Sport

St Margaret Mary’s College has a reputation for outstanding success in sports.

Some recent successes include: 

Swimming

• 1st place — Division A Interschool Swimming Carnival

Basketball

• Ranked 1st in Queensland — Champions Basketball Schools Queensland (CBSC)
• Northern Region Champions

Open Touch

• Top 10 placing in Queensland — Queensland 'All Schools Touch'
• Northern Region Champions

Netball

• 1st place — 2021 Combined Catholic Carnival
• Queensland State Final Series in 'Queensland Vicki Wilson Schools Netball Competition'
• Northern Region Champions in 'Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball’
• Year 7 'North Queensland Cup' Northern Region Champions

Football

• 'Bill Turner Cup' North Queensland Champions

Equestrian

• North Queensland Team Show Jumping Champions

Overall

• Winner of the ‘John Melton Black Girls Sport Shield’ for best girls school in the combined points score for Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country

Our College is proud of its girls' sporting success but even prouder of their reputation for excellent sportswomanship both on and off the field.

St Margaret Mary’s College has established a reputation for outstanding success in swimming, and is the reigning champion for Townsville's Division A interschool swimming carnival.

In Term 1, we hold our annual school swimming carnival which encourages physical activity, healthy competition and connects our girls with their House teammates. Students who perform well at our school swimming carnival may be selected to represent St Margaret Mary's College at the Interschool Swimming Carnival also in Term 1.

We are current the defending champions for the Division A interschool swimming carnival, in which all schools across Townsville compete.

Swimming achievements (recent):

• 1^st place – 2021 Division A interschool swimming carnival
• Current winner of the ‘John Melton Black Girls Sport Shield’ for best girls school in the combined points score for Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country

St Margaret Mary's College school athletics carnival is a great opportunity to compete and celebrate friends and House teammates. our focus is on participation, having fun and enjoying healthy competition.

Our school athletics carnival is held annually in Term 3. Students who perform well at the school carnival may be selected to represent St Margaret Mary's College at the Interschool Athletics Carnival.

Athletics achievements (recent):

• Current winner of the ‘John Melton Black Girls Sport Shield’ for best girls school in the combined points score for Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country

Cross country is an endurance sport with many benefits to students. We encourage participation and this carnival gives girls the opportunity to demonstrate House spirit.

Our school cross country carnival is held annually in Term 2. Students who perform well at the school cross country completion may be selected to represent St Margaret Mary's College at the Interschool Cross Country Carnival also in Term 2.

Cross country achievements (recent):

• Current winner of the ‘John Melton Black Girls Sport Shield’ for best girls school in the combined points score for Athletics, Swimming and Cross Country

Basketball is a fast-paced team sport, that like other team sports nurtures physical ability, leadership instinct, resilience and teamwork.

St Margaret Mary’s College has many skilled basketballers within our student body, who are committed to improving their skill, supporting their team, and wearing our College colours with pride.

In September 2020, our representative team travelled south to compete in the Champion Basketball Schools Queensland (CBSQ) competition, making it all the way to the Grand Final where they beat Palm Beach Currumbin State High School by a nose, 57-54. We are now the defending champions – the 2020 CBSQ Open Girls Championship Division winner! This State title is our third in just five years.

Mr James Rapinett is Sports Coordinator at St Margaret Mary's College, and with a strong basketball background is also our basketball coach. James also coaches U18 Queensland State Basketball team (North Women), is lead assistant coach for the NBL1 team and at the local level coaches representative teams in Townsville.

Maggies girls have gone on to pursue careers in College-level basketball, in Canada and USA.

Basketball achievements:

• 1^st place – 2020 CBSQ Open Girls Championship Division
• Gold medallist – Top of the North tournament

Netball is a popular sport among students. St Margaret Mary's College offers keen netballers the opportunity to compete at the elite level.

St Margaret Mary's College competes in the Vicki Wilson Shield (grade 7 to 9) and Cup (grade 10 to 12) regional events for netball, and has gone on to represent Queensland at the State-level competition numerous times. We are regular competitors in the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball (QISSN) carnival, an elite level netball competition involving schools throughout the State. For many years St Margaret Mary's College dominated Division 2 in QISSN, and now we compete in the Division 1 competition. We were also a Queensland Netball School of the Year Award finalist.

Opportunities to participate in school netball teams are open to students of all ages, and all experience levels, from beginners to advanced netball players.

Netball achievements (recent):

• 1st place — 2021 Combined Catholic Carnival
• Queensland State Final Series in 2020 'Queensland Vicki Wilson Schools Netball Competition'
• Northern Region Champions in 2020 'Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Netball’
• Year 7 'North Queensland Cup' Northern Region Champions 2020

Fast-paced and fiercely competitive, touch footy is a popular sport among students.

Touch football provides girls the opportunity to demonstrate speed, agility and teamwork on the field. St Margaret Mary's College regularly competes in the Queensland All Schools Touch Football Championship against hundreds of other schools. This competition takes place in Term 4.

Open Touch achievements (recent):

• Top 10 placing in Queensland — Queensland 'All Schools Touch'
• Northern Region Champions

Running, coordination and strategy are essential components on the football field, and our football offering aims to support girls in developing these skills.

Football, or soccer as many call it, is a sport many North Queensland students have grown up playing. As such, we have many students come to our school with an established enjoyment of soccer. Others develop their love for their sport while they are at high school.

Each year, St Margaret Mary's College enters into the Bill Turner Trophy.

Football / soccer achievements (recent):

• 'Bill Turner Trophy' North Queensland Champions

St Margaret Mary's College participates with Ignatius Park College and St Patrick’s Colleges in a Combined Rowing Program. 

The program works to build and strengthen relationships between the rowers and the wider community. The competitive rowing season is Term 2 and 3 with a series of locally hosted regattas culminating in the Head of the River Championship. The Combined College Program commences in Term 1 to prepare rowers for the upcoming season.

For many students who play water polo for St Margaret Mary's College, school sport is the first opportunity they have had to play the sport.

Our block sport program exposes students to a great number of sports, some of which they may never have played before such as water polo. St Margaret Mary's College has had past students go on to compete at the elite level in water polo, and many of these girls first discovered the sport through school.

Past Maggie, Elle Armit has been named in the Australian Olympic women's team to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

Rugby league's female participation rates are growing across Australia. In fact, female participation is the fastest growing category in the sport.

St Margaret Mary's College believes in creating opportunities for our students to explore their abilities, push their boundaries and achieve success. Adding rugby league to our sports offering gives girls the option to pursue a sport they love, or perhaps have always wanted to try.

In 2021, we competed in the Karyn Murphy Cup which is a Queensland-wide, 9-a-side participation competition for females only.

Rugby Union is offered to St Margaret Mary's College students who wish to participate in this sport against other schools.

Many girls have not had the opportunity to previously play rugby union at the competition level. St Margaret Mary's College competes in a Rugby 7s day against other schools. 

Field hockey demands speed, endurance and perseverance. At St Margaret Mary's College, we encourage girls to to have a broad interest in sports and physical activity.

Field hockey is offered through our block sport program, and is able to proceed when enough school teams have formed to warrant a competition. St Margaret Mary's College has achieved great success in field hockey previously, travelling intrastate to compete.

General fitness is important to our school community. 

Some students prefer general fitness activities such as an early morning run. Our general fitness group meets before school and enjoys fully-supervised group fitness activities.