It lost its star player and captain, next its only goalkeeper, probably the most specialised position in any sport, pulled out and then the coach had to withdraw. And this was all before it had left Dunedin.
Luckily, though, a Black Stick came to the party and helped out.
The chain of events started when captain Ellie Duncan, who has made national training squads, became sick and could not get out of bed.It was discovered she had a blood clot which had gone from her leg to her lung. She was taken to hospital and, after treatment, made a recovery although she is unlikely to be anywhere near a sports field in the next few months.
Goalkeeper Holly Friedlander pulled out shortly afterwards due to personal reasons and that left the side short of a keeper, a position few play.
But regular defender Andrea Smith came to the party and, after some quick advice and
coaching, grabbed the pads and became the keeper.
She performed admirably as the defence stood firm.
The final blow for the team was when regular coach Ben Varkalis had to withdraw from attending the tournament due to health reasons.
That left the school sports director of sport Dayna Turnbull 30 hours to try to find a coach for the team.
She spent six hours trying to get in contact with anyone who could coach the team. It appeared fruitless but, through connections, Turnbull managed to get in touch with young Black Stick Madi Doar. Doar was attending the tournament in her home town to watch her sister play and was happy to help the Columba team.
Turnbull jumped on the plane with the team and they all met Doar in Whangarei. It was a 32-team tournament which involved the Federation Cup and Marie Fry Cup.
Columba started the tournament slowly and was relegated to the 16-team Marie Fry Cup bottom section. The side’s motto was not to finish in the bottom six teams, which are relegated to a second-tier tournament next year.But the side played above itself and won through to the semifinals. Tied at 1-1, the semifinal went to extra time and, as players were dropped off, Orewa College managed to score the winner with five players from each team left on the turf.
The side played Wairarapa College in the third-fourth playoff and again it went to extra time. But this time, the side came out on top, striker Jorja Dinan getting the winner.
Turnbull said after all the adversity it was a great way to finish.
"Our defence had really played above itself. Many of the teams praised the defence for how well they played. "Lots of the girls had never won a medal so it was great to win one. Just great resilience from the girls."
