St Patrick’s Primary School Wins The State Championship In Soccer For The Second Year Running

A primary school in Geelong has repeated as state champions in soccer, barely two weeks after another Geelong school came close to repeating in Aussie Rules.

Two weeks after a nearby group of guys of a similar age almost pulled off a similar feat in Aussie Rules, a group of outstanding young girls at a Geelong primary school have captured a state soccer title for the second year in a row.

St. Patrick's Primary School of Geelong West's sixth grade football team won the State Primary Football Championships on August 30 for the second year in a row, going undefeated in more than 30 games with only two draws.

After finishing in second place in 2022, the students of Our Lady Star of the Sea PS won the 2023 state championship in mid-August by winning 17 straight matches.

St. Patrick's sports coordinator Chris McWaters noted that because there were no older players to choose from, a substantial number of the girl's squad participated in the 2022 tournament as fifth graders.

McWaters speculated that there had never been so many female soccer players before.

In the previous year, no sixth grade females participated in the sport of soccer.

It's just a fluke that this group is so talented.

"We consider it to be quite unusual. That's an extremely unusual outcome.

Some of the girls, coached by Joe Fiala and Ante Stosic, were reportedly recruited from the North Geelong Warriors and Geelong Rangers soccer clubs, according to McWaters.

You can tell they get great extracurricular coaching because of "the way they play," he remarked.

There are only two girls who don't play extracurricular sports.

Having two knowledgeable adults as parents is helpful.

As one coach put it, "the girls play with great spirit and humility, it's not just about winning, it's enjoying the journey and the occasion."

The girls' four-month journey began in March and culminated in a 2-0 state championship game victory over Dandenong South. Along the way, they competed at the district level, the north Geelong divisional level, the western metropolitan level, and the state level.

There was only one goal allowed all season by the girls' defense.

McWaters singled out captain Evie Stosic and her cousin Violet Smith as exceptional performers, citing their "outstanding" seasons as reasons for their repeat selection to the state team.