Unlikely win for St Doms Renowned for football and basketball, college now adds netball to the list

NATHAN TAYLOR

For decades, St Dominic’s College has dominated in sports such as rugby league and basketball, but now they can add netball to that list.

Last week, two St Dominic’s teams were crowned Netball NSW Schools Cup Premiers after both went undefeated at a Gala Day at Jamison Park.

It was the first time the Kingswood-based college entered teams into the annual competition – and it paid off big time.

St Dominic’s teacher, netball coach and Panthers Premier League player Carissa Cook said she was overwhelmed with the amount of students that wanted to have a shot at netball.

“We needed a junior team (Years 7/8) and an intermediate team (Years 9/10), and we had 112 boys wanting to trial, so the cut for both teams was pretty insane as we were only selecting 12 players on each team,” she told the Weekender

“It was a really good response from the boys who were wanting to come trial and try something new.

“They loved it… they were all for it.

“Every time I said that we were going to have a netball day, they were like ‘yes, can I be in the team?’. I was thinking to myself, ‘this is great!’.”

The format of the Netball NSW Schools Cup was round robin, with St Dominic’s taking on other all-boys teams from around the region.

Making the school’s winning run more remarkable was the fact that the teams only had one training session prior to the competition.

Cook said while there were some challenges explaining some of netball’s rules to the students, she was impressed that they took the feedback on board and were able to show off their incredible skill and talent on the netball court.

“When the boys were trialling, I knew there

Around The Grounds

RUGBY UNION: The Penrith Emus have suffered their worst loss in years, chewed up and spat out by the Gungahlin Eagles 99-17 in Round 5 of the John I Dent Cup. The Emus will now get a couple of weeks to recover from last weekend’s massacre with the bye this round.

BASKETBALL: Penrith’s women’s team have failed to win back-to-back games, belted by the Bankstown Bruins 80-49 in Round 9 of the NBL1 East competition. For the fifth straight week, Meg Jefferson led her side with 14 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Penrith’s men’s team have dropped their first game in a month, going down to the Bruins 85-76. Caleb FetuiFa’amoe top scored for the Panthers with 17 points and six rebounds in the nine-point loss. Both teams will take on the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles this Saturday at the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre.

NETBALL: Panthers Netball have chalked up a loss and a win during Rounds 7 and 8 of the Netball NSW Premier League Opens competition. In their clash against the South Coast Blaze, Panthers went down 58-52, while up against GWS Fury at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre last Saturday night, the home side got up 57-50. Meanwhile, Panthers Netball have racked up a win and a loss during Rounds 7 and 8 of the Premier League U23s competition. Taking on the South Coast Blaze last Wednesday, Panthers prevailed 47-39, while up against the GWS Fury in Penrith they were demolished 58-33. Both teams will battle the UTS Randwick Sparks in Round 9.

NETBALL: After a rough few weeks, Giants Netball are finally showing some signs of life, defeating the Collingwood would be lots of stepping and lots of contact,” she said.

Magpies 69-56 in Round 9 of the Super Netball competition. Despite a close first half, the Giants slowly pulled away in the fourth quarter to record the 13-goal win at John Cain Arena. The Giants will return home this Saturday to face the Sunshine Coast Lightning at Ken Rosewall Arena.

AFL: With a new coach at the helm the Penrith Rams have now won back-to-back games, defeating Sydney University 69-58 in Round 6 of the AFL Sydney Platinum Division competition. Mitchell Stevens was a beast for the visitors, slotting over five goals in the victory. Penrith will aim for three wins on the trot when they take on the Parramatta Goannas this Saturday afternoon at Gipps Road Oval. Meanwhile, the Penrith Ramettes are also celebrating this week after smashing the UNSW-ES Bulldogs 55-2 in Round 6 of the AFL Sydney Women’s Division Two competition. The Ramettes will look to keep their winning run alive when they meet Macquarie University this Saturday morning at Gipps Road.

AFL: Greater Western Sydney’s season continues to go from bad to worse, embarrassed by the Collingwood Magpies 120-55 in Round 9 of the AFL competition. The competition leaders, who have only dropped one game all season, led by five goals at half-time and never looked back. Collingwood’s 65-point win was a record over the Giants at the MCG. The Giants will return home on Sunday afternoon to play St Kilda at Giants Stadium.

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“All the boys are from a basketball, football or soccer background, so first it was stepping and then it was the obstruction – they just couldn’t grasp the concept of having to get back first before putting their arms up.

“But, to be honest, I was shocked. Their athletic ability was amazing, and their agility and vertical jump was insane.”

But it wasn’t just the St Dominic’s coaches who the teams impressed, they also caught the eye of development scouts from Netball

NSW as well, meaning a bright future for some of the players.

“Netball NSW Development were down at the courts scouting and now some of our boys have been invited to go to a Development Day in June,” Cook said.

“They also want to enter our team into the State Age next month, which is really cool.” And there’s more to come.

“In Term 3, our teams will travel to Homebush to participate in the State Cup, which will be against schools from across the state,” she said.