Andrew Rennie reports:
13/08/19: While visiting Australia this summer, I took the opportunity to spend an afternoon at Geelong Grammar school, home of the only Eton Fives court in Australia.
After a look around the school and a nice walk around the local area I ran a 90 minute after school session. The main group were some Year 12 students, two of whom were the winners of the interhouse tournament last year. These were fun sessions with some well rehearsed comments about cricket, Brexit and the English accent all coming from the group. We went through all the basics and got into some good matches by the end of it. Lots of pupils and staff stopped in passing to watch for a bit and ask questions. They are currently starting preparations for their next interhouse tournament which is their main event of the year with little other fives going on. I was also able to give some clarification on some of the laws of the game.
I was then introduced to the common room, who were all extremely welcoming. Master in Charge Martin Beaver was a fantastic host and I really admire what he is doing for fives there. It can be easy to complain about issues facing fives back home but when he is keeping pupils involved and enjoying the sport with no previous experience and no fixtures at all it is very impressive and it is great to see Fives alive and well in its most far flung outpost.