On Monday the 13th of June 2022, ACOY NSW held their annual Sports Day event where over 200 of the Antiochian Orthodox Youth gathered from across our NSW parishes to participate in the highly anticipated Oz-tag competition.

With a start time of 9 am, the day began with prayer and a general outline of the day given by ACOY Chair Andrew Abou-Sleiman. Each team represented by our Parishes were to partake in four matches in the qualifying rounds before moving into the finals.

The day was filled with plenty of spirited competition, good fun and great sausages to keep us well-nourished. The youth were blessed with the attendance of His Eminence Metropolitan Basilios, Archimandrites Fr Nabil and Fr Ephram, along with Fathers Michel, Isaac and Deacon Jason.

After a nail-baiting semi-final round, St John the Baptist and St Nicholas were the remaining two teams to battle it out for the title. The final was played in good spirits going the way of the reigning premiers in St John the Baptist, Croydon Park.

Each member of the final was awarded a medal, and the shield was presented by His Eminence to the St John team.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making the day so successful, particularly the sponsors in Speedway, State Wide Electrical, NGB and Henry’s Harvest, along with those who assisted on the day as part of organising, and photographing, medical teams and those cooking.