Upcoming Sporting Dates

Whole School Cross Country at St Francis 9.15am-11am: Wednesday 1 April (second last day of Term 1, day before Good Friday)
State Swimming Sports - Thursday 23rd April
Division Cross Country - Friday 15th May (for yr 3-6's qualifying on from our school cross country)

School Cross Country

Details regarding the event were sent out Wednesday, please check your emails.
You can find start times and distances below, we start with the boys in each year level first, followed by the girls in that year level.
We would love to see as many parents/ guardians and supporters there as possible.

Coffee storm will be available, should you like to purchase a coffee.

CROSS COUNTRY START TIMES
Race Time	Year Level	Distance
9.15am	6	3km
9.25am	5	3km
9.40am	4	2km
9.55am	3	2km
10.10am	2	2km
10.25am	1	1km
10.40am	Fdn	600m

While students have been and will continue to be presented with opportunities to practice for the cross country at school, supporting your child outside of school would be very beneficial.

Coffee storm will be available, should you wish to purchase a coffee.

Age groups

School Sport Victoria (SSV) stipulates that ages are determined as of 31 December for all individual events. If your child chooses to compete in an age group below their date-of-birth designated category, they must understand that they will not be eligible for ribbons, medals, or progression to subsequent competitions. This policy ensures fairness.

Footy Holiday Program & Auskick

We have some staff from AFL Vic coming along on Tuesday at lunchtime for a kick to kick on the oval. If your child would like to be involved, they can wear their PE gear and head to the oval after eating time. See below information about upcoming holiday programs & Auskick at St Francis.

Regional Swimming Championship

Our St Francis swimmers delivered outstanding performances at the Regional Swimming Championships, competing with determination, pride and fantastic team spirit against strong schools from across the region.

Special congratulations to the 11 students who placed 1st in their events and will now represent St Francis at the State Championships.

1st Place

Seb Rodda – Boys 9–10 Backstroke
Eloise Rodda – Girls 12–13 Backstroke
Josh Rodda – Boys 12–13 Backstroke
Josh Rodda – Boys 12–13 Breaststroke
Fleur Muling – Girls 9–10 Breaststroke

2nd Place

Gus Arundell – Boys 9–10 Breaststroke

Relay Results

1st Place - Girls 11 Years Freestyle Relay - Harper Lockhart, Lucy Fidler, Sienna Royden, Jasmin Marshall
1st Place - Girls 9–10 Freestyle Relay - Charlie Rodda, Madeline Bridge, Billie Fidler, Fleur Muling
2nd Place - Girls Medley Relay - Jasmine Marshall, Elke Cowan, Eloise Rodda, Bella Hope
4th Place - Boys 12–13 Freestyle Relay - Tom Mason, Iden Lau, Quade Baker, Josh Rodda

While the results in the water were impressive, one of the highlights of the day was the incredible support from our St Francis community. Our parents and students created an electric atmosphere on the pool deck and were quickly recognised as the loudest and most supportive fan base at the championships, cheering every swimmer all the way to the wall.

Congratulations to all of our swimmers on a fantastic day of competition and thank you to our wonderful parents and supporters who helped make the day so memorable for our students.

Regional Swimming Sports

On the 10th of March, we had 17 students compete at the regional swimming carnival. That’s unbelievable right! It was a lovely steaming hot day at swan hill, and everyone had so much fun, especially getting a nice cold cool down in the water. Everyone did so amazing! Especially when we were versing other people faster than fish, and we are extremely proud of everyone.

For single events in 1st place, we had Seb Rodda, Eloise Rodda, Fleur Muling, and Josh Rodda (two events). We also had Gus Arundell come 2nd. We also did well in our relays with the 9-10 girls Charlie, Maddie, Billie and Fleur and 11 girls Harper, Lucy, Sienna and Jasmine coming in 1st place. The open girls medley relay Jasmine, Elke, Eloise and Bella came in 2nd. The 12-13 boys relay Tom, Iden, Quade and Josh came in 4th .

