PE News....

Upcoming Sporting Dates 

Term 3

• Divisional Basketball (Yr 6 only) - Wednesday 9th September
• Divisional Athletics (Yr 4-6's qualifying on from the Catholics sports) - Monday 14th September

Term 4

• Regional Athletics (Yr 4-6's qualifying on from the Divisional sports) - Monday 12th October 
• Divisional Cricket Blast (Yr 6 only) - Friday 23rd October 
• Regional Basketball (Yr 6 only) - Tuesday 27th October 
• State Athletics (Yr 4-6's qualifying on from the Regional sports) - Thursday 29th October 
• Fdn-2 Junior Athletics Morning - Friday 30th October  
• Fdn-2 Swimming Program - Tue 3rd, Wed 4th, Thur 5th & Fri 6th November  
• Regional Cricket Blast (Yr 6 only *If we qualify on) - Friday 13th November 

Catholic Athletics Sports

Last week, 75 students proudly represented St Francis of the Fields at the Catholic Athletics Sports, and what a fantastic day it was!

We saw so many outstanding performances across the day, with our students giving their best, supporting one another and showing wonderful sportsmanship.

Special congratulations to Gus Arundell and Josh Rodda, who both broke the 1500m record for their age group, an incredible achievement!

While the performances were fantastic, what made us most proud was the way our students conducted themselves throughout the day. Their encouragement, kindness, resilience, and sportsmanship were a credit to them and to our school. Well done to every single competitor, we are incredibly proud of you!

Congratulations also to Bella Hope and Jenson Chambers, who were awarded our Year 6 Best Contributor medals. These awards recognise the wonderful contribution they made throughout the day.

A huge thank you to all of the staff who assisted, supported and encouraged our students throughout the day. From getting students where they needed to be, when they needed to be there, to all the little things happening behind the scenes, your help is so appreciated.

Finally, we wish our students who have qualified for the Divisional Championships the very best of luck as they continue their athletics journey in a couple of weeks! 

Track results

Relay 4 x 100m results

Field event results

Regional Football

On the 13th of August it was our footy carnival. It was a fun day with good weather. 

Ten minutes before the game we started a tense warm up and then we went straight into our first game. It was on a smaller oval which took us by surprise, but we came out with a good win. 

For our second game we were winning by three goals and going into our third quarter we were strong, but they had some strong players on their team that got them two quick goals. After that we didn’t let them score any more gaols for the rest of that quarter but that meant that we didn’t score any more goals either. Both teams were tired, but we must have been more tired because they scored a gaol on us in the last minute which gave them the win. 

The whole team kind of knew that we didn’t have a chance to make the grand final but that didn’t stop us from having a good and fun last game. We came onto the field feeling a little bit down but that didn’t matter because we ended up winning by 63 points! Sadly, that wasn’t enough to get us through to the next level. 

We would just like to thank our coach Mr. Zera, Mrs Zealley for assisting and Mrs Coates for organising. 

And a very big thanks to all the parents that got us ready for the day.

By Albie Tyler and Eadie Willis. 

Girls Football Captains

Regional Netball

Girls Netball

On Tuesday the 18th of August, the girls and boys headed off to Swan Hill. We played 3 games; Carisbrook, Echuca East and St Marys, winning all of them and finishing first in our pool. Going into the Semi Final against Sacred Heart, we won by 5. We prepared and talked strategy so we could go into the Grand Final against St Marys Echuca. We came out fierce and the tension was high as the whistle blew. 

We played four tough quarters, the scores stayed level throughout the 1st and 2nd quarter. We played as a team and our shooters were switched on, our midcourt’s brought it down smoothly and our defenders intercepts were on point. After 4 long quarters we came out with the win, and we are now going to Melbourne for States.

Thanks to Miss Mangan for coaching us, Mrs Zealley for assisting and Mrs Coates for organising the day.

By Kaley Marsh & Pippa Fishley

Girls Netball Captains

Boys Netball

When the team arrived in Swan Hill we got straight into a warmup, preparing for our first game against Woodend. We won 20-11 getting hyped up for our next game. As we headed to our next game against Nicholls Point with high expectations, we got off to a good start and we kept the lead, winning our second game 18-6.

We were so happy that we had won both our games, but we knew our third game would be tough against Rochester. When we got to our court we didn’t muck around and locked in straight from the start. It was a tight game with Rochester leading the whole game, but we came back and ended up having a draw 17-17. We finished second over percentage which made us verse St Mary’s in the semi-final. We played well but sadly lost by 5 which made us not able to play the grand final. 

