Sports Academies

Welcome back to 2025! Sports Academy is kicking off the year stronger than ever, continuing to grow with each passing year. We are thrilled to announce that this year is shaping up to be one of our best yet! With record numbers of participants, we now have four morning academies running throughout the week, providing athletes with the perfect opportunity to sharpen their skills, stay active, and reach new heights. Read on for an overview of each of our morning academies and all the exciting activities we have in store!

Upcoming Excursions

In Weeks 6 and 7 of Term 1, all Sport Academy students will attend two sessions at Foundry Athletic—Melbourne’s premier sports rehab, high-performance, physiotherapy, and recovery center. This state-of-the-art facility offers an elite level of medical care and athletic services, mirroring those used by professional athletes. Depending on their year level, students will experience fitness testing, injury management, athlete development, and rehabilitation services, gaining firsthand insight into how integrated care works to create stronger, more resilient athletes. This experience is designed to give students a taste of high-performance training and elevate their athletic journey.

Basketball Academy 

The Sandringham College Basketball Academy’s fifth year is off to a great start with over 50 athletes from year 7 to 11 participating within the academy program. This is the biggest cohort we have had, and they are living up to the standards set in previous years. On court programming has been focused on improving athletes' individual skills but will transition to a focus on team play in the coming weeks as the inter school tournaments approach. We look forward to appointing the Academy leadership team and to an exciting year of basketball ahead.

Netball Academy - Inspire Netball

The Netball Academy has kicked off for its second year and has welcomed a number of new students to the program with the Academy now covering years 7 through to 9, the program has also seen the inclusion of 2 male athletes join the program, demonstrating both Inspire Netball and the Schools commitment to providing these opportunities to boys and girls wishing to pursue netball further. Practice matches have been locked in for Term 1 and Term 2 against Parkdale and Mordialloc College and plans are set in motion to play in the Netball Victoria school champs later in the year.

The students have already undergone fitness testing as well as been shown through their strength and conditioning programs with Inspire Netballs Head of Performance Chloe Giles. This is a brand-new offering to the Netball Academy and one that is designed to help students build their physical and mental performance on and off the court. The coaching team is led by Greg, Katie and Jade, who are joined this year with current VNL Championship player Mia van Wyk. Mia is an incredible addition to the team and one that we know the students will learn a lot from on and off the court”.

Soccer Academy - Futbal First

Futbal First are very happy with presented talent and enthusiasm that students have. We  are currently in 4 weeks cycles of 4 core skills training. For the first few sessions we focused on: 1on1, running with the ball, first touch and striking the ball as well to get to know kids as a players but most importantly to meet their personalities. So far we are very very happy with group that we have and we can already see how we can implement more advanced training and create two groups in the program: advanced and development. This will allow to kids to develop according to their potential.

If you have any questions or concerns as we move forward, please feel free to reach out to me at any time.

Elise Dowling

Phone: 8599 0617

Email: elise.dowling@education.vic.gov.au