It was a pleasure to welcome members of our St Catherine’s community to the official opening of our refurbished Sports Centre on Wednesday evening in the Dorothy Pizzey Centre. The opening was a significant occasion in the 127-year history of our School, and importantly, our sporting history.    

Mrs Lauren Fox (Hewitt ’96)

St Catherine’s Old Girl, Mrs Lauren Fox (Hewitt ‘96) accepted our invitation to officially open the Sports Centre and certainly entertained our audience with an exuberant account of her Olympic experiences. Lauren is fondly remembered by her teachers as bringing much joy to the School when she competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the USA, as a then, Year 12 St Catherine’s School student. During the Olympics Lauren had the entire School supporting her through regular faxes coordinated through the Health and Physical Education and Sport Office. 

The Sports Hall was originally built as a multi-purpose centre, and was opened by the Principal of the time, Miss Dorothy Pizzey AM, on 31 July 1989; over 34 years ago. The opening of The Jamie and Rebecca Gray Theatre in 2022 and the Sports Centre in 2023 completes Phases 2 and 3 of the Dorothy Pizzey Centre Redevelopment. We now look forward to the final completion of the Dorothy Pizzey Centre with the redevelopment of the Wintergarden in our current planning. 

With this revitalisation of the Sports Centre, we have brought to life three dynamic spaces for teaching, learning, playing, and training; a Tumbling Studio designed for our younger ELC and Barbreck students, the Strength and Conditioning Studio for the Senior girls and the Sports Court, which doubles as a venue for our weekly Assemblies, and annual House Arts performances with a new tiered electronic seating system installed.  

The contribution of many community members to the ‘She is Strong’ Campaign stands as a testament to our collective investment in the physical wellbeing of every young girl, today and into the future at St Catherine’s. With 368 seats named in the campaign, and over $900,000 raised, we were thrilled with the response and the contribution towards the $2.5M cost of the Sports Centre redevelopment. We have only six seats remaining, and my hope this week is our Advancement Manager, Ms Kathy Hines, will receive phone calls to complete the ‘Save Your Seat’ installations. 

Now more than ever young Australian girls have the opportunity to be inspired by the achievements of Australian female sporting greats. One shining example is the electric enthusiasm surrounding the Australian Soccer Team, the Matildas. With Sam Kerr’s now famous calf muscle seemingly healed, we can look forward to supporting the Matildas in the quarter finals next week against France. This Team has captured the nation’s imagination and served as a beacon of hope for aspiring girls. 

In addition to this, the Australian Women’s Cricket Team recently claimed the Ashes, our swimmers excelled at the Swimming World Championships, and the Australian Netball Team, the Diamonds, have enjoyed their victory in the recent Netball World Cup. 

Miss Sarah Marriott (’22)

Attending our official Sports Centre opening this week was our very own Ms Sarah Marriott (2022). Sarah was a crew member in the St Catherine’s First VIII in 2022 who were victorious in the Prince Philip Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta last year. Sarah was selected in the U23 Australian Women’s Coxed IV, that won a Bronze Medal at the World U23 Championships in Bulgaria recently. 

Much like our country, with its modest population and ability to achieve remarkable sporting feats, St Catherine’s, though not large in size, consistently punches above its weight. 

Over the weekend our Junior and Senior Snowsports Teams competed in the Victorian Interschools Cross-Country Championship. From both an individual and team perspective our snowsports athletes excelled showing athleticism, sportswomanship and pride representing their School. Congratulations to our Junior School Team, placing first in the Overall Primary Girls Championship and our Senior girls finishing only seven points behind a very strong Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School, placing second overall. Our Snowsports Coordinator, Miss Olivia Cody, provides a detailed report in this week’s Blue Ribbon here. We wish all the girls well as they prepare for the Victorian Interschool Snowsports Champions in late August. 

Over almost a decade at St Catherine’s, I feel fortunate to witness, time and again, our girls participating in sporting pursuits that act as fuel for learning in other areas of their lives. Most notably, improving self-confidence, leadership, and organisational skills, and importantly, developing their talents, self-discipline and offering opportunities to pursue lifelong interests. Such activities have tremendous educational importance for the positive wellbeing and all-round development of every child.  

In the brief time our new Sports Centre has been open, the new Strength and Conditioning Studio is proving to be an extremely popular destination for Senior School students across the school day and our ELC children are thoroughly enjoying their new Physical Education space as well.  

So, whether our girls are rowing, running, playing netball, badminton, basketball, swimming, or skiing, our aim is to elevate the athletic prowess, the strength, and the overall sports engagement of every girl at St Catherine’s School. Our refurbished Sports Centre has changed the game for our St Catherine’s girls and provides premium facilities that reflect the high standard of competition, Camaraderie and success St Catherine’s is renowned for.