Sport News
NSWCCC Swimming Championships
On Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd April we had 4 students represent our school as part of the Wollongong Diocesan Swimming Team (Te Ari’i Aperau-Bob, Oliver McDonald, Katelyn Blissett & Keiran Blissett). This championship took place at Homebush Olympic Swimming Pool and saw some of the State’s best swimmers competing.
Te Ari'i Aperau-Bob - 2nd Place 100m Backstroke & 3rd Place 50m Backstroke
Oliver McDonald - 3rd Place 50m Breastroke and a close 4th place for his 100m Breaststroke
Katelyn Blissett - 2nd Place 50m Butterfly (Multi-Class) & 3rd Place 50m Backstroke (Multi-Class)
Keiran Blissett - 7th place 100m Butterfly and his first time representing at these championships
These are phenomenal results going up against the Catholic Schools all over NSW and Te Ari’i, Oliver and Katelyn will now move on as part of the NSWCCC team and compete at NSW All Schools next term. Congratulations to these students.
School Sports Australia - National Triathlon Championships
Student report: Written by Bianca de Swardt
The race consisted of a 750m swim with lots of jellyfish and was mostly running and dolphin dives because the tide was very low. I managed to do a 58 second Pb off my swim, the 20km bike course was very technical with lots of U-turns, roundabouts and sharp turns and on the 5km run I managed to do a 29 second Pb off the bike. It was a fast race with some really fast and talented girls and very hot conditions.
The team event consisted of 4 team members - 2 girls and 2 boys each having to do their own individual triathlon (200m swim, 10km bike and 1.5km run). Overall we placed 6th in the senior relay.
The NSW team took home second to Queensland Maroons.
Diocesan Junior Soccer Gala Days
Boys Year 8-10 Pathways Team
The 2025 8 -10 Boys Soccer campaign started out with some exciting developments. After the 2024/25 transfer window closed, thanks to Ms Wilson, St Joey's closed two very handy transfers, on record deals, from the UK, consisting of Georgie Bennet and his younger brother Teddy.
With lots of positivity around the training sessions, the boys went into the Diocesan Soccer knockout with our heads held high and some clear goals at hand. Due to previous rain events and injuries, the 8-10 boys had not won a game in three years. Therefore, our goal for the tournament was simple, score a goal and win a game.
After the bus ride up, filled with JBL quality pump up music, as Elliot Klein described, "this feels like the Champions League Final Sir", the boys were ready to take on whatever most NPL1-filled teams could throw at us.
After a short team meeting, the starting lineup was named:
Cartwright, Klein, Smith (c), Spencer, Rutgers, Aji, Healey, Christian, Vilarinho, Santana, Bennett.
The boys faced a very tall and skillful Holy Spirit in round 1. Despite a free kick just outside the box in the first 5 minutes, the boys held composure and only conceded 2 goals, to lose 2-0.
Round 2 we drew St John's Nowra, and after their big win from round 1 we knew it would be a tough one. With some minor reinforcements added in the first half, Max Gamble put some solid work in and put pressure on the John's back line. With a late goal conceded, the boys only went down by one goal.
Round 3 we had our home derby team - Corpus Christi.
Back to the drawing board we went, heads still held high. We made some tactical changes that included a big shift from Aaron Aji in LB and some huge tackles from Kobe Healey. A close header from Aiden Smith and a shot by Georgie saw the Corpus back line trembling as if Harry Kane was lurking. Some good runs by Teddy on the wing and pressure from Chase up front had some close opportunities. We saw the game out 0-0 which enabled Holy Spirit to move into the finals over Corpus.
Round 4 we drew St Francis. Our last pool game.
We agreed in our pre game talk that this would be it, all in, 110% have a crack at our goal.
The boys stepped up, with some great defensive manoeuvres from Spence and Rutgers in the back line, a great save by Cartwright, and once again our midfield were able to transition the ball out to the wingers Georgie and Teddy/Santana.
This allowed Georgie to go 1v1 with their keeper, and like poetry in motion, the ball flew into the back of the net. It was quite the moment to witness as my whole bench flocked to the corner flag to celebrate with Georgie. Despite being in trouble from the ref for letting the bench celebrate, it almost brought a tear to the eye to see how happy they were.
It felt like a champions league final.
End result 8th
MVP: Georgie Bennett
Honourable mention: Kobe Healey
Assistant Coaches, Esky management: Sam Goodwin + Josh Thiruthanathi
The Under 13’s soccer team had been training for a period of 5 weeks in anticipation of our big day against ten rival schools. On the 27th of March, we caught a bus bright and early at 6.45 and arrived in Raby listening to some inspiring tunes provided by the 8-10 boys. We started by dominating our first game against Corpus Christi (2,0). We did not have as much luck for the rest of the day and conceded 8th place overall in the competition. The boys played very well, showing good pace and some good use of tactics. MVP goes to Hayden Attard, who saved some excellent goals, some right in the face of opponents. A special mention goes to Preston Tanevski, Issac Stoneham and Lachlan Sail, who continuously set up plays and Sam Whyte for leading the defence. Well done!
Girls Year 8-9 Pathways Team
What an outstanding day our 8-9 Pathways team had down at Ison Park, Nowra last week at the Diocesan Junior Girls Soccer Gala Day. These girls trained hard for this event and their teamwork was phenomenal on the field. Our first game we played Mt Carmel and won 2-1. We then moved on to verse St Pats where an early goal to Joey’s built the confidence of the girls, but unfortunately St Pat’s stayed strong and committed and ended up winning game 2 3-1. The girls were anxious for our third game against close rivalries Corpus Christi. The standard these girls lifted for this game was incredible and we ended up on a 0-0 draw. Going into our final Pool game our girls were in 2nd place (for Pool B) and needed to get a win to move into the semi-final. Unfortunately we ended up in a 1-1 draw against St Francis.
