History of the McAuley Shield
The McAuley Shield… it’s the coveted title that every House at Santa Maria is after. It symbolises a year’s worth of hard work and determination.
In this article, we break down the origins of the McAuley Shield and reflect on what being awarded this title means.Â
When was the McAuley Shield introduced?
The McAuley Shield began in 1998, with the introduction of the new six-house system. In 2007, a further two houses, Byrne and Corbett, were added to the system to accommodate the increase in numbers at the College.
Each of these Houses is divided into six Homeroom groups (from Years 7 – 12). There is one Homeroom group per House across each year level. Each of these Homeroom groups represents their House when they compete on an annual basis for the McAuley Shield.
How are the points awarded to the Houses in the McAuley Shield?Â
Several interhouse events take place during the school year. Points are allocated in these events based on students’ performance. At the end of the year, the points are tallied from these events, and the House with the highest number of points is the overall winner of the McAuley Shield. Traditionally, the winners of the Shield are announced on Mercy Day at a whole school assembly in front of staff and students.
As of today, the events where Houses can collect points to contribute towards the McAuley Shield include the following:Â
- Interhouse Athletics Carnival
- Interhouse Swimming Carnival
- Interhouse Drama Competition
- Interhouse Cross Country Carnival
- Interhouse Academic Triathlon
- Interhouse Volleyball Competition
- Interhouse Soccer Competition
- Interhouse Public Speaking
The burning question… which House has racked up the most McAuley Shield wins?Â
de la Hoyde House has won the McAuley Shield (or placed equal first) 12 times since its inception in 1998! To put things in perspective, that is 12 out of 25 years… an impressive effort if we must say so ourselves.
Dillon House has racked up seven wins, as well as Kelly (mind you, six of these have been consecutive, from 2017 – 2022… which is an amazing winning streak).
Below is a list of all the winners since 1998.
Year
Champions
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
Kelly
O’Reilly
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde / O’Reilly
de la Hoyde / DillonÂ
de la Hoyde / DillonÂ
Dillon
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde
de la Hoyde
Dillon
de la Hoyde
Dillon
Dillon
Dillon
Kelly
Kelly
Kelly
Kelly
Kelly
Kelly
The future of the McAuley Shield
You may have gathered that there are a few houses – Frayne, Byrne, and Corbett – who are still yet to be crowned McAuley Shield champions.Â
With Byrne and Corbett having only come into the picture in 2007, we can understand why a win hasn’t come their way yet. And for Frayne, who came a very close second behind Kelly this year, we know they’re close and even more hungry for a win!
We can’t wait to see how next year pans out.
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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
