The New Zealand Area Schools Association national tournament has been an important part of the life for area school pupils since 1994, when there was an informal get-together at Mercury Bay Area School.
In 1995 the tournament was in Dunedin, and that was the first official New Zealand area schools tournament. It is the brainchild of Ron Morgan (Mercury Bay Area School).
Area schools tend to be rural and are year 1 to 13. The tournament is a special concept thought up to meet the needs of pupils living in small rural communities throughout New Zealand.
It is a multi-code event with pupils competing in rugby, netball, basketball and volleyball. The contributing schools are grouped into four regions: Northland, Central (the North Island south of Auckland), Top of the South (South Island north of Oamaru) and South of the South (Otago and Southland).
In each code there is a round-robin competition followed by a North Island v South Island game from which tournament teams are selected.
With one game a day for four days in each code, pupils involved play a lot of sport during the tournament.
Every year before this tournament, each of the four regions has a regional tournament which usually lasts three or four days at a school in their region.
Pupils are selected from that regional tournament to come to the national tournament.
As year 9 and year 10 pupils, they strive to get selected for their school team to compete at their regional tournament. Then, as they get older, they strive to get selected for their regional team to go to the national tournament.
Taking into account the fundraising required, this tournament is one big adventure that occupies a large part of the school year.
With the size of the schools involved, pupils usually play in more than one code every day. The South of the South team consisted of pupils from Waiau Area School (Tuatapere), Maniototo Area School (Ranfurly), Lawrence Area School, Roxburgh Area School and Twizel Area School. The tournament squad consisted of just 44 pupils.
Early on, the New Zealand Rugby Foundation became involved and has sponsored the New Zealand area schools rugby team for a two-game tour that involves a game against the New Zealand Harlequins as a curtain-raiser for a national championship game. So, for rugby players there is a chance to go on past this tournament and into a national team.
With the help of the New Zealand Rugby Foundation, the NZASA tournament provides a pathway for talented players from rural New Zealand to be recognised and to get into NZRU development programmes.
Mike Smith, from Mercury Bay Area School, was at the first tournament and has been involved in the coaching and management of this national rugby team ever since.
Grace Marsh, from Tongariro Area School, has negotiated for a NZASA netball team to become part of a transtasman competition which involves teams from Samoa, Australia and New Zealand. In 2013 and the years to follow, this will provide a very valuable pathway for netball players to get the same recognition rugby players have enjoyed.
The tournament moves from region to region annually and is partly funded by Sport NZ. This year the tournament was co-ordinated and run by Kate Anderson, from Lawrence Area School, along with a capable local organising committee.
Queen's sport
German pupils Maren Keppler and Hannah Bohling, who returned to Germany on June 29, made the most of their year at Queen's High School. Between them they were involved in 12 sports including several they had not played before, such as rugby, basketball, and touch. Hannah said getting involved in sports at Queen's had been great and helped her feel comfortable and included at her new school.
Maren made new friends and valued the inclusive nature of sport at Queen's.
The Queen's intermediate A netball team travelled to Christchurch for the South Island secondary schools junior tournament in the first week of the July holidays. The team had wins over Taieri College, Columba College and Nayland College, and other games were close. Jess White was outstanding at goal keep, with many intercepts, and Michala Halford-Feron showed skill, speed and drive at centre. Coach Chrissie Sayer and manager Helen Johnson said the girls far exceeded their expectations.
The junior sports development programme concluded for the year at the end of term two. The final session was held at the Dunedin Ice Stadium, where the girls tried curling for the first time.
The aim of the programme was to help grow these pupils as leaders and role models and to develop their skills and knowledge. Visits to Absolute Gym, the High Performance Centre and Moana Pool were highlights of the term two activities. The girls enjoyed working with different pupils and finding out what is available in the community to support their futures in sport.
In June, Queen's sports co-ordinator Karen Palmer attended the North Island secondary schools sports conference in Rotorua. The keynote speaker, former international cricketer John Reid, spoke about the importance of building a positive sporting culture in our schools and how valuable sporting involvement from the pupils, staff and community was to developing working relationships in schools.
The conference was attended by more than 200 sports co-ordinators, physical education teachers and senior school managers. Workshops on coaching and the curriculum, schools and club links and a forum of schools were interesting and thought-provoking.
Calendar
July 16: Term 3 starts
July 18: Boys football, ice hockey resume
• These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association (OSSSA), which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual. Contact Des Smith, Otago Regional Sports Director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Email: des@osssa.org.nz
