Straight off the banks of Lake Nagambie where St Catherine’s First VIII took out the National Championship, Heyington Club President, Mrs Felicity Bongiorno (Miller ’87) provides insights into St Catherine’s Rowing Auxiliary.

What are the main objectives of the Heyington Club and its key achievements over the past year?

The main objectives of the Club are to raise funds and have top-level equipment for the girls and the Rowing Program.

After the success of the season in 2021 and winning Head of Schoolgirls for the first time ever, we as a Club decided we needed a new racing boat. This became a key objective, and thanks to the generosity of a few families, this target was met within a week of setting the objective. Mrs Symone Demetriou was instrumental in assisting in this massive effort. We welcomed a new Empacher boat (the yellow boats) to our fleet in January, and it was christened the MMXXI – better known as the Maxi.

What does the Club hope to achieve during the coming year?

With the difficulties encountered by so many businesses throughout the pandemic, we decided to not ask for prizes from local businesses, instead, we decided to look at creating the Heyington Cup. A fun way for parents to engage in learning to row and race. This proved to be a very popular fundraiser and information about this wonderful new program will be sent to all those participating this week.

We also want to help with the retention of the Rowing Program, which we did by providing all the girls with a personalised Rowing bag and some merchandise. We want St Cath’s to be the best Rowing Program in Victoria. For a small school, this is a massive effort, and can only happen by building a very strong community.

What do you hope to achieve in your presidency?

This season has been very much about community. This has been a big part of what I have tried to achieve. In the past two years we have lost this being isolated and in lockdowns. We really want girls and parents to know this is a wonderful group, and lifelong friends are made through the girls being a part of this Program.

The Rowing Program relies heavily on the support of the parent group – not just financially to participate in the Program, but also be the ones to support the early morning drop-offs, giving up weekends to attend regattas, and provide enormous sustenance to the girls during a season.

I would also like to leave the balance sheet in a good place so next season, Miss Brigette Carlile our incredible Head of Rowing, can purchase capital expenditure items to help our small but mighty Program remain the best in the country.

What are the key events taking place (COVID dependent) in the coming 12 months?

We started the season much later than expected with a social event at The Prince Wine Store in South Melbourne. This was a wonderful opportunity to welcome parents with junior rowers to the Program.

We had over 60 families and girls join us for the Crew Presentation Evening in February. Thanks to the Nilsen Family for providing their beautiful home for this event.

The highlight of the season is always the Head of Schoolgirls weekend. The Heyington Club provides a marquee and catering riverside for Saturday and Sunday, to watch all the girls compete, as well as a magnificent dinner for all parents at the Barwon Heads Golf Club. This is such a fun weekend. We then had our end-of-season dinner at Kooyong, to celebrate all the girls’ successes throughout the season.

The end of the season for senior parents is the Nationals weekend, which occurred this past weekend. This year it was moved from Penrith to Nagambie due to the floods. This change allowed for so many in our small Rowing community to come and cheer on our girls to win Nationals. The vision of the girls jumping in Lake Nagambie to celebrate with the First VIII is one I will never forget. This is the first time St Catherine’s has won both the Head of Schoolgirls Regatta and Nationals in the same year.

Why do you think volunteering is so important? How can people contribute?

Volunteering gives you the opportunity to become a little more involved and gain a greater insight into the sport of Rowing. Within the Rowing community this means you could join the Heyington Club, which organises four events and assists in fundraising. The past three years of being on this Committee have been so rewarding for me and my family, and we have gained so much through the relationships we have made with other families.

Have you been involved in other roles at St Catherine’s?

In the Junior School, I was a Class Representative a couple of times. I also sat on a couple of Committees to assist with the major School Balls including the Back to School Bash and the 120 Ball. For a couple of years, I sat on the Sports Auxiliary, until Rowing consumed my life!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background? 

I am an old St Catherine’s girl – Class of ’87. I am married to Gerard, with two beautiful girls, Mia, in her third year at Melbourne University and living at Trinity, and Zara, currently in Year 12 at St Catherine’s – Captain of Boats and fourth seat in the First VIII.

I studied Hotel Management, then moved into Marketing and worked with some major hotel chains as Director of Sales and Marketing. I then moved into recruitment and worked for several years with Morgan and Banks. After having my beautiful girls, I started my own company Flick Foto and for 15 years have published bespoke coffee table books.

What is your favourite book, movie, and meal?

My favourite book is a hard one. I am part of a book club, and we read a new book each month, so there are too many great reads to list. Some of my favourites are I am Pilgrim, A little Life, and Still Life. I have just finished The French Gift by Ms Kirsty Manning-Wilcox, whose daughter, Jemima, is in the Maxi Rowing Crew.

My favourite movie would still have to be Shawshank Redemption and my favourite meal is a toss-up between Italian and Japanese.