School & Representative Sport
Athletics - Sporting Schools Grant Funding Training Sessions
For six weeks this term, students in Year 7 were able to be involved in Athletics training sessions with Mr Julian Schneider through the Sporting Schools Grant Program. The program was conducted in some PDHPE practical lessons and during scheduled Thursday sport. Many thanks to Julian and Athletics Australia for their ability to offer sessions this term. Students participated in a variety of skills and events in preparation for the St Clare’s Athletics Championships which will be held once the weather settles. Students displayed involvement and enthusiasm during the sessions. Thank you to the PDHPE staff for supporting the scheduled sessions in their classes and during sport.
Luke Rowe
School Sports & Representative Sports Coordinator
NSW CCC Swimming Championship 2023
Four students represented the Maitland/Newcastle Diocese at the NSWCCC Swimming Championships held on Friday, 31 March.
The students were:
Amy Rowell
Sophie Scislo
Adele Whitehouse-Miotto
Ashley Allan
Well done to Sophie who placed 3rd in both the 100m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle who will now represent NSWCCC at the All Schools event in June.
NSWCCC Swimming Championships – Amy Rowell, Adele Whitehouse-Miotto, Ashley Allan & Sophie Scislo
Sophie Scislo – 3rd 100m Butterfly
Sophie Scislo – 3rd 200m Freestyle
Congratulations to all students on their efforts.
Luke Rowe
School Sports & Representative Sports Coordinator
U13 Boy’s Futsal Regional Championships
On Monday, 3 April the U13 boy’s futsal team travelled to Port Macquarie to compete in the regional championships. They performed admirably in the morning, drawing their first game against MacKillop College 2-2 and winning 3-0 in their second game against Hastings Secondary College. They progressed second in their group on for and against and met another team from MacKillop College in a closely contested quarter final, conceding two late goals to exit the tournament.
The boys gave their everything all day and can hold their heads up high after a series of excellent performances. Congratulations to the team for their positive spirit all day, and representing the school with pride. A big thank you to all parents/carers who helped out with transport and support.
Alex Podolinsky, Taj Johnson, James Aldridge, Vincent Janjic, Peter Clements, Charlie Gibson, Mac Randall, Jaxon Zabell, Ashley Allan, Aston Hodges, Todd Curtis
Todd Curtis
Futsal Coach
Eastcoast School Futsal Titles
Congratulations to our 16’s girls and 19’s boys school Futsal teams, who recently travelled up to Port Macquarie to compete in the Eastcoast School Futsal Titles. Both teams played with terrific determination, sportsmanship and skill throughout all their matches, with some highly entertaining Futsal played.
Our 16’s girls displayed amazing determination, outstanding resilience and exceptional levels of skill to go through all five of their pool matches undefeated! This was a feat made all the more amazing considering the girls had never played Futsal together before.
All players were terrific throughout the day with dominating attacking performances and strong defence across all their pool matches. St Clare’s came away with hard fought, come from behind victories over Camden Haven High School 3-2 and Melville High School 2-1 in their opening two fixtures.
St Clare’s third and fourth round matches resulted in comprehensive 3-0 and 2-0 victories over Hastings College and St Columba Anglican School respectively. St Clare’s faced off against competition heavy weights and the undefeated Bellingen High School in their final pool game. In what was a highly entertaining end to end match, both schools came away with a well-deserved 1-1 draw.
St Clare’s came up against Melville High School in their semi-final in what was a defence dominated game with limited attacking opportunities, St Clare’s triumphed with a late goal to seal their spot in the final 1-0.
St Clare’s played arch nemesis Bellingen High School in the final in a high quality fast paced encounter. Fatigue and defensive lapses saw St Clare’s concede two early goals, however St Clare’s slowly clawed their way back into the match with long periods of ball possession and attacking opportunities. This led to St Clare’s scoring late in the match, however Bellingen held on 2-1 to come away with the title and crowned champions.
Back Row (L-R): Mr Collier, Ashlee Brabant, Grace Randall, Maya Ljumanovic & Marissa Masterantonio
Front Row (L-R): Gemma Eady-Muxlow, Elise Zammit & Claire Downie
St Clare’s 19’s team also went through all six of their pool matches undefeated, with St Clare’s coming away with emphatic 5-0 victories in their opening two fixtures against Hastings West Port and St Columba Anglican School Blue respectively.
St Clare’s played cross town rivals Manning Valley Anglican College in their third round encounter. Poor ball control and passing inaccuracy saw St Clare’s turn over possession multiple times, gifting MVAC multiple attacking and scoring opportunities. This constant attacking barrage saw St Clare’s finally concede late in the match. However, a never give up attitude saw St Clare’s pounce on a goal scoring opportunity in the dying seconds of the match to end the game 1-1.
St Clare’s bounced back to their dominating attacking ways in their third round match against Melville High School, with St Clare’s coming away with a comprehensive 3-0 victory.
St Clare’s faced off against St Columba Anglican School Silver and Bellingen High School in their last two fixtures of the pool stage. Both matches were tightly contested with multiple attacking opportunities created by all teams. St Clare’s secured a 1-1 draw against SCAS Silver with an equalising goal with the final kick of the game and a 2-1 come from behind victory over Bellingen High School.
St Clare’s came up against competition heavy weights MacKillop College in their semi-final match. In what was a high quality and physical encounter, both teams withstood numerous attacking raids with impenetrable scrambling defensive efforts. The match ended 0-0 after regular time with the match to be decided in golden goal extra time or penalties. St Clare’s heartbreakingly conceded a free kick in front of their goal with seconds left in extra time, MacKillop subsequently converted this goal scoring opportunity to win the match 1-0 and advance to the final.
(L-R): Jai Payne, Drew Cini, Darcy Eady-Muxlow, Matthew Spiteri, Connor Clarke, Harry Miller, Saffron Grass & Ryan Martin
Lastly, a big thank you to the parents who travelled on the day to support our teams and to Mr Laurent Gonfond for his tireless efforts in coaching our school Futsal teams, it’s very much appreciated by everyone involved.
Matthew Collier
Futsal Coordinator
Northern NSWCCC Rugby League Selection Trials
Congratulations to Rory Clarke who recently travelled up to South West Rocks for the Northern NSWCCC Rugby League selection trials after being selected as part of the Maitland/Newcastle Diocesan U15’s Boy’s Rugby League team. Rory represented the school and his respective team with terrific athleticism, skill and sportsmanship throughout the selection trial. Rory’s strong and tireless defensive efforts, coupled with his high quality ball carrying and line running ability, resulted in Rory scoring two outstanding individual tries. Rory’s strong individual performance was rewarded with selection in the Northern NSWCCC team to compete at the NSWCCC selection trials at St Mary’s in Sydney later in the year. Congratulations and well done Rory!
Matthew Collier
PDHPE Teacher