Marli touches greatness as her school’s first sports rep

By Tasmyn Haynes

Marli Mayne showed she is a star in the making after being selected into the Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) U15 touch football team.

The year seven student from Corpus Christi College Maroubra is the school’s first female student to make an SCS representative sports team, following its first ever intake of senior girls.

“It felt really good because I’m only 12 and I’m playing with 15 year olds,” she said.

“I’ve played Oztag since I was eight, so my PE teacher asked me to trial for the touch team and I made it.”

During her first interschool sport game, Marli gave a demonstration of her unmatched talent.

Playing St Clare’s Waverley, the team currently at the top of the junior girls’ ladder, she opened the game and scored the first try with a sneaky step combination in the middle.

St Clare’s quickly answered with a try of their own. Both teams hustled on offence and defence, entering half time with a score of 3-1 in favour of Corpus Christi.

Whatever was said in the St Clare’s huddle before the second half lit a hunger and passion that translated to three quick tries when the girls jumped back on the field.

The Waverley students turned the game upside down and it seemed like it was all said and done.

However, Marli wasn’t going to let her team go down without a fight. She knew what needed to be done and called for the ball. With passes destined for the turf, her hands got there to collect the ball gracefully and away she went to bring the score back to even.

But a tie isn’t a win. With spectators gathering around the edges of the field, Marli showed her excellent playmaking abilities and orchestrated another try for her team. St Clare’s hustled to score again in the dying minutes of the game, but it was no use.

The final score stood at 7-5 as Marli led the first ever Corpus Christi girls team to a crucial victory. She was awarded the “player’s player” medal for her talents in the game, her third of the competition.

Something tells us Marli Mayne will be needing a lot of space on her trophy shelf at home in future.