The 41st annual South Coast Blues awards have celebrated another year of outstanding sporting achievements, honouring 17 primary and secondary school sport stars for 2025.
Among the recipients was 18-year-old Nowra High School student Mireille Smith, who received the prestigious President's award for her volleyball accomplishments. The versatile beach and indoor player captained her NSWCHS side to back-to-back all schools tri-series gold and was named in the competition's all-star team.
Smith also represented Australia at FIVB futures beach volleyball events in New Zealand and on the Gold Coast, and was selected for the Australian national performance program for beach volleyball. She expressed surprise upon learning of the award, initially thinking the letter was just an invitation.
Other major awards included the John Macintosh trophy for notable achievement in an individual sport to Brooklyn McWilliams of Flinders, and the Peter Dobson trophy for outstanding performance in school sport to Ginger Kerr of Shellharbour. The Sid Hayes trophy for most outstanding representative in primary school sport went to Pauliasi Lago of Mount Saint Thomas.
The Brian Downes trophy for most outstanding achievement in athletics was awarded to Moses Fowler of Warilla Athletics, while the Ron Smith trophy for most outstanding individual secondary performance went to Ciara Nixon of Corrimal High School. The Laurie Constantine trophy for most outstanding overall individual was shared by Sophie Bailey of Illawarra and Cooper Markovic of Warilla.
Primary school Blues recipients included Lucas Gill Gomes and Jarrah Flack (athletics), and Bohdi Turner, Asher Mayo and Jack Frost (hockey). Secondary school Blues recipients were Lillian Ragan (basketball), Bohdi Charlton (AFL), Sophia Nio (swimming), Jordan Barlow (touch) and Kasey Barton (cricket).
