Parade College and Melbourne Girls Grammar return on the hunt for a three-peat of their respective Division One Senior titles, with both schools winning back-to-back Shields in 2023 and 2024. Image: Craig Dooley
Top school football teams from across Victoria will be out to be crowned the state’s best when the annual Herald Sun Shield interschool competition kicks off on July 29, with a number of sides back to defend their titles.
Parade College and Melbourne Girls Grammar return on the hunt for a three-peat of their respective Division One Senior titles, with both schools winning back-to-back Shields in 2023 and 2024.
Parade College has again won through as premiers of the Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC) and will be the top seed of the Senior Boys Division One age group. Essendon young gun Zak Johnson led Parade to the Senior Boys title in 2024, when he was named best-on-ground in the final, following in the footsteps of his Essendon teammate Nate Caddy, who led Parade to its 2023 title and was also named best-on-ground in that game.
Melbourne Girls Grammar won its place as the representative of Girls Sport Victoria (GSV) in the top age group and will be the top seed following last year’s dominant win over rival Caulfield Grammar School. 16-year-old young gun Chloe Williams was named best-on-ground as a bottom age player last year, whilst her 2024 teammates have gone on to further success, with Sienna Sharp being named in Victoria Metro’s squad for the 2025 Marsh AFL National Championships U18 Girls, and Sophie McKay drafted to Carlton with pick 17 in the 2024 Telstra AFLW Draft.
Scotch College will represent the Associated Public Schools (APS) as the top seed in the Intermediate Boys Division One age group, while fellow defending champions Rowville Secondary College will represent School Sport Victoria (SSV) as the top seed in Intermediate Girls Division One.
First played in 1977, the 2024 competition will be the 47th edition of the Herald Sun Shield (not played in 2020 or 2021 because of the pandemic) and will comprise eight divisions – four boys and four girls. Senior divisions are open age while the Intermediate divisions are for students in year 10 and below.
The fixtures for the Boys and Girls Division One competitions have been confirmed and can be viewed on PlayHQ here, or below. Division One matches will be played at Skinner Reserve (used by the Western Bulldogs as their training ground in 2023) and VFL club venues Trevor Barker Beach Oval in Sandringham, Box Hill City Oval and ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne.
Boys and Girls Division One Grand Finals will be contested at Port Melbourne on Tuesday 14 and Tuesday 19 August, respectively.
The first round of Division One Boys and Girls in both age groups will be an Elimination match, featuring the fourth and fifth seeds, with the winners progressing to the Semi Final stage. The Elimination games will get the 2025 Herald Sun Shield underway on Tuesday 29 July.
Seedings have been determined based on finishing positions of school associations in the previous edition of the Herald Sun Shield.
Live streaming
Long-standing AFL Victoria and Herald Sun Shield partner News Corp Australia will continue to support the competition and provide exclusive live streaming coverage via its KommunityTV platform (www.kommunitytv.com).
Speaking at the 2025 Herald Sun Shield launch event at Marvel Stadium yesterday, Head of AFL Victoria Greg Madigan said:
“I’m thrilled to officially launch the Herald Sun Shield for another year, to showcase some of the best school footy teams and their players from across Victoria," Madigan said.
“The Herald Sun Shield is rich in history, dating back to 1977, and for many school teams it presents an opportunity to compete against the best teams from other school associations in the state. With both Parade College and Melbourne Girls Grammar returning to chase a three-peat in the Division One Senior title, this year’s competition promises more great interschool football.
“I would like to acknowledge the ongoing support of News Corp, who will continue to exclusively live stream the Herald Sun Shield via the KommunityTV platform. This coverage provides the competition, schools and players involved with outstanding exposure.”
Herald Sun editor Sam Weir said he was excited to see the Herald Sun Shield on the KommunityTV platform for the fourth consecutive year.
"News Corp Australia, and the Herald Sun in particular, has a proud history of supporting the best grassroots and schoolboy footballers taking the first steps of what we hope is a long and prosperous career.
"We have seen some of the AFL’s top talents come through the prestigious Herald Sun Shield competition, and we have no doubt that our KommunityTV live streams are a chance of catching sight of the next players in line.
"We are proud to capture and broadcast every minute of the Herald Sun Shield finals series again in 2025."
