Best of the rest: 300+ athletes named as South Coast’s best in 2023 deep dive

From swimming and golf to netball and triathlons, the South Coast region is brimming with sporting talent. We uncover the winning teams in every sport plus the athletes who were selected for Queensland and Australian honours. Full details:

The South Coast region is brimming with school sporting talent from under-10s to under-19s, and 2023 was nothing short of triumphant for the athletes and teams who competed at State Championships across Queensland.

We uncover the winning teams in every sport plus the athletes who were selected for Queensland and Australian honours.

While netball took out four of the five possible titles, boys rugby league and girls rugby 7s were equally strong with victories in both senior age divisions.

Queensland School Sport Netball 2023 - South Coast win 13-15 years and 16-19 years

South Coast were a putt above in golf, winning the combined girls and boys 10-12 and 13-19 years divisions.

See every team who won here:

Out of the 71 championships held in 2023 (January-October), the region won 26, placed second in 19 and third in eight.

Only 24% of competing teams did not place, with four championships still to be held in November and December.

Key student achievements include:

Knox Anderson (King’s Christian College), Aspen Anderson (Somerset College) and Elke Rayward (Benowa State High School) were successful in making the Queensland squads for both cross country and either aquathlon or triathlon.

Gold Coast Marathon 2023 4km junior dash winner ELKE RAYWARD 1 July 2023 Southport Picture by Richard Gosling

Ava Hart (Emmanuel College) was selected into the hockey and aquathlon teams.

Australian representative honours

The following students were selected to represent Australia in their sport:

Ethan Jones - St Stephen’s College Upper Coomera, football

Embah Tait - Australian Christian College (Distance Ed.), netball

Taj Murray - Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School, Australian Rules Football

Jackson Jarvis - Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School, Australian Rules Football

Emily Egan - Trinity College (Beenleigh), netball (student official - umpire)

Bella Narain - Southport State High School, touch football

Oceiana Graham - Palm Beach-Currumbin State High School, touch football

Lorielle Scholz - St Hilda's School (Southport), touch football

Shyla Singh - Australian Christian College (Distance Ed.), golf

Jack Henry - Canterbury College (Waterford), rugby union

Tavarna Papalii - Keebra Park State High School, rugby league

Ebony Raftstrand-Smith - Keebra Park State High School, rugby league

Tyler Stevens - Keebra Park State High School, rugby union

Isla Talau - Keebra Park State High School, rugby 7s

Oscar Lane - King's Christian College (Reedy Creek), rugby union

Nico Buckley - King's Christian College (Reedy Creek), rugby union

Charlize Ratu - King's Christian College (Reedy Creek), rugby 7s

Fa’agase Tupuola-Palale - King‘s Christian College (Reedy Creek), rugby 7s

Nadia Windleborn - Merrimac State High School, rugby league