The Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Sportsperson of the Year Awards were presented to both our winners in the Junior Boy's category and the Junior Girl's category last Friday with both recipients being from St Mary's in Crookwell. We will firstly acknowledge our Junior Girl winner.

Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Sportsperson of the Year 2022 - Junior Girl's Category

Sophia Galland

Hockey and Cricket

Sophie has excelled in both Hockey and Cricket this year. She also had some success in cross country as she represented Northern Region at the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Cross Country Championships coming in at 8th place and narrowly missing out on a position in the Canberra Goulburn team. This is the second year running that Sophia has won this award and has achieved even more this year than last year so is once again a worthy recipient of this award.

In 2021 Sophia was selected in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn cricket side to play at the MacKillop trials but was unable to progress any further due to the cancellation of the MacKillop trials. This year she was able to go one step further as she was initially selected to represent the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn for the MacKillop trials and had great success as she gained selection in the MacKillop team to compete at the NSWPSSA Cricket Championships that were to be held in Barooga in October. But it was not to be again as the 2022 Girl’s NSWPSSA Cricket Championships were cancelled due to the floods.

Sophia has once again proven herself to be one of the best field hockey players in NSW. She represented the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn at the MacKillop trials in Canberra and she, along with seven of her Canberra Goulburn teammates were successful in their bid for selection in the MacKillop team and were to play at the NSWPSSA Championships in Tamworth from Tuesday the 31st May through until Friday the 3rd June.

At the NSWPSSA Championships Sophia was further honoured by being named the captain of the team. She led the MacKillop team to the Gold medal and the right to be called the NSW Champions. The MacKillop team did not have a single goal scored against them in the whole tournament. They won all seven of their games defeating Sydney South West 2-0, Hunter 4-0, Sydney West 9-0, Sydney North 4-0, Sydney East 5-0, CIS 2-0 and South Coast 2-0. From the NSWPSSA Championships a NSW team was to selected to compete at the School Sport Australia National Championships. Sophia, along with three MacKillop teammates (All Canberra Goulburn Girls) were not only members of the NSW Championship winning team but also gained selection in the NSW team to play at the School Sports Australia Championships that were to be held in Canberra from the 21st through until the 26th of August.

Sophia was once again given the honour of captaining her team which is an outstanding achievement. The NSW team had wins in five of their six games for the championships. They defeated Western Australia 2-0, Tasmania 1-0, Australian Capital Territory 2-0, Victoria 4-0 and South Australia 3-0. Unfortunately, they went down to Queensland 1-5 but came away with a National Silver medal – what a fabulous achievement and one to be celebrated.

Congratulations on your Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Sportsperson of the Year Award in the Junior Girl’s category Sophia. You have certainly achieved a lot this year and we are sure that you will have continued success as you move on into high school.

The winner of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Sportsperson of the Year Award in the Junior Boy's category has had a fabulous year in sport and is only in Year 4!

Congratulations to;

Henry Galland

Hockey, Cricket , Golf and Cross Country

Henry has had an outstanding year achieving more representative success in year 4 than most students could ever dream of. He was successful in a variety of sports this year with his successes ranging from representing Canberra Goulburn, MacKillop through to NSW.

In Cross Country Henry came across the line in 5th place at the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Cross Country Championships representing the Western Region. His run qualified him to compete at the MacKillop Cross Country Championships as a member of the Canberra Goulburn team. He improved upon his result at our championships as he was the 4th Canberra Goulburn runner to cross the line, finishing the race in 25th place of the 56 competitors.

The MacKillop Golf team was selected from the competing players at the NSWCPS 18-hole Golf Championships that were held in Blackheath. From these championships Henry, along with two other Canberra Goulburn boys were successful in their bid to gain selection in the MacKillop team and was on his way to the NSWPSSA Championships to be held across two locations – Moorebank and Barden Ridge from the 5th until the 7th of September. At the NSWPSSA Championships the MacKillop team were the runners-up in the Association Nett Comp and Henry as an individual completed the championships with results of 199 Stroke and 147 Nett.

Henry's success continued as he was selected in the MacKillop Invitational cricket team after his fabulous performance at the MacKillop trials in Wagga Wagga. The MacKillop Invitational team played at the NSWPSSA Cricket Championships that were held in Dubbo from the 11th until the 14th of October. Although the MacKillop Invitational team didn’t have any wins at the championships it was a great experience for all involved and Henry was impressive over the 4-day tournament.

Henry had another fabulous year in field hockey. He represented the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn at the MacKillop trials in Canberra impressing the selectors and being named in the MacKillop team that was to compete at the NSWPSSA Championships to be held in Tamworth from the 31st of May until the 3rd of June.

At the NSWPSSA Championships the MacKillop team got off to a rocky start losing their first game to Sydney West 0-7. They then found some form as they had a nil all draw with Sydney North then three wins in a row defeating Sydney East 2-0, Riverina 9-0 and Sydney Southwest 5-0. They then had two close losses to North Coast 0-1 and Western 1-2. From these results the MacKillop team finished the NSWPSSA Championships in third place. The NSWPSSA team was selected from these championships and Henry was the only MacKillop team member that was successful as he was announced as a team member for NSW. The NSW team was to play at the School Sport Australia national championships to be held in Canberra from the 21st until the 26th of August.

At the School Sport Australia Championships, the NSW team were crowned the National Champions as they took home the Gold medal. The NSW team had a draw with Queensland in their first game 2-2 and then went on to have wins against Australian Capital Territory 2-0, Tasmania 1-0, Western Australia 2-0, Victoria 2-0 and South Australia.

Congratulations on your Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn Sportsperson of the Year Award in the Junior Boy’s category Henry. To have achieved so much as a year 4 student is an exceptional accomplishment and one to be ultra-proud of. We can’t wait to see what you achieve over the next two years of your primary school years.