The first meet of Public Schools Sports was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 November 1870 with Melbourne Grammar School, Scotch College and Wesley College competing and winning that order.[1] The Association was established in 1908 so member schools may compete against each other on the sporting fields, the original competition sports were Australian Rules Football, Athletics, Rowing and Cricket.[2]
Students now compete in a variety of sports, which are split into three seasons, Summer, Winter and Spring. Students in Year 7 and above compete on Saturdays and students in primary year levels compete on Wednesday afternoons. Major annual competitions include the APS Head of the River Rowing Regattas, the APS Combined Swimming & Diving Championships and the APS Combined Athletics Championships.
In March 2005, the APS member schools formed a set of guidelines regarding the awarding of sporting scholarships to students, following criticism of recruiting practices employed by some schools.[3] The headquarters of the APS is known as APS House and is located on Church Street in Hawthorn, Victoria.[4]
a^ Melbourne Grammar School has a sister school, Melbourne Girls Grammar School, which competes in the Girls Sport Victoria competition. They are often affiliated together despite boys and girls not attending the same campus or wearing the same uniform.
Sports
Boys
Athletics
Australian Rules Football
Badminton
Basketball
Cricket
Cross Country
Diving (since 2015)
Futsal
European Handball
Gymnastics
Hockey
Rowing
Rugby (VSRU runs this competition)
Sailing
Soccer
Squash
Swimming & Diving (combined with Diving from 1998 to 2015)
Table Tennis
Tennis
Touch Football (since 2023)
Volleyball
Water Polo
Girls
Athletics
Australian Rules Football
Badminton
Basketball
Cross Country
Diving (since 2015)
Gymnastics
Hockey
Netball
Rowing
Soccer
Softball
Swimming & Diving (combined with Diving from 1998 to 2015)
Tennis
Touch Football
Volleyball
Water Polo
Combined Sports
Students from the Association's member schools participate in a number of Combined Sports (Championship Carnivals) during the year including Swimming, Diving, Rowing and Athletics.
The Victorian Head of the River race is contested between the eleven APS schools, the race is usually the last race of the official APS rowing season and has recently been rowed on Lake Nagambie which is a full buoyed international standard course allowing six boat finals. Girls from the APS also participate in the Head of the Schoolgirls regatta, where they compete with schools from the Girls Sport Victoria (GSV) group.