We were also very proud of how St Francis was amazing at cheering everyone on even people from other schools. I would just like to thank Mrs Coates and all the parents for all they did to make this such a success. Thank you for listening.

By Bella Hope & Eloise Rodda (Swim Captains)

State Little Athletics Championships

Congratulations to the following St Francis students who proudly represented the Bendigo Little Athletics club at the State Championship over the long weekend. Reaching this level of competition is a fantastic achievement and we are very proud of the effort, determination, and sportsmanship shown by all athletes.

Gus Arundell (Under 10) High Jump (11th) Long Jump (20th)
Bella Hope (Under 12) High Jump (12th)
Spencer Pearce (Under 10) 1100m Walk (8th)
Sophie Coultas (Under 9) 100m (16th) 200m (18th)
Ada Emmerson (Under 11) 800m (13th) 1500m (16th)

Well done to the above students on their wonderful efforts representing their club at the State Championships.

U13 Netball Tournament & Maverick’s Experience

On Saturday the 13th of March, the U13 girls’ netball team went in a netball tournament.

The first game we played went smoothly; we won by six goals against the Lions. Then we went straight into another game that was a little bit harder, and we came out strong and managed to win by two goals against Elmore.

After we won twice, we had a break and used that opportunity to meet some of the Mavericks reserves players, which were nice and gave us some tips for the next game. We went into the next game strong against South Bendigo B team and kept fighting but they managed to score a goal over us, so we ended up losing by one goal. After that we had to sprint over to our next game against South Bendigo A team which were a tough and older team that beat us by 6 goals, but we kept our heads up high and raced over to the next game.

This was supposed to be the hardest team and the biggest, so when we stepped on the court, we were quite scared and played the best we played all tournament and by the end we managed to win by 6 goals.

After that we were very tired and had a look on the leader board to see that we were second only missing out by one goal. I want to thank our Coach Kim (Lottis Aunty), all our parents for taking us and finally a big thanks to the netball committee for putting our team together. Well done to: Albie, Bella, Elke, Lotti, Eadie, Pippa, Ariah, Eloise and Macy.

By Bella Hope & Alby Tyler

Running / Cross Country Preparation

Each Monday and Wednesday recess, we will be offering the students an opportunity to improve their running capacity. We aim for these to be short, but effective. We hope to see more students join over the coming weeks! Students are encouraged to check the PE notice board outside the shed for any changes. Students' classroom teachers also have access to this information.

Other important dates in 2026

Swimming

State Swimming Championships (Melbourne): Thursday 23 Apr
Junior Swimming: Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4, Thursday 5, Friday 6 Nov

Cross Country

Whole School Cross Country at St Francis 9.15am-11am: Wednesday 1 Apr
Division Cross Country (Year 3-6’s): Friday 15 May
Regional Cross Country (St Arnaud): Tuesday 2 June
State Cross Country (Melbourne): Thursday 16 July

Athletics

School Athletics Sports (3-6’s): Friday 24 July
Catholic Swimming Championship: TBC
Divisional Athletics Championship: Monday 14 Sept
Regional Athletics Championship: Monday 12 Oct
School Athletic Sports (Fdn- Year 2) on the oval 9.15-11am: Friday 30 Oct
State Athletics Championship (Melbourne): Thursday 5 Nov

PE Awards

Each assembly week, we present some tuck shop awards.

The criterion for receiving these awards is very straightforward. Students demonstrating outstanding sportsmanship, effort, and attitude will be the prime candidates for these awards.

Congratulations:

Week 6

Matilda Dowd
Hunter Edgley

Week 8

Caiden McCormack
Raff Hemopo
Primrose Lyons

Sporting News

Parents, if you have sporting news that should be shared in the newsletter, please send through a completed write up and picture to:

dcoates@sfstrathfieldsaye.catholic.edu.au

Danielle Coates - PE Coordinator

Community Sporting notices

St Francis Newsletter

Term 1 Week 8 · 19 Mar 2026

In this issue