Sancta Maria College held its largest school Sports Awards this week. Over 180 student recipients, volunteers, coaches and teams were celebrated for their achievements and dedication to our 2019 sports programme.
“It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” These were the words spoken by the Director of Sport, Mr Crummer as he started the night by sharing inspiration from legendary college football coach – Paul Bryant.
It set the scene for an unforgettable evening which also saw Northern Mystics player and guest speaker, Tayla Earle, share her amazing story of persistence and passion. This has led to her being named national Secondary Schools player of the year in 2018 and earn a contract to play in the premier netball league of New Zealand.
Earle’s message to the budding athletes and the College’s sports community was to always believe in your abilities and create your own opportunities, never depending on others to push you to achieve success.
The Awards evening was a culmination of the work of so many dedicated people who sacrfice a lot of time away from their families to keep sports going. Many play more than one role, not just as a coach, but as a driver or cooking meals for the team during tournaments among others.
Sport is more than just a game, it’s about the people who get up early in the morning, who stay back after trainings to pack up and the people who put in the work when no one is watching. Sport is made up of so many different positions, and you don’t have to be on the field or court to be involved.
Mr Crummer shed some light on what it’s all about. He conveyed that you don’t have to have natural athletic talent, “just trying, getting more game time or turning up to training” is an achievement in
itself. Sport is something for everyone, from everywhere and as witnessed at the Awards, that’s why it is so special.
Congratulations to all the award recipients, volunteers and everyone who is involved in sport at the College.
Major award winners:
Tanya Murray – Athletics MVP
Clive Luna – Badminton Cup MVP
Ann Del Rosario – Girls Basketball MVP
Leilani Davies – Most Promising Junior Basketball Player
Thomas Wood – Premier Boys Basketball MVP
Anna Faulkner – Distance Running Cup
Jade Faulkner – 1st XI Girls Football MVP
Mikaela Bangalan – U15 Girls Football MVP
Kohan Paterson – 1st XI Boys MVP
Alexandria Dougherty – Hockey Girls XI MVP
Hannah Ralph-Smith – Premier Netball player of the season
Joshua McCarthy – Rugby Player of the year
Tradyn Rameka – Sportsmanship rugby Cup
Michelle Dempsey – Tennis MVP
Ethan Siao – Student Coach of the Year
Llewlyn McGivern – Volunteer of the Year
Spartans Intermediate Basketball – Junior team of the Year
Ryan Bautista – Coach of the Year
Premier Netball Girls – Team of the Year
Shontelle Matano
