We have had a busy few weeks of Rep Sport. Our first Gala Day for the year saw our Under 13, Under 15 and Open Girls Touch Football sides travel to Dalton Park to compete on February 27. On Thursday 28 February and Friday 1 March representatives from our school participated in the NSW All Schools Triathlon. Our school Swimming Carnival took place on Monday 5 March at Nowra Pool and on 7 March our Boys teams competed in the Diocesan Touch Football Gala Day. This week we have also sent our Swimming, Tennis and Futsal teams up to Wollongong to represent the school. A big thank you to all students, staff, parents and helpers for your support and assistance with the mentioned events. Reports for Girls Touch Football and Triathlon can be found below. Other reports will be available in the Week 9 Newsletter. Moving into the second half of Term 1 will see our Football (soccer) & Cross Country teams selected with time to prepare for Diocesan events at the start of Term 2. A reminder to students and parents to be aware of the Representative Sports calendar for upcoming NSWCCC closing dates, with Hockey, Golf, Diving, AFL and Netball all coming up.

Please note upcoming events for Representative Sport:

For any NSWCCC Closing dates visit https://www.csss.nsw.edu.au/nswccc-home.aspx to register.

Term 1

Week Eight:

20 March: Hockey - NSWCCC Closing Date.

20 March: RUGBY LEAGUE 15’S and OPENS - Wollongong Diocesan Selection Trial

22 March: Golf -  NSWCCC Closing Date.
Week Nine:

26 March: CROSS COUNTRY - St John’s Carnival

Week Ten:

3 April: Diving -  NSWCCC Closing Date.
5 April: NSWCCC Swimming

Term 2

Week One:

29 April : AFL Girls  - NSWCCC Closing Date.

30 April: AFL Boys Girls  - NSWCCC South Closing Date.

2 May : NETBALL - NSWCCC Closing Date.

2 May: BOYS Football (SOCCER)- Wollongong Diocesan Gala Day

3 May: GIRLS Football (SOCCER)- Wollongong Diocesan Gala Day

3 May: BASKETBALL- OPENS TOURNAMENT NSWCCC Closing Date.
3 May: RUGBY - NSWCCC Closing Date.

Week Two:

6 May: CROSS COUNTRY - Wollongong Diocesan Carnival

Girls Touch Football Reports

Under 13 Girls

The team: Marcell Holden, Ruby Marshall, Phoebe Szymoniczek, Maggie Smith, Lara Weber, Taiha Marsh-Dawson, Jaimi Chapman, Mia Ryan, Emma Sivonen and Keely Longbottom.

There was a mixture of nervousness and excitement as we arrived at the fields.

Game 1: The girls were still getting use to one another’s play. Ruby was doing lots of talking in the middle and getting the team organised, Mia was doing try saving touches, while Emma scored a try - weaving her way through the opposition. Unfortunately we lost in the last few seconds of the game going down 2-1

Game 2: The girls started to find their rhythm. Lara was defending well in the middle and Mia had the defence running in circles with her ducking and weaving. We had four try scorers in this game - Emma and Mia scored 2 each and Ruby and Marcell 1 each. Final score was 6-0 to Johnnies!

Game 3: Jaimi, Emma and Taiha were working well rolling forward. And Emma was running everywhere looking for the ball but unfortunately in this game the opposition was too strong and we went down 3-0.

Game 4: Lara made a great break up the middle and it took a diving touch from the opposition to stop her. Then it was our turn to do the try saving touches with Taiha chasing down a break from the opposition with a spectacular diving touch. Ruby was spreading the defence with some long passing from the middle. Emma continued to play havoc with the opposition scoring two more tries. Final score was a 2-2 draw

Game 5: Keely made some great runs up the wing in this game. Mia caught the defence napping and showed good vision to sprint to the corner for our first try. Ruby continued to find the line, weaving through the centre and diving over the line for a try. Unfortunately we lost this game 2-3 and again the opposition scored the winning try in the last few seconds.

Game 6: Phoebe was doing a great job on the wing ensuring the opposition couldn’t get around her. Taiha continued to use her speed to chase down opposition breaks. Mia scored a near length of the field try from the first touch. This game finished in a 1-1 draw.

Game 7: Maggie was working hard in the middle ensuring quick play the balls and linking with the wings in attack. Ruby was very busy in the middle and had the defence guessing and crossed the line three times for a hat trick! Keely, Emma and Phoebe all scored a try each. Final score 6-0 win.

