Friday and Saturday October 11 and 12, saw the holding of the 25th GPS Gold Challenge, held every 2 years, bringing together the Old Boys of the 9 GPS schools who have reached the milestone age of 50 years. 

The event was founded by Shore old boy David Hutchinson and was first held at Riverview in 1999. Newington College again kindly hosted this year's event, with the Alumini Years of 1991 and 1992 participating in separate sporting competitions across 10 events – golf, shooting, rowing, tennis, indoor cricket, basketball, touch footy, athletics, swimming. 

The day concluded with a gala dinner and a debate between the schools which did not disappoint, with MC Joe Mason attempting to bring some order to the proceedings. The popularity of the event has grown enormously over the years and the more than 660 old boys participated in the weekend this year. Funds are also raised and according to David Hutchinson, over $300k has been donated over the years to the Redkite Foundation. Hearts in Union Ambassador Alex Noble was also on hand to raise much needed funds. Overall winners this year were Riverview (91) and Riverview (92). Needless to say, pandemonium broke out when the second of our victories was announced! There was universal praise for the weekend from all out OIU participants and the organisers. 1991 Coordinator Sam Shepherd summed up the weekend: "The event is all about engagement, about connection, about camaraderie and about solidarity, just when people need it and this was one hell of an enjoyable weekend. This is a type of thing that will nourish guys for months, like it was just incredible…and that sense of connection and that sense of pride. And the beauty about this is because both, I mean, it was the same with 92 but 91 we only won by a point. So those guys that came seventh instead of eighth in their race, all of those little one pointers made a huge difference. a genuine team effort."

MC Joe Mason also spoke glowingly of the event. "We definitely did it the right way, so we had the most numbers, and we didn't deprive anyone have a go...Unless world war three breaks out, you have to experience this weekend. You'll feel some sort of positive energy you wouldn't have felt for a sustained period like that, probably ever. I just can't really compare it to anything." 

GPS Gold Challenge Convenor Ron Ross (OR 75) summed up the weekend: "It was an awesome event now in its 25th year. It continues to get bigger and bigger. This year was a record number of 660 participants across all schools. Riverview again led the charge with 120 participating in 10 sports from the years of 1991 and 1992. 

This year we introduced soccer for the first time. We had rowing at Leichhardt, we had golf at Strathfield, we had shooting at Kings, we had soccer at Grammar and everything else was held at Newington. 

We appreciate the support that we had from Newington. There were individual sports trophies but we saw a rare double achievement by the boys in blue and white, 1991 and 1992 were the overall winners." 

Congrats from the OIU to Ron, who did a power of work to make the weekend a success. Alumni Years for 1993 & 1994 will be lining up in October 2026. 

For more information and pics go to www.gpsgoldchallenge.com.au Ron Ross(OR76) Convenor (GPS GOLD CHALLENGE) - 0410 508 423