MTBA School of Excellence

We are just so lucky that we live in Alice Springs where there are 97km of hand-built singletrack marked trails on our doorstep which is recognised as one of the premier mountain bike locations in Australia.

While we recognise that mountain bike riding increases our exposure to risks, we believe that it also adds tremendous opportunity for growth and a lifelong commitment to maintaining a healthy life-style. We are ever improving what we can offer our students and encourage the development of everyone to improve their skills in this area and expand on their love of the outdoors. 

St Philip's College has had bikes in its outdoor program for more than 10 years. Starting from the College and riding to Wallaby Gap on Year 7 Discovery was where we had our beginnings. In 2016 the College made a commitment to a fleet of 25 bikes with assistance from the Parents' and Friends' Association and former Principal, Mr Chris Tudor. By 2017 these bikes were used on our Year 7 and Year 8 Outdoor Programs and then were also used within the Year 9 and 10 Outdoor Education classes. In 2018 a replacement set of bikes were purchased and put into service extending our commitment and focus on mountain biking. In 2019 we became one of seven schools in Australia recognised as a MTBA School of Excellence and have a significant number of MTBA qualified Level 0 Instructors and a couple of Level 1 Instructors. In 2020 our mountain bike ex-activity made the change to become another offering for the Colleges Sports Academy and see students ride and train a couple of time a week outside of school hours, and this continues today.

Our Sporting Wall of Fame includes three mountain bike riders: Ryan Standish (Multiple Australian Junior Champion and currently still competing on the international circuit today), David Johnston (Represented Australia U21 World Championships Val di Sole, Italy 2008) and Daniel Johnston (Representing Australia at UCI World Championships in Livigno, Italy 2005). We currently have several students currently competing with good national level results with their eyes set on big goals as well as making it onto the SPC Sporting Wall of Fame.