rake in the points for Inter-House football! What will see this week with the boys? We all saw some of those teams fighting to earn points for their houses, but by the end Maccabees (or Maccabeasts - depending on how you wish to refer to them) ended up on top. Behind them were Masada then Sinai and Carmel!

For those of you who weren't able to watch the matches and cheer on your teams last week, here were the results by the end of 3 long, sweaty days of girls' football:

Day 1
Maccabees - Sinai: 2 - 0

Masada - Carmel: 1 - 0


Day 2
Sinai - Masada: 1 - 0

Maccabees - Carmel: 4 - 0

Day 3
Masada - Maccabees: 1 - 0

Sinai - Carmel: 1 - 0


Quite an interesting end, I think - it seems as though Maccabees may be living up to their name... After all, they were named after the notorious Maccabean forces which victoriously entered Jerusalem. Will they prevail in the battle for first place? Will the outcome be the same for the boys? Or will Sinai be a mountainous obstacle in their path. What about Carmel and Masada, how will they prevail?

Well, I'm not a psychic so I surely can't tell you. The only way to find out and help your teams do their best is by coming out to support! The boys' games start tomorrow, we need to hear some shouting and see some (friendly) rivalry! The Hillel sports season is on, let's make it bloody (not really)!

Brooke

P.S. Look out for photos!!

Look out!

We're kicking off our sports coverage this year with the Inter-house football matches, both girls and boys! The recap of the girls match is coming up right after this one! And look out for the next post on this - brought to you by fellow IB student, Matthew Harrison! Big up Kingston!

Also, please feel free to send in pictures and videos of the football matches as well as all upcoming Inter-house games! Sports day, 3K and Cheerleading are coming up and The Hillelian is going to be the centre of all team hype and rivalry this year!


Alysia