These aren't casual after-school activities. They're structured programs that run as subjects from Year 7 through Year 11, replacing standard Health and Physical Education. Students earn SACE credits. They work with SANFL and Netball SA coaches. They travel to Melbourne for high-level competitions.
Entry is selective. Students complete an application form and participate in formal trials. Once accepted, they commit to at least three years in the program.
Our netball program has been endorsed by Netball South Australia since it started 30 years ago. Netball SA provides resources and specialist coaching. The program is taught by a teacher who's been running it for 21 years and played netball herself.
Who It's For
Students demonstrating talent, potential, and strong interest in netball. Students who want to spend time developing their skills and compete at club, regional, association, or state level. There's a requirement: students must play club netball outside school for at least one season each year. We want to see commitment beyond what happens in our lessons.
What Students Learn
The program follows Netball Australia's National Skill Development Pathways. Students work on footwork and movement, attacking and defending, ball handling and release, landing techniques, throwing and catching on the move, and game strategies. Teachers use skills checklists and video analysis to provide feedback.
Fitness training progresses across the years. Year 7’s do pre-season fitness for strength and conditioning. Year 9s follow a specific developmental program covering core stability, strength, and power. Year 10s work on individual fitness programs at the Blackwood Recreation Centre with a personal trainer, focusing on agility, aerobic fitness, strength, power, and speed. Year 11’s complete weights programs targeting fast-twitch muscle development, leg strength, and core strength.
Theory topics include team play and tactics, position purpose, coaching, umpiring, first aid, prevention and management of injuries, sports psychology, fitness, nutrition, and pathways in netball. Students complete modules in Certificate II in Sports Coaching. Years 10 and 11 include SACE Stage 1 and Stage 2 Workplace Practices.
Competitions and Trips
Students compete in the State-Wide Netball Competition and Southern Weekly Sport Netball Competition at Netball SA Stadium for Years 7, 8, and 9. Year 9’s also play in the Blackwood Recreation Centre Competition.
The highlight for Years 10 and 11 is the trip to Melbourne for the Waverley International Netball Championships, or the Intra State Barossa Netball Trip. Students work hard for six months leading up to this. They train before school. They do all the extra work required. Then they spend a week interstate, away from families, competing at a high level. The growth students show after these trips is remarkable.
What We Expect
Students commit for a minimum of three years, from Year 7 through Year 11. They must play club netball outside school for at least one season annually. They attend all lessons, even when injured (modified or recovery sessions are provided). They maintain a C grade or higher in all subjects. Academic progress is monitored closely.
All netball students participate in the Whole School Athletics Carnival, completing at least five non-novelty events. Year 11 students act as officiators (coaches and umpires) for the Statewide Netball Competition.
SACE Credits
The full netball pathway from Years 7-11 leads to 20 SACE credits in Year 11.
Our boys' football program runs in conjunction with SANFL coaches and development officers. Sessions are planned and delivered with input from people who work in elite football pathways.
Who It's For
Boys demonstrating talent, potential, and strong interest in Australian Rules Football. Students aiming to compete at higher levels, including school, club, regional association, state, and SANFL.
Like netball, there's a requirement: students must play club football outside school annually.
What Students Learn
Students focus on performing skills with efficiency, accuracy, and consistency. Sessions cover technique analysis and refinement, positional education, running patterns, and appropriate attacking and defensive methods. Video analysis of techniques and game play helps students understand what they're doing well and where they need to improve.
Fitness and conditioning are serious business. Students develop and maintain fitness levels, analyse specific fitness components of football, and complete the AFL combine fitness tests. Training covers methods, principles, energy systems, and resistance training focused on injury prevention. In 2026, we engaged High Performance Coaching to deliver a program that develops elite training behaviours.
Theory topics include team play and tactics, positional play, coaching, umpiring, prevention and management of injuries, nutrition, sports psychology, fitness, pathways in football, team dynamics, and GPS data analysis. All Year 10 students complete a First Aid course.
Competitions and Opportunities
Students compete in inter-school carnivals, School Sport SA Twilight Cup, State-Wide Competition, 9-a-side Carnival, and games against the Aboriginal Academy Team.
Students who qualify as SANFL U16 or U18 listed players have the opportunity to complete an AFL Sports Ready Traineeship.
Year 10s attend a camp to Karoonda, where they umpire a carnival. Year 11s travel to Melbourne, visiting the MCG and National Sports Museum, meeting National Recruiting Managers, visiting Champion Data, and attending an AFL training session at St Kilda..
What We Expect
Students commit for a minimum of three years, from Year 7 through Year 11. They must play club football outside school annually. They attend all lessons, even when injured. They maintain a C grade or higher in all subjects. Academic progress is monitored.
All football students participate in the Whole School Athletics Carnival, completing at least five non-novelty events. Students who don't meet expectations face a one-term probation.
SACE Credits
The program leads to 20 SACE Stage 1 credits.
Why Students Choose These Programs
Walk through the school during a netball or football lesson and you'll see something different from standard PE. Students aren't just playing. They're being coached by specialists. They're analysing video of their techniques. They're working on individualised fitness programs. They're learning about sports psychology and nutrition.
Some of our former students have gone on to play in Premier League competitions in Adelaide. Others went through state pathway programs. Bianca Reddy graduated in 2000, played with the Adelaide Thunderbirds, and later came back to teach in our netball program for two years. Adam Cooney finished here in 2002, won the 2008 Brownlow Medal, and played for the Western Bulldogs and Essendon. Ben Rutten graduated in 2000, played for Adelaide Crows from 2003 to 2014, earned All-Australian honours, and later coached at Essendon. Those are the high-profile outcomes. More commonly, students finish the program with strong skills, genuine confidence, and the resilience that comes from years of training and competing. They understand teamwork. They know how to handle pressure. They've learned to bounce back from losses and injuries.
The Academic Side
These programs maintain high academic expectations. Students must keep a C grade or higher across all subjects. If academic progress slips, we monitor it closely and work with families to get things back on track.
The programs also contribute meaningfully to SACE completion. Students earn credits through Workplace Practices subjects in Years 10 and 11, where their practical experience in coaching, umpiring, and program leadership becomes the basis for assessment.
These programs demand commitment from the whole family. They travel to competitions. They balance club sport with school sport with academic work. Some students also have part-time jobs on top of all that.
Parents and caregivers tell us they initially worried about whether their young person could handle the workload. The reality is that most students in these programs develop time management skills that serve them well across everything they do. They learn to prioritise. They learn to ask for help when they need it. They learn that maintaining your commitments matters.
Applications open early each year. Students complete an application form and participate in trials run by Netball SA (for netball) or SANFL coaches (for boys' football). Selection criteria include potential level of ability, coachability, sporting and academic attitude, behaviour and attendance history, and current involvement in club sport. We're looking for students who are genuinely committed to developing their skills and can handle the demands of the program.
Information:
2027 Football Specialist Program Booklet
2027 Netball Specialist Program Booklet
Application link:
If your young person is interested in one of these programs, start by attending our school tours. Watch the students training. Talk to the teachers who run the programs. Ask about what daily life looks like for students who balance specialist sport with academic requirements.
These programs aren't for everyone. They require genuine commitment, strong time management, and the ability to maintain academic progress while training seriously. For students who want that challenge, they offer something special: the chance to developathletic skills at a high level while staying connected to a comprehensive secondary education.
We create different pathways for different students within one connected community. For some students, that pathway runs through specialist sport. If that sounds like your young person, we'd love to talk about whether one of these programs might be the right fit.