We would like to thank Mrs McDermott for coaching us, Mrs Zealley for assisting and Mrs Coates for Mrs Coates for organising the day.

By Will Hearps & Max Nielsen

Boys Netball Captains

2026 Australian Cross Country Championship    

On Saturday the 22nd of August, I went to Ballarat to compete in the National Cross Country Championships. It was very wet & muddy & it was raining a little bit. There were also mounds to go up & logs to jump over, which made me very tired, but I kept pushing myself. I had little slips but didn’t slip fully over. The second km was a bit dryer but still really muddy. The second km I picked up the pace because I knew it was a bit dryer. 

I was close to the finish line, so I started to go fast. I passed some more people, and I was 50m away from the finish line, so I started sprinting and I passed the finish line, ending up getting 40th place. I was really happy I got 40th because my aim was to not get last. After the race, I was really muddy and my shoes were so muddy I couldn’t even see the Nike tick anymore. I washed the mud off with hot water, but I still had a lot of mud on me. 

Thank you to Mrs. Coates for giving up her time to train me. 

By Gus Arundell                                                                   

Gus, you're amazing! We hope your first national experience was terrific! We're all incredibly proud of your efforts, but more so for the way you prepared for this championship. You are so determined, so focused and you really gave it your all on the day - Well done!

Little Athletics State Cross Country Championship

On Saturday, 15th August, Luca Meyer represented Bendigo at the Little Athletics State Cross Country Championships coming 32nd. Ada Emmerson also qualified but unfortunately was under the weather and couldn’t compete.

Congratulations, Luca!

UCI BMX Racing World Championships

Back in July, Riley Djuric represented Australia at the UCI BMX Racing World Championships held in Brisbane. This is the highest event for the BMX Racing where the best of the best in the world compete. 41 countries, roughly 3000 riders for the week and 1200 Australians. Riley raced the 11 boys age group and was one of three in the age group from Victoria.

On the Monday and Tuesday he had two official practice days where he got to ride the track and practice before he raced on the Friday. He raced three motos where he came 4th in the first Moto, 3rd in the second Moto and 2nd in his last Moto. He was then sitting 38 which was enough to progress into the first round of finals. Unfortunately, he got 7th in the 1/8 finals and this is where his day ended. This then left him ranking 53rd (out of 95 riders) in the world.

This was an incredible effort at such a high level of racing. He had an amazing time representing his country, meeting kids from all over the world and meeting the pro riders that he watches on the TV. 

Riley will have a short break and then he will gear back up for the Victorian State Championships in November to finish the season off. 

Congratulations Riley, absolutely amazing effort to represent your country at such a young age! We are all very proud of you here at St Francis.

PE Awards

Each assembly week, we present a tuck shop award.

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

• Conor Gregg
• Audrey Trewhella

Spirit of sport Awardee's

• Ruby Grinton 
• James Shadbolt

Other important dates in 2026

Swimming

• Junior Swimming: Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4, Thursday 5, Friday 6 Nov

Athletics 

• Divisional Athletics Championship: Monday 14 Sept 

• Regional Athletics Championship: Monday 12 Oct 

• State Athletics Championship (Melbourne): Thursday 29th Oct

• School Athletic Sports (Fdn- Year 2) on the oval 9.15-11am: Friday 30 Oct    

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 

St Francis Netball News...

St Francis Basketball Club News...

2026/27 Summer basketball season

Registrations are now open for the 2026/27 Summer basketball season.

You can register on the St Francis Basketball Club website -

• https://stfrancisbasketball.majestri.com.au/202627-summer-season-registration

The 2026/27 Summer season starts the first week of term 4 and runs until the end of term 1 2027, with a break over the school holidays. For more information about age groups, games and fees, visit:

• St Francis Basketball Club website.

Registrations close Friday 28 August.

Any players not continuing next season will need to return their uniforms please. Details for the uniform coordinators are available on the club's website.

Contact stfrancisbasketballclub@gmail.com if you have any questions.

A big thank you to outgoing St Francis Basketball Club committee members for their time, energy and commitment over the past few years:

-        Danielle Place - president

-        Roberta Mathers - secretary

-        Kate Todd - treasurer

-        Clinton McSwain - facility and equipment coordinator

-        Kerry Rowell – uniform coordinator.

Community Sporting notices