Although Dunedin-based, the Onyx Manawa Masters Marching Team boasts two South Otago coaches, who say they would like to see more local representation on the team.
They are Trudy Soper and Stacey Solomon, who began marching together in the late 1970s as young girls, and have seldom looked back since.
Mrs Soper said they had taken on coaching the Masters just a year ago, and were delighted the team had notched up several podium finishes during March’s nationals in Porirua.
"This team is an extremely passionate, committed and enthusiastic group of women, who are super keen on training and competing.
"They started in 2018, and currently have 11 registered marchers with two chaperones and two coaches."
Ages ranged from 30 to 62 years old, she said.
"They compete in two disciplines — Technical and Display. They really stepped it up at nationals, gaining 3rd Champion Technical Team, 4th Display Team, and Overall 3rd Champion New Zealand Team.
Mrs Soper said she and Mrs Solomon would love to see greater southern participation in the sport.
As the majority of the team was Dunedin-based (one travelling from Gore), training also took place in the city at present.
However, the coaches were looking at moving some training sessions to Balclutha, in the hope of attracting marchers from further afield.
At one time, there were seven South Otago marching teams, Mrs Soper said.
"Marching used to be pretty big down here, and both the big competitions are in Dunedin this coming season, so it would be a great time for newcomers, or those who have marched previously, to join and get involved.
"There are a lot of ex-marchers out there — we’d love to hear from them."
Inquiries could be directed to marchingotagopublicity@gmail.com.
