St Mary’s Swimming Carnival
We had a wonderful day at our annual Swimming Carnival last Thursday. The sun was shining and all the children arrived at the swimming pool with a positive attitude and loud voices cheering. We also had lots of parents come to watch and support our students which was fantastic! We welcomed four Year 2 students to their first experience of swimming carnivals and we couldn't be more impressed with their efforts and determination. Congratulations to James M, Alex K, Kingi T and Harper B who all swam incredibly well and with a never give up attitude. It was also the first carnival for our house leaders: Oliver A, Bella S (Cassidy), Abbie H and Liam McA, (Eyre) and Charnaya TK  and Matilda W (Howard) and we all think they did a spectacular job at their first official event. There were some very close finishes which proved to be a highlight for the students in the crowd, as were the relays to conclude the races. A highlight for many of the staff on the day was witnessing some students with high nerves, dive into the pool and swim a fantastic race, even to their own surprise. There was such a positive and supportive feeling at the pool and we couldn't be more proud of the way all the students supported each other. 

I would like to thank the staff of St Mary’s who go above and beyond to support not only me, but the students on carnival days, both in and out of the pool. We also had some wonderful volunteers: thank you to Mary, Jess and Carrie for giving up their time to assist. And lastly, our Carroll College Sports Coaching students, Ryan J, Tyler C and Jack H for their help with timekeeping and support of our students.

On Tuesday, we held the ribbon presentation assembly in the PAC. It was wonderful to have so many parents come along. It was my pleasure to present ribbons to the top 3 fastest swimmers in each event. Due to having multiple heats in most events, the ribbon presentations come as somewhat of a surprise to the children. It’s always nice to see their surprised faces when their names are called. Following the carnival and meticulous counting, I was very proud to announce the Age Champions and overall winning house for 2025.

Age Champions: Congratulations to the following students on being named the Age Champions and Runners up for Swimming 2025.

Congratulations: It was a very close result between Howard and Eyre, with Eyre taking out this year's honours. Congratulations to the house leaders Liam and Abbie for leading the team to a successful swimming carnival win this year.

SR Swimming Carnival
Yesterday, I was witness to some magnificent swimming on display at the Southern Region Swimming Carnival at Narooma swimming pool. It was a fantastic day with some really amazing swimming. The Southern Region Carnival combines the fastest swimmers from our southern catholic schools, including: Batemans Bay, Bega, Pambula, Cooma and Bombala. I would like to thank Mrs Jess Afflick, Mr Matt Harpley and Mrs Janet Ryan for their expert assistance in the efficient running of the carnival as well as a special thanks to Ang Holmes, Jeni McCarthy and Nicole Allen from St Bernards for their help with running the computer program. Once again, we had our wonderful parent volunteers assist with timekeeping as well as other various jobs throughout the day. Thank you to Ali W and Rod W for taking on the timekeeping role for St Mary’s. 

A definite highlight was watching the always competitive relay events to begin the day. There were some very close finishes and running the relays first sets the tone for competitive fun and team spirit.

Congratulations to Elsie L in Year 4 for being the runner up age champion for Junior Girls and Milton W for the runner up age champion for Junior Boys! Oli A in Year 6 also placed an impressive overall 3rd place in the senior boys. What a fabulous achievement by all of our swimmers yesterday!

We have several students who have made selection into the Southern Region Swim team, to compete at the CECG Swimming Championships at Boorowa on Monday 3 March. A full list of students attending the Archdiocesan swimming event will be published in the next newsletter. Just a reminder that registrations for the CECG carnival must be made through the CSNSW Sport website. If you need any assistance with the registration process, please be in touch at your earliest convenience.

MacKillop Tennis and Basketball
We wish the very best of luck to two of our Stage 3 students as they travel to Sydney/Wollongong to participate in the MacKillop Tennis and Basketball trials today. We are sure both Jake (Basketball) and Declan (Tennis) will be excellent ambassadors for St Mary’s! I look forward to sharing their results in the coming weeks.

Key Sports Dates and Representative Sports Trials 2025
Please find below a list of current sporting dates for events for the coming term.

Monday 3 March: CG Archdiocesan Swimming Carnival (selected students only)
Friday 28 March: St Mary’s Cross Country (whole school)
Wednesday 2 April: NSWCPS Swimming (if selected)
Thursday 3 April: Netball Cup Broulee (Stage 2)
Monday 7 April: K-2 AFL skills day
Holidays
Friday 2 May: Southern Region Cross Country Wolumla

Students in Years 5 and 6 are now eligible to participate in the Canberra Goulburn Sports Trials in 2025. This is always a highly anticipated privilege and one that the stage 3 students all look forward to. Please note: these dates could be subject to change so please keep an eye out for any changes via the newsletter or on the Canberra Goulburn Sport facebook page.

Thursday 27 March: CG Netball trials
Monday 31 March: Rugby League Trials
Monday 7 April: CG Soccer trials

To register your child for these  trials, please log onto the CSNSW Sport Website. If this is your first time registering on this site, you will need to create a profile before registering. If you are having any issues with navigating this site, please be in touch with me as soon as possible. Registrations for these events generally close a week prior to the event. For more information, please be in touch.

The following trials require a different pathway. Please be in touch with me via email regarding information for these events.

Tuesday 11 March: CG Hockey Trails 
Friday 16 May: Girls Rugby 7’s
Monday 25 August: Golf

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.