Teen parents take trophy
After a tense final minute, Tawa’s He Huaraki Tamariki School won the North Island teen parents netball tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
There was a tentative end-to-end opening sequence before He Huaraki Tamaraki piled on nine unanswered points in the first half to take a commanding lead over Palmerston North into the break.
The second half belonged to the visitors, with He Huaraki scoring only sporadically.
Palmerston North had closed the gap to just two points with 60 seconds to go.
It seemed inevitable they would catch up.
However, the locals composed themselves for one more minute.
Both teams scored again, but it was He Huaraki who got there in the end, 19-17.
He Huaraki coach Liana Burns had been a student and netball player at the school until last year.
Now a Te Wananga tertiary student, she has continued to coach the team.
That final minute had been very tense.
‘‘I was sweating just standing there,’’ she said. The win was a team effort. ‘‘I really appreciate the girls sticking at it with all the pride they have from themselves, and their babies and the school,’’ she said. It was He Huaraki’s first win. They placed second in 2011 and in 2012 came fourth in Palmerston North.
Tuesday was Burns’ daughter’s birthday.
Her players delivered a perfect present, she said.
‘‘I was just so proud of the girls.’’