How St Michael's Aerobics Went From Zero to National Champions in Six Months

When the scores came out at the National Championships on the Sunshine Coast, two of our Senior School Aerobics squads had won.

"All the saints around us went crazy. We were screaming," said Year 12 student Darcey. "It was absolutely electric." Her teammate Reid, in Year 10, had felt the shift building since try-outs. "At the start of the year we did not think this was a possibility," he said. By the end of it, St Michael's had come home with two gold medals and a silver, in a program that did not exist six months earlier.

Years 10 - 12 Team, SMGS Angels

Building it from scratch

Head Aerobics Coach Charlene Peffer was tasked with the challenge of reviving a program with a proud history and, in its first year back, returned to the national stage with two gold medals and a silver.

"While the representative program was new to today's students, we were fortunate to have a rich aerobics history at St Michael's," Peffer said. "Bringing the program back gave us the opportunity to honour that legacy while creating new pathways for our students."

St Michael's has a proud aerobics tradition that stretches back more than three decades. The School first entered inter-school aerobics in 1993, with both inaugural teams qualifying for the Victorian State Finals and one team progressing to the Australian Championships. Throughout the 1990s, St Michael's established itself as one of Victoria's leading school aerobics programs, regularly fielding multiple teams, achieving State Championship success and earning national-level results. The program continued to grow through to 2000, while House Aerobics became a much-loved school tradition involving more than 140 students and fostering the student-led culture that remains a hallmark of the competition today. After a lengthy hiatus, representative aerobics returned in 2026, building on this rich history and reconnecting a new generation of students with a proudly successful St Michael's sporting legacy.

1993 Aerobics Team

"Our house aerobics is just so big, and the involvement around it is massive," Peffer said. "Mr Montebruno wanted to elevate that and take a team to States." Peffer, who has spent her career in dance, including running two performing arts studios in Sydney and an international dance career before moving into schools, was approached to build the new program from the ground up.

When auditions opened in February, interest was unprecedented. The Year 7–9 age group attracted the largest number of participants Ms Peffer had ever seen, requiring the cohort to be split into two squads, while a third team was formed for Years 10–12. Training then commenced with weekly 7:00am sessions for each squad, although the work extended far beyond those sessions, with significant time dedicated to learning and creating choreography, mapping formations, and designing costumes for competition.

"Early mornings in winter are pretty hard, and also to keep the students motivated," Peffer said. "We're such a busy school, and the students are involved in everything. But they're so dedicated, and they all wanted the same thing — to get to Nationals."

Darcey remembers the try-out itself as competitive in its own right, built around strength, flexibility and technique, then weekly 7.10am Thursday sessions "as early as possible so we can have a warm-up and get to know us as a team." Reid recalls Year 7s turning up at 7am purely to practise. "It really showed a sense of unity, and how the whole school is able to come together."

State Qualifiers in May

Qualifiers, States, Nationals

Winning the qualifying round sent our teams to the State Championships. "This was really competitive, and a very long day," Darcey said. A win there sent them on to Nationals. "We competed against two or three teams who had qualified, which was really stressful, because the smaller field is actually harder," she said.

Year 12 student Molly, also on the senior squad, found the hardest part was not the routine but timing it against her studies. "It was a bit difficult to have that huge commitment and also focus on academics," she said. "But it was a really fun opportunity, and good to have a bit of a break while doing this." For her, the season's real reward was the connections it built across year levels. "Being involved in aerobics has had so many benefits for me — improving my fitness, increasing connections with students from other year levels, like Reid. We've been involved in so many productions over the years, and I think our relationship has deepened even more this year, going to Nationals as our first interstate trip together."

National Team Performance at House Aerobics

A culture that starts in Year 6

None of this happens without the house aerobics program the senior squad grew out of — a tradition that starts as early as Year 6. Every routine, at every year level, is student-led: the students choose the music, run their own auditions and choreograph the dance themselves, with no adult stepping in to do it for them.

Marlton's Year 6 squad, led by Sunday and Mila, spent a month building their routine, starting with two or three lunchtime rehearsals a week before moving to daily lunches and recesses as the competition approached. Marlton finished the junior comp in second place, four points behind winners Cintra. "The house aerobics comp this year was really close," Mila said. "Our team came second by four points, but congratulations to Cintra, who won." 

For Sunday, the process was as much about leadership as dance. "It's given me a lot of responsibility in Marlton. We had to create the dance, be there on time and do a lot. It's given us a lot more leadership skills." Both are already looking ahead to Years 7 and up: Mila hopes to make the senior program next year, as well as Sunday. Their advice to any Year 5 or 6 considering it: "Even if you're not a dancer, just try it out. It's a lot of fun, you meet new people, and it's a really good experience."

That same student-led ownership carries all the way to the top of the school. This year, Darcey choreographed Breen's 10–12A House Aerobics routine herself, working around morning rehearsals, recess and lunch sessions with Molly. In the 10 - 12A's competition, Breen won by a single point.

Years 10 - 12 Breen A's Routine

The result

Across the three squads that travelled to Nationals, St Michael's brought home two gold medals and a silver, a result Peffer still marvels at. "I am extremely proud of all three teams. The way these students, these athletes, committed — their dedication, their perseverance — was just incredible."

Darcey credits the coaching partnership behind it: Miss Hancock's energy, and Ms Peffer's professional dance and competitive background, sharpening technique, strength and flexibility across the team. Molly agreed, adding that Miss Hancock made sure nerves backstage never overtook the experience. Peffer, in turn, also singled out Chloe Hancock as central to the program's first year, present at every audition and every rehearsal, and at every competition through to Nationals.

Reid is already looking ahead to next season. "I reckon we can go two for two with Nationals." Darcey says the program is only getting bigger from here, with the school looking at new competition pathways for next year. "There's no harm in auditioning," she said. "It gets you into such a competitive but also supportive environment, and you get to connect with so many different people within your seven-to-nine or your ten-to-twelve groups. It's really amazing to see those new connections form."