Bernie's 2 Minute Friday

With the Australian Open wrapping up for another year, we thought we'd kick off 2025 with a look at St Bernard's best ever tennis player!

A graduate of the college in 1971, Paul went on to become a prominent singles player, reaching a career-high ranking of World No. 24 in May 1986. It was in doubles though, where he really excelled, becoming World No.1 in June 1981 and winning four Grand Slams - the Australian Open (1979, 1983) and Wimbledon (1980 and 1982). Forming dangerous combinations with fellow Aussies Peter McNamara, Mark Edmondson, and Pat Cash, Paul won 24 men's doubles titles over his career. He also won a fifth grand slam at Wimbledon in 1985 with none other than tennis legend Martina Navratilova - as they took out the mixed doubles trophy in three sets.

Paul was a key part of Australia's Davis Cup team - the world team championships of men's tennis - where he helped lead Australia to victory in 1983 and 1986.

Paul has given just as much to tennis off the court. One of his key achievements was helping found the Hopman Cup in 1988, and he served as its tournament director until 2006. He helped establish it as a world-famous mixed team event, welcoming greats like Roger Federer and Serena Williams to play for their country. An even more impressive - and crucial - contribution to Australian tennis came when he was appointed CEO of the Australian Open and Tennis Australia in 1993. At that time the AO was seen as 'the other Slam', the least prestigious of the four majors, and while the move to Melbourne Park had helped fix that, many of the world's top players still didn't feel like making the trip. Under Paul's leadership from 1993 to 2006, the tournament's reputation was transformed and today stands as one of the best sporting events in the world. After this he stepped into coaching, forming a successful partnership with Taiwanese player Su-Wei Hsieh, who became World No.1 and won nine Grand Slams in women's doubles.

Also accomplished as a golf administrator, Paul served as tournament director of the Australian Golf Open from 2006-2008. He credits his success as a sports administrator to a focus on the fans and a philosophy of "no such thing as a small thing", bringing passion and attention to detail to every aspect (ANZ, 2015). 

Paul has been a valued member of our community over the years, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours!

Image: Paul McNamee (right) holds the world doubles championship trophy with partner Peter McNamara. via Getty Images

The SBOCA Bowls Day for 2025 has been rescheduled, and will now be held on Sunday the 13th of April. The event remains at Aberfeldie Community Bowls Club and all other details remain the same.

Get your team of 3 together or come as a pair or individual, and you'll have the chance to win cash from a $3000 prize pool! There will also be lunch and refreshments provided - so whether you want to bowl for glory or simply kick back in the summer sun, this is the day for you.

We invite all from the St Bernard's family - Old Collegians, current students, staff, family members and friends - to participate. Bookings are $50 per person and can be made at this link: https://www.trybooking.com/CXMJM or through the QR code above.

For inquiries or any further information please contact:

Gerard Mahoney (Community Bank Keilor East)   Mobile: 0412 165 912    Email: rollston@optusnet.com.au 

or Ben Lamaro (St Bernard's)    Phone: 03 9289 1106    Email: blamaro@sbc.vic.edu.au

St Bernard's is looking for recent graduates to join our Facilities and Maintenance team on a casual basis with flexible hours (should average 15 hours per week). Ideally, candidates will have graduated in the last two years, have some work experience and a strong work ethic. Most of the work will be outdoor manual labour, working to the instruction of the Facilities and Grounds employees of St Bernard's. We are looking for two casual staff and will be happy to work around university schedules or other part-time work you may already have.

If this is of interest to you, please email HR@sbc.vic.edu.au with a brief CV / one-pager expressing your interest and why you'd like casual work with St Bernard's.

An important reminder that Alumnly is still available to sign up and an account can be made here: SBOCA Alumni - St Bernard's College. The Old Collegians Association has invested significantly in the building of this wonderful database, but it will only be effective if as many alumni as possible sign up. We'd strongly encourage you to join, as the bigger the network is, the greater the reward is for everyone involved.

As we enter 2025, Alumnly will be packed with all the classic Old Collegian events as well as reunions, job postings, networking opportunities, and more in the pipeline, so stay tuned!

For any enquiries or assistance please don't hesitate to contact us by emailing alumni@sbc.vic.edu.au.

We've come a long way in 60 years - it's hard to imagine that the site that would become St Bernard's College used to be an empty paddock next to a creek! These site photos from our archives show the amazing development of the College over the years.

Here is the first building and the caretaker's cottage on the Essendon Campus in 1963. The surrounding land had yet to be developed - even Buckley Street didn't go this far!

Essendon Campus 1988 - with the site starting to expand and take shape.

Essendon Campus 2022. It remains the same today but with the addition of the Margaret Tierney building for our Year 11 and 12 students.

Through hard work from countless people over the years, St Bernard's has remained a school with facilities to be proud of, and we look forward to what might come in the future!

The St Bernard's Old Collegians Association is excited to announce that the SBOCA Grant program will continue in 2025! 

The Global Gateway Grant is available for Old Collegians planning international study, and the Leadership in Community Grant to help fund those who are making a positive difference. 

Check out our interview with Simon Vitelli (class of 2019) for a taste of what the Global Gateway grants can help you achieve! SBOCA Grants Program - Mr Simon Vitelli 

For application details or more information, please contact Ben Lamaro at blamaro@sbc.vic.edu.au. Applications close Sunday 23 February.

An end of an era with old collegian Marty Synan (1985) leaving Moonee Valley Race Club after 41 years! He started as a teenager and rose through the ranks going from a general groundsman to assistant track manager and then head honcho in the late 2000's. Marty is a legend at Moonee Valley and well known in the St. Bernard's community. Here he is at his final race meeting with prominent old collegians Deputy Premier Ben Carroll (1993) (left) and Moonee Valley committee man and successful businessman Jim Hogan (1976) (right).

We love connecting with alumni to see how they can help current students in their career exploration, planning and decision making. There’s richness in what alumni bring to the careers conversation. Neither of us can speak into occupations or universities, vocations or outcomes in the various fields that students are now exploring as much as alumni with professional and firsthand experiences can!

When you’re creating your profile on Alumnly, it would be a tremendous help to our current students if you could fill out – in addition to the relevant ‘Willing to Help’ fields – the 'Field of Expertise’ tab. This means that when we search for alumni who are keen to give back to the SBC community and help in the careers space, we can know exactly where your study and professional experience lies.

We are most in need of:

• Guest speakers for careers events in Year 9, and Years 11-12
• Mentors for Year 12
• Workplace employers for students in Years 10, 11 and 12
• Employment opportunities for post-school

If you’d like to learn more about our careers program at SBC or to let us know how you can assist us in helping our students, please email swoodhouse@sbc.vic.edu.au  - your help will be greatly appreciated!

Sarah Woodhouse

Careers Department – St Bernard’s College