THE Malynley Shield gets underway today, with students from Orange High hosting their Gosford counterparts in the annual inter-school sporting visit.
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Sports such as soccer, golf, tennis, volleyball, basketball, squash, netball, hockey, lawn bowls and rugby league will be contested in various age divisions while debating will also feture..
Orange High sports organiser Lynn Middleton said yesterday that while students are focused on the competitive aspect of the event, the social side is also a feature.
“I think both schools will enjoy the social interaction more than they will the competition. It will be very competitive but we have limited the students to just two sports so we can get more people involved,” she said.
Orange High will be anxious to regain some ground on the visitors, who have taken the Shield home for the past three years.
But Middleton agrees the unknown quantity of the Gosford team will again keep Orange High guessing.
“I can’t say for sure who will be the overall winner. In netball I know we are pretty even and I think our hockey, soccer, golf, touch and volleyball squads are stronger than their’s.”
The Malynley Shield concept was born in 1968 when Orange High’s University Shield (rugby league) team reached the grand final and drew with Tamworth.
Under the rules of the competition the match was replayed at Gosford with the result again being a draw.
Orange players were billeted by Gosford High School students, and during informal discussions after the game it was suggested an inter-school visit between Orange High and Gosford High would be a good idea.
The success of the inaugural competition held in 1969 prompted the visit to become an annual one, thus the Malynley Shield was born, its name coming from the acronym of Dews family members who donated the shield.
“I expect the students to all play to the best of their ability, to play fair and to enjoy themselves as they go along,” Middleton said.