From its earliest days, The Gordon's sports and social activities have provided welcome relief from studying, and much entertainment for students and staff.
The earliest formal event was the 1905 Annual Student Dinner held in the Davidson Hall but more popular was the long-running Annual Ball. A lack of money didn't stop students from having a good time; in the 1930s, students not only brought their own supper to the ball but often their own crockery as well. The Annual Ball moved to the newly built Wool School in 1947 when the suggestion that its greater size and highly waxed floors were more suited to dancing was enthusiastically accepted.
By 1964, the ball had again outgrown its premises and the Palais Theatre in Moorabool Street became the new venue. Aside from the safety aspect of the number of people at the ball, there was also concern about the effects that the vibrations caused by the Mexican Hat Dance had on the building. The 1965 ball was notable for the dry comment in The Gordon Council minutes that the event was well-organised, though the noise level was not for those with sensitive hearing.
The 1950s and 60s, in particular, were renowned for events showing off student accomplishments. The dressmaking course held fashion parades before they were in vogue. The forerunner of the School of Hospitality prepared dinners for the Geelong Wine and Food Society in the late 1950s, with the wine waiters having to get permission from their parents before they were able to serve alcohol. In a typical collaboration between Gordon schools, art students designed and printed the menu with the commerce students taking on the typesetting.
Around the same time, staff and students combined to produce The Gordon Gaieties. Consisting of comedy sketches along with songs and dances, the concerts were a group effort between Gordon departments with the art and architecture courses combining to produce the sets with assistance from carpentry and engineering. The Gaiety evenings were sold out well in advance with the first concert containing an all male ballet corps and the Crescent City Jazz Band. Though the performance material was under strict control, occasionally the performers tried to make things a little more exciting with one act letting off firecrackers on stage.
While the Gaieties finished production in the early 1970s, student activities continued unabated with events such as raft races on the Barwon and rock concerts. Showcasing student accomplishments is now often organised within courses, on our website or via events and social functions, including O Week at the start of each year.
The first organised team sport at The Gordon was rowing, probably because then Secretary and later Director, George King was himself a rower. King entered a Gordon team in the Geelong Regatta in 1907 but rowing became a greater fixture at The Gordon in 1937 when Department teams competed against each other on Corio Bay and on the Barwon River. Though the sport received a boost when Gordon Council member A.L. Storrer donated a trophy for The Gordon rowing competitions, interest in rowing declined several years later due to the crews not having their own rowing facilities.
The Gordon took part in athletics meets and swimming competitions around Geelong and beyond during the 1920s, with regular football matches taking place between other country town schools and some metropolitan colleges. The Gordon created a formal trophy in 1929 for its own annual athletics meets. The Blakistan Cup was presented to the Institute's champion athlete. Director George King commissioned the cup and, typically, requested a discount from the silverware company on the grounds that he was using a local company to make it instead of going outside Geelong. He also seems to have suggested that in return for naming the cup after the Blakistan family that they donate a $100 towards its making, which they duly did. The founder of Little Athletics, Trevor Billingham, was the Blakistan Cup winner in 1964.
The Gordon continued to take part in inter-college competitions and was highly successful. In 1962, the Institute took part in a Tri-Sports competition with colleges in Ballarat and Bendigo and scored the highest points. To celebrate, the Domestic Economy department hosted a buffet dinner for the 350 participating college athletes in the Davidson Hall. The competition became Quad-Sports several years later when Warrnambool Technical College joined but despite the new opponents, The Gordon remained triumphant at the end of the day.
After the formation of Deakin University, sports at The Gordon became part of the Student Activities area and varied from year to year, depending on student interest. During the 1970s, sports ranged from table tennis and badminton through to cricket and squash. The 1980s saw the advent of hockey competitions, while football codes such as Australian Rules and soccer remained favourites. Surfing also became a student activity, an obvious choice for Geelong.