More than 750 Sydney Catholic Schools students competed at the SCS badminton championships at Silverwater in December to complete what has been an extraordinary year for SCS Sport. It may be the largest school event anywhere in Australia, with over 600 students attending last year.
The final week of SCS sport saw students representing their schools in the sports of mountain biking, futsal, and badminton, with the last of the Sydney Championships Finals also played across Sydney in cricket, oztag, and volleyball.
Within only three years, the number of badminton players has risen from just over 200 competitors to 750 this year.
With more than 300 teams from nearly all SCS schools, organisers were forced to play the Junior divisions down the road at a second badminton facility.
All teams were placed in pools of four or five competing against other teams from across the diocese, with some divisions seeing a record 60 teams competing. The top teams in each pool then entered the knockout stages with rounds of 32 through to the finals.
The senior boys saw an amazing contest between last year’s winners, Corpus Christi Maroubra, who defeated Trinity College Auburn 21-7 to defend their title. All four boys play Badminton regularly outside of school, and both teams were undefeated in their pool matches, eliminating possible rivals in the knockout matches leading up to the final.
In other divisions, the female students from Marist Catholic College, Penshurst, also made it two in a row, defeating All Saints Liverpool in the final 21-17 to defend their 2024 title.
OLSH Kensington won the Intermediate Girls and Domremy College Five Dock, victorious in the Junior (Year 7) division.
In the junior boys, Trinity College Auburn defeated Marist College Eastwood, and in the closest of all the finals, Marist Eastwood won a very tense final 21-19 against Marcellin College Randwick in the intermediate boys.
Sean Mullaly, supervisor of Sport K-12 and the event coordinator, was ecstatic with the numbers in attendance.
“When we first offered badminton as a SCS gala day, we had no idea how many students would want to compete. A few years later, it has probably become not only one of our biggest events but also a favourite.
“We at Sydney Catholic Schools love the fact that the event caters to elite badminton players within our schools but also allows students who are not necessarily regular players of the sport.”
The final week of SCS sport saw students also represent their schools in the sports of mountain biking and futsal.
The last of the Sydney Championships Finals were also played across Sydney in cricket, Oztag, and volleyball. Waterpolo and Golf holiday camps rounded out what has been another very busy year for all involved in SCS Sport in 2025.