Game 8: Marcell played well as our link, running the ball up hard and making sure our wings got the ball.  Jaimi showed great enthusiasm on the field working hard in defence. Ruby was successful in diving for the line again, scoring our only try. Final result was a 1-0 win.

Game 9: The girls had been playing so well all day and they were keen to finish with another win. Phoebe showed amazing speed, getting touched just short of the line. Ruby continued to weave her magic up the middle, diving over for one last try. Final score 1-0 to Johnnies!

Final results: 5 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw. Try scorers - Ruby 7; Emma 6;  Mia 4 and Marcell, Keely and Phoebe 1.

It was a great day of touch with the girls playing well as a team and enjoying themselves on and off the field. They showed great sportsmanship throughout the day. I would like to thank all the girls for representing St Johns so well and a special thankyou to Jaimi who kept picking up after me all day! And an even bigger thankyou to Bailey Hazelwood for refereeing ALL of our games!!

Coach: Wendy Isemonger

Under 15 Girls

The under 15’s girls had a great day at Dalton park on Wednesday 27 February. Overall, the team won 5 games, had one draw and lost 3. They got stronger as a team as the day went, winning the last 4 games of the day. Melanie Staunton was the lead try scorer for the day and Keira Buckpitt and Allira Smith were amazing in both attack and defence. Well done girls, you should be extremely proud of your efforts.

Coach: Kirsty Church

Open Girls

An early morning bus ride to Fairy Meadow saw the Open girls team commence the day with  a solid start. The girls showed excellent team work weaving their way through the oppositions to win the first few games. With Sophie Phillips running well past try line and some brilliant play making from Olivia Ritchie, Aroha and Jess were both successful in finding the try line more than once. Utilising the speed of our wingers, our defense was hard to break through. The second half of the draw was tough. It saw us facing very skilled oppositions competition. The team finished the day with a few very close losses and draws. Thanks to the girls for a great day of Touch and displaying great sportsmanship. Congratulations to Aroha Spillane for her selection in the Wollongong Diocese Team and Jess Ward for her selection as a shadow player.  

Coach: Hayley Prayetno

All Schools Triathlon

Individual Event:

On 28 February, seven St John’s students represented the school in the Individual Triathlon event. These students were Kirra Dale, Kieren Harrison, Halle McKnight, Jack Norton, Bryn Robinson-Mills, Freya Robinson-Mills and Lachlan Sleath. All students performed well on the day and competed in good spirits. Notable mention to Kieren Harrison who came in 10th place in the CCC Division for Senior Boys and Freya Robinson-Mills who finished 6th in the CCC Division for Intermediate Girls.

Team Event:

On 1 March, 87 St John’s students travelled to Penrith to compete in the relay event of the All Schools Triathlon. Many teams had been training and preparing for this event for quite some time and were excited for their races. The day began before 4:30 am, when teachers and students departed from the school bus bay. By 7:30 am they had arrived at the Regatta Centre and were ready for big day. The Junior Boys were the first teams to race. Like most age divisions, our school had 5 teams entered. An impressive performance from Jack Norton, Bryn Robinson-Mills and Chad Lyons’ team saw the boys finish 7th in the CCC Division. The Junior Girls were next, again with 5 teams competing. The Girls had a consistent approach to their races, with the St John’s teams all finishing within 14 places of each other in the CCC Division. For the Intermediate category, again our school saw 5 boys and 5 girls teams compete. Notable mention to Elise Irvine, Baylee Holland and Freya Robinson-Mills whose team placed 5th in the CCC Division. Reuben Pichler, Lachlan Sleath and Caleb Cook also performed extremely well on the day, coming in 8th place in the CCC Division for Intermediate Boys. Our senior teams no doubt were our biggest supporters on the day, who regardless of the long wait for their races, continued to cheer for their younger teammates. With 3 Senior Boys and 5 Senior Girls team racing, our older students set a prime example of how to compete with exceptional effort and sportsmanship.

Thank you to Mrs Frew, Mrs Daley, Mr Watson and Miss Davis who attended the day. Thank you also to Finn Nelson and Ralph Jones who assisted as photographer and videographers, and to all parents and carers who came up to support (and of course those who woke up early to drop students at the bus bay). Finally a big congratulations to all students who competed at the event for 2019. See you next year!