From the Secondary Sport Coordinator

**Ms Meg Henderson**
Secondary Sport Coordinator

Playing for Unity – Reconciliation Round 2025

The SA Catholic Secondary School Girls Sports Association hosted Reconciliation Round on Saturday 24^th May, in lead up to National Reconciliation Week. This annual round is an opportunity for players, officials and spectators actively contribute to the national recognition of building a more united and respectful nation. It is also an opportunity for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to see their cultures celebrated within their schools during this time.

To acknowledge this round, St Aloysius College First Nations students and participants of our secondary sport program, Elke Weetra and Harper McLean, designed hair ribbons for all teams to wear for their games. They wanted to ensure the ribbon’s design reflected this year’s Reconciliation Week theme of ‘Bridging Now to Next’ as well as our school context – depicting women travelling into the sun. With use of our vibrant college colours, they combined the travelling sign, the sun and women to encompass this, whilst also incorporating other important messages of ‘empowerment for women’ and ‘the bright side of everything’.

Our teams wore these ribbons proudly at their respective games, and last year’s reconciliation round bibs were also donned by our netball teams! Schools gathered to commemorate the round for pre-game formalities across all fixtures, highlighting the powerful role that sport plays in bringing people together, strengthening relationships, and fostering a spirit of inclusivity.

Bridging Now to Next reflects the ongoing connection between past, present, and future. It calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead, and to continue the push forward as past lessons guide us. We all have a role to play when it comes to Reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.

Regrading / No Games Long Weekend

Netball, badminton and soccer teams are not required to play this Saturday due to the long weekend. Re-grading will also take place during this time – new draws will be distributed in the next week, ready for Round 6 on Saturday 14 June.

Please note, game times and venues are subject to change if your team is regraded. We cannot make requests for specific game times or venues.

Also a reminder that there is a large mid-season break from Week 9, Term 2 until the end of the school holidays. The last game of Term 2 is Saturday 21 June. Trainings and games will recommence Week 1. This will be reflected in your clipboard calendars.

This is due to the longer school holiday break for competing schools.

Knockout Sport

There have been a lot of exciting first round matches and carnivals taking place last week across knockout basketball, netball and volleyball!

An eager group of Year 9/10 volleyballers travelled out to The Lights Community and Sports Centre recently to compete in the Division 2 statewide competition. They were able to snag one win on the day against some very tough opponents, playing off for 5^th place to finish! Always in great spirits, we’re super proud of the resilience and effort these girls showed on the day and thank their coach and old scholar, Rachael Homes-Vickers for her support in lead up.

On the same day, we had our Year 7/8 knockout basketball team competing in their round 1 competitions. The girls put on a strong performance, defeating Marryatville, Golden Grove High and Modbury High to progress through to the Division 2 Statewide final. Finals will be held in Week 9, Term 2 – keep an eye on the newsletter for results!

Finally, on Thursday our year 11/12 knockout netball team competed in their first round of the Division 2 Statewide Competition against Loreto & Mary Mackillop. They had a strong performance against Mary Mackillop, but unfortunately fell short to Loreto who were a tough opponent! Our team will not be progressing through to round 2, but we are very proud of their efforts. We congratulate our senior students Niamh Keane, Veronica Keane, Chinonye Ojimba, Sienna Bruno, Cheyarn Bruno and Olivia Bourne for their final year representing the college in knockout sport, and for their contribution in past years.

Sport Spotlight

Aria De Pasquale – State Team Selection Double Whammy!

Year 9 student, Aria De Pasquale, has not only been selected for the School Sport SA 15 Years and Under Hockey State Team, but also for the girls State Touch Football squad!

Aria will train with the State Touch Football squad in lead up to the competition in October this year, in hopes she will be selected for the final competition team.

The Hockey team will compete in the School Sport Australia Hockey Championships in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory from 2 to 9 August 2025.

We congratulate Aria on gaining selection and mirror School Sport SA’s sentiments:

“It is indeed an honour to have done so and to have the opportunity to play at these championships. The opportunity you have is unique and is available to very few school students in this country. Your selection is a reflection on your dedication, the guidance provided by teachers and coaches and the support of your family.”

Old Scholar, Maeve Garnett, debuting for Netball SA Premier League

Old scholar and current SAC Netball coach, Maeve Garnett, recently debuted for Adelaide Metro Jets in the Netball SA Premier League. Her club describes her as, “A great teammate on and off the court, always looking out for others and providing great laughs”. As she was in her school teams, Maeve is an integral defender in her Jets squad. She has been playing with the club for 3 years, and has worked hard to get back on the court after a Archilles tear back in 2023.

We are so very proud of Maeve, and also excited to have her as part of our coaching team at SAC both in Saturday sport and knockout sport. See a snap of Maeve back when she represented SAC in Year 11/12 knockout netball!

Ms Meg Henderson
Secondary Sport Coordinator

From the Secondary Sport Coordinator