Santa Sports

A true sporting school...
The Sports Program is a key component of the Santa Maria experience and offers students the opportunity to develop new skills and improve their fitness, as well as building team spirit and developing friendships.

Santa Maria students are renowned for their high level of participation in inter-school sports and sporting achievements. The College has extensive facilities, including tennis and netball courts, a large multi-purpose oval and gymnasium - including a fully equipped weights room. Girls are encouraged to be involved in the many different sports available.

Sporting Program

Competitions
Santa Maria College offers many sporting opportunities, including a wide variety of Inter-school Sports. There are Inter-house sport competitions at each year level for Netball, Tennis, Volleyball and Soccer, as well as Intra-school Swimming and Athletics Carnivals.

Each year Santa Maria enters Junior (Year 7-8), Intermediate (Year 9-10) and Senior Teams (Year 11-12) in a wide range of interschool sporting events. We compete in both the Secondary Catholic Sports Association and the Catholic All Schools Championships. Santa Maria has also competed at the State and National Level in a number of sports over the past years. 

Inter-school sports offered include:
Term 1: Swimming, Diving, Tennis, Badminton, Indoor Cricket
Term 2: Athletics, Basketball, Indoor Soccer, Cross Country, Hockey
Term 3: Volleyball, Football, Soccer, Netball, Skiing
Term 4: Softball, Super 8’s Cricket, Golf, Nationals Volleyball/Basketball

National Competition
Since 1997 the school has participated in the National’s Basketball Championships. For the last two years Santa Maria has also entered teams in the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup and achieved great success.

In December 2008, our girls entered the biggest sporting event in the southern hemisphere, the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup. The noise level from courts at the MSAC and Dandenong was deafening as more than 3000 school students from 115 schools making up 404 teams battled it out for their division trophies.

The Santa Maria team played nine games over the five days and the action was fast and furious with many nail-biting points coming after long rallies. We have been very lucky to gain the service of our specialist Volleyball Coach in Mr. George Santamaria – a past Australian Player himself. George has been able to bring his vast expertise and knowledge to greatly improve the skill level of our girls. We were very proud to have both teams play and win their gold medal matches. We hope to continue our success rate again in future years.

Uniform
Students involved in Inter-school sports are required to wear Team Uniforms, which the school supplies for the competition. House T-Shirts are worn for the Inter-House Carnivals and the college PE Uniform for PE Classes. Our team uniforms are an integral part of our school history, and the girls take great pride in wearing it. 

Sports Awards Night
Santa Maria holds this special night once a year. The Sports Awards Night aims to acknowledge the dedication of students, their teamwork, as well as their outstanding individual efforts. Santa Maria is very proud of the sporting opportunities it provides to its student group. Here at Santa we have always been challenged to do as much as we are able in all of our sporting endeavours. We strive to support each girl’s achievements and recognise her outstanding contributions and efforts.

On the night a number of awards are presented, including:

• Each and every girl who represented the school in an interschool sporting event receives a certificate of appreciation and congratulation.
• Coaches award: For outstanding contribution to their team
• George Ponton Award: For Athletic Excellence
• Year Level Champions: To recognise a girl from each Year Level who has contributed to the Santa Maria Sports Program in a very positive manner. She must have participated in a number of different sports but she must also have been commitment to the team and training sessions and have shown a willingness to learn and develop new skills.
• Best All Round Sports Girl: our most prestigious award; this is chosen from across all participants. She must be someone who has displayed all the qualities of what we come to expect of our top sports girls at Santa Maria College.
• Andrew Wolfe Cricket Award: For Cricket Endeavour. This award is in memory of a past member of the Santa Maria Community, who for many years helped to coach our Cricket Teams.

In 2008, Santa Maria and the community were very privileged to have a special guest speaker attend our Sports Award Night, Catherine Freeman. She spoke to our large and very excited audience about her formidable athletic career, which peaked with a gold medal in the 400m sprint at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. As an iconic sporting role model, Freeman also encouraged students to strive for their best not only in the sporting arena, but also in all areas of their life.

“Catherine Freeman’s speech taught me that true success in life is working hard to achieve your personal goals. Also, I realised that by embracing qualities such as teamwork, leadership, determination and a positive attitude you will surely arrive at the place where you want to be in life. Having Catherine Freeman present my award is something which I will cherish for the rest of my life” Natalie Servinis – Best All Round Sports Girl 2008

The elite athlete’s sporting success, underpinned by a rigorous training regime and discipline, embodies the Santa Maria College school motto: Dare to do as much as you are able.