This led us to being tied 2nd with Corpus Christi who ended up moving into the Semi Finals as they had less points scored against them over the day. Our girls then moved into the 5th vs 6th playoff against St Mary’s where they scored 2 quick goals against us. With a position move for Lucinda Akele from Left Wing to Left Back, she was able to assist in defending and also score a goal at the start of second half to put our hopes of winning back up there. Unfortunately we couldn’t get one last goal to get us there, but the girls never gave up and their positive attitude the entire day was amazing to watch and witness.
I am so proud of how hard they worked as a team and supported each other on the field (a lot playing out of position). This was one of our best results at this diocesan day (In 2023, we placed 9th overall) which shows the progress our team has made. A huge congratulations to Madelynne Crawford and Kirsti Hobbin (not soccer players) who both scored goals on the day in our Pool games. I would also like to commend our defenders who played tirelessly all day (Stacey Rayias, Isabella Oanea, Tehani Aperau-Bob, Hayley Frendo & Sienna Poidevin) as well our Lucinda Akele who was our lead goal scorer and played outstanding in every game to cover as much ground as possible. Lucinda has been awarded our MVP. Well done girls, I am so proud of you all.
Thank you to Amelia Porter, Amy Jedrzejczak for coaching on the day as well as Indianna Hiscocks who assisted in Term 4 and Term 1 with training. Also thank you to Johan, Jacob, Kane and Matthew who assisted as Linesman and Refs on the day.
Girls 13s Team
Having been my first time taking a representative team away I would like to mention a few outstanding things that happened at the Gala Day. Firstly , the attitude and the way the girls went about the day. They all turned up in complete sports uniform, never were in the wrong place and not once did I have to chase any players to be on time during the very tight scheduled day.
Secondly, the way they conducted themselves on the field. They always were respectful to refs, players and any spectators no matter the score win,lose or draw. Lastly the way that they behaved on the bus trip to and from school leaving early and arriving late for a normal school day, they took it in their stride and this just added to a wonderful day had by the team in their achievement and elevated my belief that the school has wonderful spirit and students to represent St Joseph's. Well done girls.
MVP - Lilly Partridge
Cross Country Age Champions
Congratulations to our 2025 Age Champions & Runners Up.
|
Age |
Girls |
Boys |
|
12 |
AC: Allira Finkernagel RU: Chelsea Finlayson |
AC: Blake Crawford RU: Ryan Slater |
|
13 |
AC: Lilly Partridge RU: Ella Whittle |
AC: Cooper Shepherd RU: Isaac Stoneham |
|
14 |
AC: Tehani Aperau-Bob RU: Maya Huetter |
AC: Jacob Stoneham RU: Owen Wall |
|
15 |
AC: Lucinda Akele RU: Abbey Mansbridge |
AC: Ashton Byrne RU: Kobe Heeley |
|
16 |
AC: Kiara Shelton RU: Cadence Hardy |
AC: Chase Vilarinho RU: William Stoneham |
|
17 |
AC: Amelia Porter
|
AC: Caiden Judd RU: Ryan Cergovski |
|
18 |
AC: Bianca de Swardt RU: Breanna Creswell |
AC: Jack Pomery RU: Jayden Mare |
A huge congratulations to Kembla House who took out overall winners and Back-to-Back Champions.
Athletic's Carnival
This year, High Jump will be a Competitors only event, you MUST be nominated and have consent before participating in this event on the day of the carnival.
There will be NO opportunity to sign up for this event on the day.
To nominate in this event, you should have some knowledge of how to complete the jump. On the day, students will be expected to demonstrate a basic jump before proceeding to their competitive jump height.
Nominations close: Friday 4th April
Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/QzXRivxnxhHkuLLw6
Upcoming School Team Nominations/Trials
Netball
This is a nomination form to be considered for our upcoming school Netball teams.
There are 4 teams available to trial for. Please make sure you tick the right age group to be considered.
- 7/8 Girls
- 9/10 Girls
- 11/12 Girls
- Open Boys
Trials will take place next term.
Nominations close: Term 2, Week 1, Wednesday 30th April
Nomination form: https://forms.gle/SE79qCEmdU7hFuj27
14s/16s/18s Girls Rugby League
If you are interested in playing in our Girls Rugby League teams in 2025, you need to nominate using this form.
There will be 3 teams to nominate for:
- U14s
- U16s
- U18s
Nominations Close: Week 1, Wednesday 30th April
Nomination Form: https://forms.gle/zc7DUFNJUbccdwNG9
Open Boys & Girls Volleyball
This team is open to Years 9-12.
Nominations Close: Term 2, Week 1, Wednesday 30th April
Nomination form: https://forms.gle/HfNXcJikm2qGgo8g7
Diocesan Rugby League Selection
Last week we had 4 students attend the Boys & Girls Diocesan Rugby League trials. Well done to these students who were selected to attend and trial. A huge congratulations to Lani who has now been selected in the Diocesan U16s Girls team and will head to Wagga Wagga next term to trial for the NSWCCC Team.
Cricket Success
Congratulations to the Albion Park Eagles 13s team who won their grand final on the weekend. The team included 6 boys currently in Year 7.
Well done to these boys: Harrison McDonald, Samuel Barrett, Archie Savell, Laikyn Shelton, Aidan Strawbridge and Joseph Jedrzejczak.
If your child has had sporting success outside of school we want to hear about it.
Please email details through to Miss Power (powers01@dow.catholic.edu.au)
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