St James College Nets 'School of the Year' Title from Netball Queensland
St James College has won School of the Year at the annual Netball Queensland Awards. The award recognises the vital contribution schools make to the growing success and popularity of netball across Queensland.
Principal Ann Rebgetz said the college was honoured by the win and that it epitomised what has been a successful year of netball with numerous highlights.
“The college hosted the annual CQUniversity Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball competition for the second time in 2023 where 68 schools came together at Nissan Arena for the largest carnival of its kind in Australia,” Principal Rebgetz said.
“The competition fuelled an increase of boys’ teams to 18 from just five in 2021, who competed alongside 64 girls’ teams.
“From three teams entered, one of our boys’ teams won Division One and the other the ‘Best Spirit’ award and our girls team won their division driving them into the top pool in 2024.
“Our boys team took out the win at the Vicki Wilson Championship & Boys Open state event this year too.
“Expert coaching of players is a priority for us, and I acknowledge our team of professional coaches and their contribution to the school’s netball program,” Ms Rebgetz concluded.
Furthermore, Principal Rebgetz expressed her gratitude for “a huge community effort by the school, coaches, managers, officials, sponsors, and Netball Queensland”. She also restated the college’s commitment to defying stereotypes and leading the way in the development of diverse and mixed netball.
In 2023, several Indigenous students were selected by Deadly Choices First Nations Netball to be in the Vicki Wilson Championship Shield Squad and the Vicki Wilson Cup team. These students also played in representative teams in the QUT Deadly Choices Murri Netball Carnival, the Indigenous Australian Netball Club, and Australian Budgies Indigenous Netball teams.
After the introduction of a Year 5 / 6 cohort to St James in 2023, and in a first for the Primary Schools Cup carnival, a mixed year 5 / 6 team was entered into this year's competition nurturing young talent.
The St James College netball program provides access to netball for students from multicultural and indigenous backgrounds inspiring a love of netball for boys and girls in Years 5 – 12.
