THE inaugural Skills Training Mackay Schoolgirls Competition came to an exciting conclusion earlier this month, with six weeks of exciting footy from 170 Mackay schoolgirls culminating in three grand finals.
Holy Spirit College, Mercy College Mackay and Northview State School were all victorious on grand final day, but the whole competition was a massive success and a wonderful achievement for all involved.
Initially, the interest to start such a competition came from a North Queensland Cowboys Challenge day held in Mackay at the start of the year, and from this excitement, all girls were keen to participate in the weekly Skills Training Mackay Schoolgirls Competition.
Three Cups were played for, with each one named after former or current Australian representatives who are from Mackay: the Under 13 Bianca Bobongie Cup, the Under 15 Samantha Ramsamy Cup and the Open’s Deanna Turner Cup.
Schools involved in the weekly competition included Beaconsfield State School, Northview State School, Victoria Park State School, Mercy College Mackay, Pioneer High School, Mirani High, Mackay High, North Mackay High and Holy Spirit College.
Some of these girls were fortunate enough to represent Mackay recently at the Under 16 North Queensland Championships; another first for girls rugby league in the region.
Three tremendous grand finals were played with the following results:
Under 13 Bianca Bobongie Cup
Northview State School 20 def Victoria Park State School 10
Sue Geaghan medal player of the final: Mason Armstrong
Player of the Series: Destiny Whirisky
Under 15 Samantha Ramsamy Cup
Mercy College Mackay 24 def Pioneer High 4
Carolyn Craig medal player of the final: Shanae Best
Player of the Series: Abbi Johnson
Open’s Deanna Turner Cup
Holy Spirit College 30 def Pioneer High 18
Blanche Sutherland player of the final: Kya Mooney
Player of the Series: Madelin Brosnan
A huge thank you goes to the many school teachers involved who gave up their valuable time to coach and give these girls an opportunity to play ‘the greatest game of all’.
This is only the beginning for female footy in North Queensland and an exciting sign of things to come.
