Thank you to everyone who has made sport the successful year it has truly been! We have had some remarkable results this year and I am so excited for what is to come in 2024.

Dance Company

Our Dance company performed at St Paul’s Primary last week. It was great to see them perform their group routine as well as their own choreography that they have developed during this program. Congratulations on a wonderful year girls. Information regarding Dance Company auditions for 2024 will be out in Term 1, Week 1.

Junior Boys Berg Shield Cricket - Rounds 2 & 3

In Week 8, the Junior Boys Cricket team travelled to Batemans Bay for the next instalment in the Berg Shield. Game 1 was against Lumen Christi (Pambula) who regular coach Ryan Maguire still has nightmares about from our previous encounter 12 years ago, so I was called in to guide the team for the day. Bowling first Opening bowlers Mitch and Sam kept things tight with Mitch rewarded with an early breakthrough. From there wickets were hard to come by but the boys stuck at it and did a good job restricting the runs with some good bowling and fielding. Liam created a sharp run out chance and Archie claimed a late wicket as Lumen Christi finished their 20 overs 3/115.

In reply Mitch copped an early LBW call (the only one for the day!!) so Ben G and Cody tried to push things along making 11 and 12 respectively. A few wickets then fell and a bit of pressure was building but skipper Tristan stood tall when it counted making 65 off 35 deliveries including five 4's and five 6's. With support from Archie and Ryan at the other end the boys finished the job with 5 overs to spare to help exorcise the demons of the past against our plucky opponents.

The win saw the team progress to round 3 against Edmund Rice, an older team with a lot of representative experience. Losing the toss, we were asked to field in what was the hottest part of the day, a decision which would prove crucial at the end of the day. A tweaking of the game plan between games saw immediate results with early pressure applied seeing the highly fancied opposition in early trouble reaching 4-41 at the agreed drinks break of 10 overs. Mitch (1) and Tristan (2) were rewarded with early wickets. Sam (1) and Ben M (2) also bowled tight in the middle overs to keep the pressure on and were well supported with some good fielding in particular from Ryan and Cody with some good catches in the outfield. ERC knuckled down in the remaining overs, Liam claimed a late wicket as ERC set a target of 7/117 from their 20 overs.

Mitch and Ben G opened and were solid both making it to the 10 over mark and putting 41 on the board. With plenty of wickets and depth in the batting line up the opportunity to push for the win was there. Unfortunately, the heat of the day started to take its toll with Mitch needing to retire to rehydrate. Ben fell for 19 followed by Cody (16) . From there wickets fell regularly and with runs drying up the job became too much in the end. Sam and Ryan finished not out on 12 and 9 respectively but after 20 overs we fell short on 5/87 and bowed out of the competition for another year.

The boys are to be congratulated on their efforts in pretty trying conditions. Special mention to Wil (Yr 10) who came along to assist with scoring and umpiring for the day) Thanks also to the parents who made the effort to drive the boys there and back and support them on the day. Also, to Mr Whalan who went above and beyond to return the key for the amenities block to the council for us, very much appreciated. Hopefully Mr Maguire is able to return next year!!

Sports Assembly 

It was an absolute pleasure to have Olympian Jessica Hull as our guest speaker and present our major awards. A massive thank you to Jessica for taking time out of her day and share her wisdom with our students.

Jessica is an Olympic 1500m runner, who placed 11th at the most recent Tokyo Olympics. Not only does she specialise in the 1500m, but she excels in the mile and the 3km events and currently holds the Oceanian Record in these 3 events as well. Jessica has placed in the top 8 world rankings several times at World Championships in Cross Country, Athletics, and the Commonwealth Games.

Congratulations to all our sport award recipients for 2023. Below are our Major Award recipients.

Secondary Reds

Our first award is the Secondary Red Awards, which recognise students who have either been selected in 3 Wollongong Diocese Teams OR Selected and represented in a NSWCCC team.

Congratulations to Lachlan Haining - Who represented NSWCCC at Cross Country.

Congratulations to Charlee Buckman who represented NSWCCC in Hockey.

Secondary Blues

The secondary Blues Awards recognise students who have represented in a minimum of 3 NSWCCC teams OR have been selected and represented in NSW All Schools Team.

Congratulations to Emily Hollingsworth who represented NSW All Schools in Under 15 Girls AFL.

Congratulations to Grace Pomery who represented NSW All Schools in Cross Country & Athletics.

Congratulations to Zali Schofield who represented NSW All Schools in Hockey and was also chosen in the Australian Open Girls Hockey Merit team.

Congratulations to Tayissa Buchanan who represented at NSW All Schools in Athletics and has since competed at Australian All Schools and won the U18 girls 800m with a personal best and a world junior qualifying time.

Overall Courage Award

This year we introduced the Sport Value awards which recognise students in our sporting teams who show respect, courage and service. Students have been nominated by their coaches and have been recognised each term. We will now acknowledge the overall winner of these value awards for each category.

The Overall Courage Award goes to a student who shows leadership in training, who continually gets out of their comfort zone, a student who works hard to improve and someone who is willing to try new things.