MEET Wagga’s newest state champions.
After a decade of close calls and near misses, Sturt Public School has captured the elusive Steve Birth Trophy at the NSW PSSA Primary Schools boys’ softball knockout.
Sturt captured the Riverina title earlier in the year and then went on to conquer schools two and three times their size from across the state.
They became the first Riverina school to win the trophy in the 30-year history of the boys’ knockout.
Attending the state finals in Manly last week, Sturt beat Newport Public School 8-5 in the semi-final to set up a showdown with Bletchington Public School in the final.
Sturt eventually prevailed 8-3.
Sturt coach Susan Brasier said the team deserve all the accolades that come their way.
“We’ve made it through to the final probably 10 times and the closest we’ve ever come was runner up about 10 years ago,” Brasier said.
“They put in the work together as a team, dug very deep and were persistent. Even when times were tough no one dropped their head and they kept on fighting.”
The final was a lot closer than the 8-3 scoreline suggests.
Bletchington actually passed Sturt’s score late in the final but the score was reverted back to 8-3 after time ran out.
“It looks like we did it easy but not at all,” Brasier said.
The victory proved to be reward for effort for Sturt.
“We started training in February, once a week to July and twice from there,” Brasier said.
Sturt’s girl’s team, coached by Amanda Gooden, also made it through to the state finals and finished third.
Sturt principal Kerry Barker made a surprise visit to Sydney to watch the teams in their finals appearances.
Above: (back row) Sam McNaughton, Jeremy Piercy, Callum Cockburn, Susan Brasier, Macgregor Chapman, Riley Norton-Fraser, Todd Maiden; (front), Tristan Bamford, Eoin Flanagan, Cooper Iriving, Brady Johnston, Brayden O'Reilly, Macauley Armstrong.