Division Two matches will be played in later August and early September following the conclusion of the Division One competitions. Division Two competing schools will be confirmed soon.
SENIOR BOYS DIVISION ONE
Seedings:
1. Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC): Parade College *2023 & 2024 PREMIERS*
2. School Sport Victoria (SSV): Catherine McAuley College, Bendigo
3. Southern Independent Schools (SIS): Padua College, Mornington
4. Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS): Ballarat Grammar
5. Geelong Independent School Sports Association (GISSA): St Ignatius College, Geelong
SENIOR GIRLS DIVISION ONE
Seedings:
1. Girls Sport Victoria (GSV): Melbourne Girls Grammar *2023 & 2024 PREMIERS*
2. Associated Public Schools (APS): Caulfield Grammar
3. Geelong Independent School Sports Association (GISSA): Sacred Heart College, Geelong
4. School Sport Victoria (SSV): SEDA College Victoria
5. Catholic Girls Sports Association of Victoria (CGSAV): Our Lady of Sion College, Box Hill
INTERMEDIATE BOYS DIVISION ONE
Seedings:
1. Associated Public Schools (APS): Scotch College, Hawthorn
2. School Sport Victoria (SSV): Rowville Secondary College
3. Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC): St Bernard’s College, Essendon West
4. Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS): St Patrick’s College, Ballarat
5. Sports Association of Catholic Coeducational Secondary Schools (SACCSS): Salesian College, Sunbury
INTERMEDIATE GIRLS DIVISION ONE
Seedings:
1. School Sport Victoria (SSV): Rowville Secondary College *2024 PREMIERS*
2. Associated Public Schools (APS): Caulfield Grammar School
3. Geelong Independent School Sports Association (GISSA): Sacred Heart College, Geelong
4. Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS): Ballarat Grammar
5. Southern Independent Schools (SIS): Padua College
2025 HERALD SUN SHIELD DIVISION ONE FIXTURE
Tuesday 29 July – Marty Busch Reserve, Sebastopol
Inter Boys Div 1 Elimination Round (4th v 5th seed) – 10:00am
St Patrick’s College, Ballarat v Salesian College, Sunbury
Senior Boys Div 1 Elimination Round (4th v 5th seed) – 12:00pm
Ballarat Grammar v St Ignatius College
Wednesday 30 July – Box Hill City Oval
Inter Girls Div 1 Elimination Round (4th v 5th seed) – 10:00am
Ballarat Grammar v Padua College
Senior Girls Div 1 Elimination Round (4th v 5th seed) – 12:00pm
SEDA College v Our Lady of Sion College
Wednesday 6 August – Skinner Reserve, Braybrook
Inter Boys Div 1 Semi Final – 9:30am
Rowville Secondary College v St Bernard’s College
Senior Boys Div 1 Semi Final 1 – 11:30am
Catherine McAuley College v Padua College
Wednesday 6 August – Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham
Inter Boys Div 1 Semi Final 2 – 10:00am
Scotch College v Elimination winner (St Patrick’s College / Salesian College, Sunbury)
Senior Boys Div 1 Semi Final 2 – 12:00pm
Parade College v Elimination winner (Ballarat Grammar / St Ignatius College)
Thursday 7 August – Skinner Reserve, Braybrook
Inter Girls Div 1 Semi Final 1 – 9:30am
Caulfield Grammar v Sacred Heart College, Geelong
Senior Girls Div 1 Semi Final 2 – 11:30am
Caulfield Grammar School v Sacred Heart College, Geelong
Thursday 7 August – Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham
Inter Girls Div 1 Semi Final 2 – 10:00am
Rowville Secondary College v Elimination winner (Ballarat Grammar / Padua College)
Senior Girls Div 1 Semi Final 1 – 12:00pm
Melbourne Girls Grammar v Elimination winner (SEDA College / Our Lady of Sion College)
Thursday 14 August – DSV Stadium, Williamstown
Inter Boys Div 1 Grand Final – 10:00am
Senior Boys Div 1 Grand Final – 12:00pm
Tuesday 19 August – ETU Stadium, Port Melbourne
Inter Girls Div 1 Grand Final – 10:00am
Senior Girls Div 1 Grand Final – 12:00pm