Muchloved winter tournament week a winner
THERE has been a lot of planning and cancelling and planning again over the past couple of years thanks to Covid, but finally winter tournament week went ahead in full scale around the country, 90plus events and tournaments taking place for about 30,000 pupils.
Otago schools had been looking forward to the week and it did not disappoint. There were some outstanding results from Otago teams and many great experiences and memories made.
The Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association thanks all school sport staff, coaches and managers for taking on the mammoth task of organising and ensuring processes were in place so the teams could travel to their respective tournaments safely.
Cromwell College
For the first time in 48 years, ‘‘Cromwell College’’ will be engraved on the South Island secondary school B grade netball trophy. This was the perfect way for the senior A netball team to finish its most successful season in many years.
The team won the Barbara Bell Memorial tournament in Alexandra three weeks before the SISS netball tournament, beating many of the teams that competed in A grade at the SISS tournament, including local rivals Dunstan High School and Wakatipu High School.
Congratulations to Milasa Funau, Maddi Pask and Grace Tiko for being named as talented players for the tournament.
The Cromwell College under15 boys rugby team also punched well above its weight at the South Island tournament in Nelson, placing fifth out of 16 division 1 teams.
Flynn Stuart was named team MVP. The team’s success was largely due to passion, pride and sheer determination to do well, after putting in the hard yards leading up to the tournament.
Cromwell College also has a mixed hockey team that competed in the SISS tournament in Gore, placing seventh. Pupils also took part in the SISS ice hockey tournament in Dunedin as part of the CromwellDunstan combined teams, and the school is excited to see what these young skaters can achieve as ice hockey continues to grow in numbers in Central Otago.
Mount Aspiring College
The first XI mixed hockey team won the South Island schools tournament in Gore for the first time last week.
The team went undefeated with 48 goals scored and only three goals scored against it with four of the MAC strikers among the top 10 goal scorers of the tournament.
The team started off with a tough pool game against St Peter’s College, winning 21, and played South Otago High School later that evening, winning 80. Big wins over East Otago High School (160) and Mackenzie College (150) followed.
It was a hardfought semifinal against a strong Wakatipu High School team but the Mount Aspiring hockey team won 41. The final was against the home team, St Peter’s College, again. It was a tight game with a strong Mount Aspiring defence, but thanks to some exciting goals scored by the strikers, the team managed to win 31.
Queen’s High School
The Queen’s first XI football team had a fantastic tournament in Dunedin. The team had 15 junior and only two senior pupils but the players combined well and did themselves and the school proud, finishing top of their pool and making the semifinal, where they lost 31 to a powerful Columba College team. On the final day, they played off for third and fourth against St Hilda’s. Queen’s fought hard, but unfortunately lost against another strong and physical team.
Captain Neve Darlington led by example both on and off the field and was the recipient of the Queen’s MVP award. It was a great week of football for the team, which finished fourth out of 19 teams, and it will be exciting to see what the future holds for this young team.
The senior A netball team travelled to Timaru to compete in the South Island secondary schools tournament. The team won its first three games, but unfortunately an injury to a player resulted in combinations and positions on court having to be rearranged, which took some adjustment.
The final day of play resulted in two further wins. Queen’s finished 13th from 30 teams in B grade and looks forward to an even higher placing in 2023, when the tournament will be held in Invercargill.
The senior A basketball team competed in the Southern Cup tournament at the Edgar Centre. The team experienced tough competition throughout the week but managed a welldeserved win over Taieri College in the final encounter.
St Hilda’s Collegiate
St Hilda’s attended the SISS netball championships tier 2 and tier 4 hockey tournaments and the local satellite NZSS football tournament in Dunedin.
The first XI hockey team headed to Christchurch determined to win the Audrey Timlin Trophy and get promoted to the Fed Cup. After the first few pool plays, the team had convincing wins over Epsom and Timaru Girls’. The semifinal against Ashburton was as close as it can be with a draw at full time and a penalty shootout. St Hilda’s managed to win this and went on to play Marlborough Girls’ in the final, winning 41 with some strong attack and tight defence to seal a Fed Cup place in 2023.
The senior A netball team competed in Timaru. With a target of top eight, the team had to win the first three games of pool play, versus Kaiapoi, Waitaki Girls’ and Rangiora. St Hilda’s achieved this and went into the top 16 and a new round of three games. After a close battle against Cashmere, the team finished top of the pool, and made the semifinal against Christchurch Girls’. Finishing fourth was a great achievement for this team and means it qualifies for the national tournament next month.
Football and hockey second XI teams had a great tournament in their respective codes. Both reached the semifinals but unfortunately played off for third and fourth. Both teams rallied and finished strongly to come back with thirdplace medals.
Otago Boys’ High School
The Otago Boys’ first XI hockey players had not attended the tier 1 Rankin Cup/India Shield since 2018 and were looking to prove themselves against the best 31 schools in the country. They were deemed to have the pool of death and contested against teams that finished inside the top 10.
A final placing of fifth in the India Shield was a terrific finish to the week — seven games played, three wins, two draws and two losses — and it is always an emotional time when boys play for the last time in the hoops.
Logan Park High School
A highlight of the week was the boys hockey first XI winning the South Island tier 4 tournament in Ashburton.
The final was hardfought against Rolleston College. The teams exchanged goals then, in the final quarter of the game, Logan Park pulled ahead to win 32. Kieran Black (two) and Micah Duckles got the goals, and Liam Black led the team impressively in his last game for Logan Park.
The Logan Park football boys did very well to make the top eight in the Linwood tournament in Invercargill. In pool play, they had easy wins but lost 21 to Christchurch Boys’ in a closely contested match. Christchurch Boys’ went on to win the final. Overall, the team placed seventh.
The girls football and girls and boys basketball teams showed real courage to finish their respective tournaments after being down on numbers due to injury and illness.
Lawrence Area School
Lawrence Area School attended the SISS netball tournament in Timaru. The team played extremely well and came fourth in C grade. The girls enjoyed their week away, meeting friends, developing their netball skills and supporting their fellow area school teams that were also involved the tournament. Team members are all looking forward to attending next year’s tournament in Invercargill.
East Otago High School
East Otago’s netball team attended the SISS tournament in Timaru, and the mixed hockey team travelled to the SISS tournament in Gore.
Cassidy Bridger, Kate Howard and William Clare attended the hockey tournament, and Deegan Croucher played netball. We asked them these questions:
What was your favourite thing about tournament week?
Cassidy: Being able to bond with my team and bonding with other hockey teams at the place we were staying.
Kate: Meeting new people. Deegan: Managing to win some games even though we had lots of players out with injury/sickness and had to borrow players from a Timaru school to finish the tournament.
William: Meeting other teams and doing activities with them and my team.
What have you learnt about yourself?
Cassidy: That it doesn’t matter what the score is. If you played a good game and had a fun time, that’s all that counts.
Kate: That I can actually do this.
Deegan: That I can hold at the top of the circle.
William: That I can do well on attack as well as defence.
Favourite memory from the tournament?
Cassidy: Playing at the pool in Invercargill and Gore with my team.
Kate: Forcing my first penalty corner.
Deegan: Laughing and having a good time in the bunk rooms.
William: Playing basketball in the dark.