Associated Catholic Colleges

Associated Catholic Colleges

Abbreviation	ACC
Motto	Excellence Honour and Fairness in Student Sport
Formation	1902
Headquarters	Victoria, Australia
Membership	11 member schools
Official language	English
Website	www.accmelb.com.au

The Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC) is a group of eleven independent Catholic boys schools in Victoria, Australia. The Association, formed as the Combined Catholic Schools Association in 1902, and renamed in 1948, provides the basis for interschool sporting and other competitions between the member schools.

The history of the ACC goes back to the 1890s as Catholic boys schools began to grow and establish themselves in and around Melbourne. The ACC developed from the earlier group called 'The Combined Catholic Schools Association', which involved a number of schools conducted by the Christian Brothers and which held its first athletics meeting in 1902. The College Annual of CBC North Melbourne for 1916 lists four competitions in which that school was involved under the general banner of, 'Combined Secondary Schools'. Member schools took part in an annual athletics meeting, football, handball and tennis competitions. Other member schools included; St Patrick's College, Ballarat, Assumption College, Kilmore, Parade College, and Christian Brothers College, St Kilda.

As the competition expanded additional Catholic schools conducted by other male religious orders such as the De La Salle Brothers, Marist Brothers and others also participated in the competition which included cricket by 1928.

In the early years the annual athletics carnival, came under the control of the Victorian Amateur Athletics Association, now Athletics Victoria. During the 1920s it was held at the Motordrome, Melbourne a site for both amateur athletics and motor sport events built by the Yarra River and now the site of Olympic Park. Events later shifted to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 1930s then back to Olympic Park. In more modern times at and the Lakeside Stadium.