Arnie Tancred had nearly lost faith that a trip to the Australian Schools Rugby Championships was ever going to eventuate.
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Heading into his final year at Kinross, the forward had yet to be selected to compete at the premier school representative competition.
"It was always something that I was aiming for, but something that I never really thought it would happen," Tancred said.
So when he was picked for the first team coming out of the Independent Sporting Association trials, he knew his time was now.
He would play two more trial games against a Combined High School side and a Great Public Schools of NSW team and put in performances good enough to see him selected in the NSW Schools' Second XV for the upcoming national championships.
"I was a bit surprised and pretty thrilled," the number eight said.
"I'm pretty proud of myself for making the team, but I'm still a bit surprised that it's still happened."
Tancred's path to this moment has been anything but usual. Starting his career with Orange Emus' Wallas program at nine-years-old, Tancred then added rugby league to his repertoire when the pandemic struck.
"In 2020, COVID stopped me playing rugby for school, so I thought I'd give league a crack because my brothers were already playing for Orange CYMS," he said.
"I think league has helped me with my defence in both game, especially my one-on-one defence."
This will be the 48th running of the national championships, with games to be held at Knox Grammar School, Sydney, from Tuesday, July 5 to Saturday, July 9. The girl's and boy's finals will then kick off at 1.20pm and 1.45pm respectively on the Saturday.
"I'm a bit nervous, but I'm also looking forward to seeing what the benchmark is going to be. I'm just looking forward to the challenge," Tancred added.
"I just don't think I could have done it without the three main coaches at Kinross, Mr Tink, Mr Short and Mr Dyer. They've been really helpful this year in my rugby development."
As for what the teenager has planned for his future, he already has a few goals in mind.
"Next year I'm hopefully looking to go to Sydney Uni and I want to try and get a scholarship through these rugby games, so I'll see where this takes me," he said.
"Hopefully I'll be able to play and study for Sydney Uni next year."
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