On Wednesday 1 May, Parade College hosted the annual Bedford-Madden Shield 1st XVIII football game against St Bernard's College at the Waterford Oval.

The game was the thirteenth occasion the two teams have competed for the Shield, St Bernard's winning 8 and Parade 5. This year the Parade boys won by a convincing 42 points. Parade's Ricky Dyson (2003) and St Bernard's Steven Alessio were opposing coaches on the day and both former Essendon players.

Over the past few years, the 1st XI Soccer has played concurrently on the Waterford Pitch.  This year, the Parade boys won 2-0 against St Bernard's College. Head Coach, Mick Bennett, a former professional footballer and coach arrived from Manchester two years ago to head up the Manchester City Football School at Parade College and did a fantastic job leading the team to victory.

College Principal Mark Aiello (1990) welcomed our guests, including his brother David (1995). Mark was coaching the 2^nd XVIII football team at the time but managed to get away from his duties to briefly make the address.

Parade College hosts the game every two years and we invite our Old Paradian Veterans to attend a luncheon as our honoured guests. The College is very proud of them and their service to the nation. Veteran, Honorary Old Paradian and former long-time teacher John Joss commenced the lunch with The Ode and spoke of Veteran appreciation of the College for its commitment to recognising the service of its Veterans. 14 Veterans were in attendance, all Vietnam Veterans apart from Anthony Lamers (1995) who served in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Kevin Kennedy (1963) flew down from Sydney to catch up with fellow veterans.

It is always a pleasure to welcome back Peter Bedford (1964) and Simon Madden (St Bernard's alumnus) who proudly share the name of the Shield. Both have embraced the annual match, proud of their connection to their respective school and committed to the occasion.

Peter Bedford (1964) is an Old Paradian Hall of Fame recipient, Australian Football Hall of Famer, former South Melbourne Captain and Team of the Century member, 5 times Best and Fairest and 1970 Brownlow medallist. Peter was also a handy cricketer representing Victoria in Shield Cricket!

Simon Madden is a famous St Bernard's old collegian, a legend of the Essendon Football Club, playing 378 games, 2-time Premiership player, Norm Smith medallist, former captain and Team of the Century ruck-man, 4 times winning the Club Best & Fairest and adjudged one of the greatest Essendon players in its history.

We also welcomed back to the College members of the 1994 Herald Shield winning team. Former long time staff member and recently retired Coach, Tony McKay, attended the lunch and was able to share memories of the game with Captain Daniel Harford (1994) that saw the side resounding winners by 102 points! Assistant Coach and now ACC Executive Officer, Paul Fahey (1983), was also in attendance. The side was star studded with Daniel Harford, Jarrod Molloy, Blake Caracella and Daniel Lowther all going on to AFL careers in attendance. Amazingly, Jarrod was playing school football on Wednesdays and lining up at centre half forward for Fitzroy seniors on the weekend! Ryan Wilson came down from Sydney for the day, Neil Daniher medallist Michael Watson was able to join Anthony Chiodo, Mark Di Pasquale, Steve Hurst, Ben Broadbent, David Aiello and Craig Caracella.

We appreciated College Leadership attendance at the lunch. Business Manager, Paul Harris (1997), wore two hats as he was a young Year 9 student who played the first of his 4 years in the 1^st XVIII in the winning Herald Shield in 1994.

It was also terrific to have Olympic Silver Medallist and Old Paradian, Gary Honey (1976) in attendance.  He had also been supporting the College's Sport Academy Program that morning.

We welcomed Dr Michael Davies, Principal of St Bernard's, and their Director of Sport Paul Groves to the College. Additionally, parents of Football Captain Zac Johnson and mother of 1^st XI Soccer captain Ben Matusco were guests.

As is tradition, after the match, the winning captain receives the Shield presentation, while the Most Courageous player on the Parade team is awarded the Phonse Kyne Trophy. This year the Trophy was presented to Jake Woodward. Old Paradian Phonse Kyne (1931) played 245 games for Collingwood, won the Club Best & Fairest Copeland Trophy on 3 occasions in a row, played in two Collingwood Premierships (1935 and 1936) and coached them for 2 Premierships (1953 and 1958). The College is very proud to name the Trophy in his honour.