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While Australian Rules football enjoys the longer fame at Princes Hill, in the early 1960s, Princes Hill High had an outstanding soccer team. Victories became commonplace, and a number of team members played with professional clubs such as Hellas, St Kilda, St George’s Cross and Juventus. Attila Abonyi, the dazzling star of the team, was a member of the Australian National team while still a schoolboy. Rocco Santangelo also enjoyed international success with the Australian Under-18 Soccer team, which toured Europe and Asia in 1976. None, however, has surpassed Bryan Dennis’s brief moments of glory. In 1965, he was considered the world’s fastest backstroke swimmer in the under-l2 age group, swimming 110 yards in 1 minute 12.4 seconds, and Australia’s fastest swimmer in his age group for the 100 yards freestyle, 100 yards butterfly and 220 yards medley. Extra-Curricular Activities School life is not confined to the classroom. Many extracurricular activities capture and stimulate the imagination and enthusiasm of students, broaden social awareness and responsibility, and teach group participation. Over the century, these have included cadets, the school band and choir, the school newspaper, excursions, clubs and fundraising activities. The Cadet Corps was one of Head Teacher Russell’s first innovations at Princes Hill."" Militaristic patriotism, uniform and firearms captured the imagination of many young boys, and the corps flourished."’ It also survived Head Teacher Robinson’ attempts to limit its intrusion into school hours"? Little is heard of the cadets after this initial exposure, and the corps seems to have been disbanded in the late l910s.3" Then there were the school dances - junior ‘Deb’ Balls, Annual Balls and innumerable term socials, each an occasion of great excitement. Considerable pomp and ceremony accompanied the Balls at the Melbourne and Brunswick Town Halls. Everyone went along. Ballroom dancing rehearsals were held under the direction of an instructor with the manner ofa of a sergeant-major, dresses were hired or sewn, and sketches were prepared by small groups to enliven the atmosphere?" Organised by the Mothers’ Club as a money raising event, the biennial Queen’s Carnival became a major event on the school’s social calendar. Full regalia was worn at the pageant to crown the king and queen who had raised the most money. One year, Miss Miller’s class won the title because the queen’s father donated £10 to ensure their victory. In 1934, Mr Clifford was the bandmaster. As the final event of the evening, his boys were to dance the Minuet with the Ladies in Waiting. The shambles at the dress-rehearsal brought the man to tears; but the performance on the evening was perfectly executed. Lillian Shanklin and Colin Shanley were the royals that year.35 Balls never gained favour at the high school. Adults preferred socials, organised by the prefects or Students Representative Council. Ball gowns gave way to the latest fashions. Live bands performed, and students rocked, and twisted and ‘submarined’, swigged illicit drinks and pursued romances. Who present will forget the performances of our own Bertie, or of Doug Parkinson, The Zoot or The Masters Apprentices, before they were famous? Who will forget the brawls, or the violence inflicted on David Bucknall when he tried to stop a fight?
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