Team on top of the nation
WBHS has something to boast about in rare win
SSQUASH
ix Whangārei Boys’ High School students made history in winning the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team Championship squash title. The top podium finish of players Freddie Jameson, Maz Saunders, Flynn Venmore, Campbell Griffin, Josh Laing and Luca Smith was a first for the school at the three-day tournament.
A cohort of talented squash players was drawn to Auckland to compete but none could pip the Boys’ High team, who went undefeated in all five games.
The final against Auckland Grammar School proved the closest call with the Northlanders taking victory with a 3-2 score. The bout followed a 4-1 win over Hamilton Boys’ High School in the semifinal.
Year 13 student and team captain Saunders said the win eased last year’s heartbreak when the same players lost the tournament final to Tauranga Boys’ College.
“We knew this year was our best chance of winning it as I’m off next year and another player is.
“The school doesn’t win a ton of national squash titles so it was pretty cool to experience,” Saunders said.
He hoped the excitement of their success would filter into the 12 players who make up the Whangārei Boys’ High School squash academy.
The winning team, who range from Year 10 to Year 13, had the advantage of having started playing together in the Manaia Squash Club junior programme in Whangārei Heads.
“We all get along really well and it creates that positive environment where we give each other helpful support in between the matches,” Saunders said.
It’s a team culture that made a “noticeable difference” to their performance, he added.
Pressure from the large crowd gathered to watch the final and the memory of last year’s result was intensified by the four scouts helping pick players for the New Zealand squads headed to Australia in two weeks.
Saunders knew he was in with a chance to represent the country for the first time on the court after being named in a lowerranking squad and as he was one of 10 players at the centre of the scouts’ attention
We all get along really well and it creates that positive environment where we give each other helpful support in between the matches.
Team captain Maz Saunders
throughout the tournament.
“That was pressure on top of already playing for your team,” he said.
But his efforts paid off when, during the tournament prizegiving, he was named in the New Zealand Senior Squash team, and Boys’ High team-mate Laing was selected for the New Zealand Junior Squash team — both destined for Brisbane.
Saunders said the WBHS win put him in good stead ahead of Australia as he would head into the seven-day clash with boosted confidence and strong form.