From the Senior School

Ms Mia Blignaut, Sports Coordinator (Senior School)

As the school year comes to an end, it is always a good time to look back and reflect on the year that was in Senior School Sport at St Mary’s.

With over 46 teams competing across 12 different sports, we had a very successful year. My personal highlights included our athletics, cross country and swimming teams, which brought together students, staff and families in a celebration of teamwork. Our teams and individual athletes achieved excellent results, contributing to the school’s retention of several junior and aggregate shields, as well as age group pennants. These accomplishments reflect the dedication, skill and sportsmanship of our students, who represented St Mary’s with pride and grace.

In addition, we also had a great year across sports such as netball, tennis, water polo, hockey and basketball. The teams showcased outstanding talent, teamwork and dedication, achieving success in a number of these rosters. The sheer number of teams in some of these rosters also underscored the strength and depth of our sporting programs and our students’ willingness to give everything a go!

A massive shout-out to our students for their hard work and unwavering commitment, as well as to the staff who guided and supported them throughout the year. I would also like to thank the countless parents who generously volunteered as coaches and team managers. Your efforts were instrumental in making this year’s program possible.

I wish everyone a well-earned break, and we look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready for another fun and fantastic year of sport in 2025!

From the Junior School

Mrs Fiona Rhodes, Sports Coordinator (Junior School)

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of 2024! 2024 has been an incredible year for sport in the Junior School, and we couldn’t be more excited to share our achievements and highlight the fantastic participation of all our students.

Key highlights from 2024:

Participation: Participation continued to be a highlight at most carnivals and in sport rosters. It's been amazing to witness so many students getting involved and showing their sporting spirit.
Primary School Netball Championships: We entered a representative team for the inaugural competition organised by Netball Tasmania. The team performed exceptionally well and narrowly missed out on securing a spot in the grand final.
Cricket: It has been a goal of mine to enter a cricket team in the JSSATIS roster – and this year was the year! We entered not only one; but two teams! What a great step forward! Hopefully, the foundation for more teams and increased participation has been set for the future.
Touch football: continuing the momentum from 2023, we again entered two teams in the Term 4 roster. A huge success for both teams and a great sign of growth in the sport.
Triathlon success: Once again, our triathlon team was the highlight of the year. With 72 students from Years 3-6 participating in both individual and team events, this was our largest team to date. We also had 21 students competing in the individual event, nearly double the number from last year. What an incredible achievement!

A huge thank you to Claire Bessell and Jackie Brown for their invaluable help throughout the day – we truly couldn't have done it without you!

2025 Term 1 Sports and carnivals | Registration now open

As we wrap up the year, it's time to look ahead to what is always an exciting and action-packed start to the school year. Term 1 is filled with a variety of sports and events that promise to keep our students engaged, active and having fun.

Below are the Term 1 Sports options on offer in 2025.

Junior School sports

Sport	Start	Finish	Day of play
Tennis – Girls Year 5/6	Tuesday 18 February	Tuesday 1 April	Tuesday
Soccer – Girls Year 1-6	Thursday 20 February	Thursday 3 April	Thursday
Flippa Ball (Year 3-6)* Come and Try Day	TBC		Sunday afternoon/evening
Girls Year 6 AFL Gala Day	Wednesday 5 March		Wednesday afternoon, 3.30pm, one team per school

*Flippa ball dates are to be confirmed. Details will be shared with registered families as soon as they are available.

Carnival	Date
SMC Swimming Carnival	Wednesday 12 February
JSSATIS Swimming Carnival (Interschool)	Thursday 20 March
STCPSSA Swimming Carnival (Interschool)	Friday 28 March

Senior School sports

Year	Sport	Day played	Roster starts
7 and 8	Soccer	Wednesdays	19 February
	Volleyball	Tuesdays	18 February
	Cricket	Thursdays	20 February
9 and 10	Soccer	Tuesdays	20 February
	Volleyball	Mondays	17 February
	Cricket	Thursdays	20 February
11 and 12	1st Grade Basketball	Wednesdays	26 February
	1st Grade Tennis	Thursdays	20 February
	1st Grade Volleyball	Tuesdays	20 February

Registrations

Be on the lookout for the sign-up link for Term 1 sport nominations, which will be shared in early January.

From the Principal

Mr Damian Messer

Principal's end-of-year message