22°C | Tuesday October 21, 2025 
8 July 2025
First season, first trophy! As Marist North Shore continues the process of becoming a completely co-ed school, their inaugural girls’ senior football team has taken out their conference title.
In 2021, the school welcomed female students for the first time in the institution’s 133-year history, with the oldest cohort entering Year 7. Now, four years later, that year group is in Year 11 and eligible for the Sydney Catholic Schools Senior Football competition.
This group of trailblazing players got their season off to a red-hot start, smashing St Clare’s College Waverley’s 2nd team 10–0, then defeating Our Lady of The Sacred Heart College 3–0. The week after, they faced St Clare’s College Waverley’s 1st team – who were topping the table – and unfortunately went down 2–0. In the final round of the regular season, they managed a 1–1 draw with Brigidine College Randwick to secure 2nd spot on the ladder.
In the semi-final, the North Shore girls faced Brigidine College Randwick again. This time they took care of business, winning 1–0 to advance to the grand final. Waiting for them in the Grand Final was St Clare’s College Waverley’s 1st team, who secured their place in the grand final with an emphatic 10–0 victory.
The grand final was an arm wrestle, with a 0–0 result at full time, meaning it would all come down to a penalty shootout. Holding their nerve, Marist claimed the trophy with a 6–5 result. An incredible result not only because they had lost earlier in the year to St Clare’s, but it was this side’s first ever season.
With the victory, they claimed the conference title, advancing through to the Sydney Catholic Schools championship to face the champions and runner-ups from the other three conferences.
They have continued their form into the championships, recently defeating St Vincent’s College, Ashfield 2–1.
After the victory, Year 11 student and team member Estelle Ford told Catholic Weekly “Throughout our senior years, I’ve found that playing sports is not just about staying active, but so much more,” Ford said. “With the pressures of exams and planning for our future, sport allows us to rest, support one another, and enjoy the little moments with our friends and family. What I’ve enjoyed most is how sport creates a sense of teamwork – the Thursday games, the wins, and even the losses have brought us together as a school and as a community.”
Congratulations to the Marist North Shore girls’ football team; their inspiring championship victory is only just the beginning of many seasons of success ahead for the program.