The NSW AAGPS (Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales) is a school basketball competition played in Australia. It is an annual, 14 round competition played between 8 Sydney member teams that include Saint Ignatius Riverview, St Joseph's Hunters Hill, Sydney Grammar, Sydney Boys High, Newington College, Scots College, The Kings school and Sydney Church Of England Grammar School (Shore). Preseason games are played in Term 3-4 school holidays in the Knox Invitational tournament and Raschke Cup as well as the Trinity Challenge in Summer, with the official GPS games played in Term 4 and 1 on Saturday. 1st grade games commence at 11:45 and often attract large crowds, whilst second grade games commence at 10:00. The 1st grade premiership is currently held by Newington College while the Rashcke cup is held by Newington College. In 2nd grade the premiership is held by St Ignatius College, Riverview and The Scots College while the PJ Yeend Trophy is currently held by Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview.
Every season the AAGPS/RASCHKE Cup (all AAGPS schools compete) is played (formerly in a one-week before Round 1, in a 2-day round robin formatted competition) over the trial rounds, with the schools being separated into two pools, with the winner of each group playing each other in the final. This cup is the 2nd most prestigious accolade from a season. In near consecutive seasons of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 Saint Ignatius College Riverview have made the final, in which they have been victorious 4 times (13, 15, 17, 18). In the 2024 AAGPS basketball season, The Scots College 1sts team won the Raschke Cup, defeating The King's School with a final score of 89-55 in October 2024.
Commencement
The competition commenced in 1975.
First Teams compete for the Denys Hake Shield which was first awarded in 1975, and was presented by The King's School Council in honour of the wife of a former Headmaster of King's, Herbert Denys Hake OBE. Second Teams compete for The TE Bawden Shield which was first awarded in 1975. It was also presented by The King's School and named after the first GPS Convenor of Basketball, and later GPS Treasurer, Tom Bawden. The AAGPS and CAS First Teams compete annually for the PJ Yeend Cup, presented by Basketball NSW. The AAGPS and ISA First Teams compete annually for the McKay Cup.
Competition format
Seasons are a 14-round competition where each team plays each other twice, in 2013 the competition games were halved to 7 rounds with each team playing each other once, though the competition has since reverted a 14-round season. The season begins in Term 4, where teams will play trial matches against a mix of AAGPS, ISA, and CAS teams, including 3 rounds of Raschke Cup/Yeend Shield, where a pre-season winner will be crowned.
Term 1 begins the competition games where schools play each other every Saturday, 10am for 2nd V and 11:45am for 1st V. If a team is able to win 7 games they will be crowned Undefeated Champions and earn the outright AAGPS title.
Results
1975 to 1999
+ ResultsYear1st Grade2nd Grade 1975King'sKing's 1976King'sKing's,St Joseph's 1977ShoreKing's 1978St Ignatius',Shore King's 1979ShoreSt Joseph's 1980King'sKing's 1981King's,St Joseph'sKing's 1982King'sKing's 1983King'sKing's,High 1984St Joseph'sSt Joseph's 1985ScotsNewington,King's 1986ScotsSt Joseph's 1987ShoreSt Joseph's 1988GrammarSt Joseph's 1989St Joseph'sNewington, St Joseph's 1990NewingtonSt Joseph's 1991St Joseph'sNewington, St Joseph's 1992NewingtonNewington 1993St Joseph'sSt Joseph's,Grammar 1994HighSt Ignatius' 1995NewingtonSt Joseph's 1996NewingtonSt Ignatius',Grammar,St Joseph's 1997NewingtonSt Joseph's 1998NewingtonSt Joseph's 1999ScotsScots
2000 onwards + ResultsYear1st Grade2nd Grade 2000ScotsScots 2001ScotsShore 2002Shore Shore 2003Shore Shore 2004ScotsGrammar/St. Ignatius' 2005Newington Newington 2006Kings Shore 2007Shore St. Ignatius' 2008Newington St. Ignatius' 2009Newington St. Ignatius' 2010Newington Newington 2011Newington, High, ScotsNewington 2012High, ScotsScots 2013ScotsHigh 2014High St Josephs, St Ignatius' 2015Newington/High Scots/High2016Newington CollegeNewington College/Scots2017Newington CollegeSaint Ignatius College, Riverview
(Undefeated)2018Newington CollegeSaint Ignatius College, Riverview2019Saint Ignatius College, Riverview (AAGPS and NSWCIS CHAMPIONS)Saint Ignatius College, Riverview2020ScotsShore/Newington College 2021Shore (undefeated AAGPS AND NSWCIS CHAMPIONS) St Ignatius College, Riverview2022NewingtonNewington2023NewingtonNewington2024NewingtonSt Ignatius College, Riverview/ Scots 2025Kings Newington Champions (undefeated)
Notable players Isaac Humphries (Scots) – University of Kentucky/Orlando Magic Nick Kay (Newington) – Metro State College/Perth Wildcats Craig Moller - (High) - South East Melbourne Phoenix Jordan Hunter (Riverview) – St Mary's College/Sydney Kings Jackson Aldridge (Riverview) – Butler University Makuach Maluach (Newington) – University of New Mexico/Sydney Kings Josh Green (Kings) – University of Arizona/ Dallas Mavericks Grant Anticevich (Newington) – University of California Hunter Madden (Shore) – Albeine Christian University/Sydney Kings James O’Donnell (Shore) – University of San Francisco/NBA Global Academy Henry Lau (High) – University of Pittsburgh/Sydney Kings
See also
Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales AAGPS (NSW) Rugby AAGPS (NSW) Soccer Head of the River (New South Wales)
References
GPS Results Archive
External links GPS website