These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual Guardian.
Cromwell College
The last couple of months have been action-packed, many pupils competing in representative teams.
Of particular note is the trio of Jordan Paranihi, Kamryn Reddy and Finn Farquharson. All three played for Otago in the 2019 Te Waipounamu Maori rugby tournamen hosted by Murihiku and involving about 500 players. The under-17 and under-20 players all stayed together and it was a special environment with the aim to unify the players culturally and strengthen their spirit. From this, Jordan was selected for the South Island under-17 Maori Wahine team, and Kamryn and Finn were selected for the under-17 South Island Tane team. Jordan and Kamryn were then named in the South Island Maori teams and Kamryn was named back of the year for the South Island Maori Tane team at the recent Otago Rugby awards.
Another great achievement was Oliver and Jack King’s 10th and 11th overall in their-age groups at the MTB Nationals in Dunedin. This is a great sibling rivalry that will continue for years.
Rowing duo Jordyn Robinson and Holly Dalzell have been named Cromwell College team of the year after much success at national level.
Bayfield High School
After a busy year, sport at Bayfield is finally starting to wind down.
Over the past weekend, three junior volleyball teams attended the Otago junior championships. While the teams did not place in the top spots, all had a great time.
Bayfield’s biggest showing at junior sports week has just taken place. Two boys teams contested dodgeball on Monday, the year 10s narrowly losing the final. Other popular sports over the week were 3x3 basketball, girls dodgeball, volleyball, touch, renegade hockey and indoor cricket. It was a fantastic chance for students to try their hand at new sports.
This week the junior A volleyball girls team is off to Christchurch for South Island championships. The team has been training hard and its fundamental skills have come a long way.
Kavanagh College
The end of another very busy year in sport was capped off by the year 9 and 10 junior tournament week in Dunedin on 18-22.
The school entered teams in handball, 3x3 basketball, volleyball and touch, winning both the girls and boys handball. It was also very competitive in the 3x3 basketball and volleyball. The junior girls touch also made it through to the final of the girls B grade before losing to Otago Girls’.
Year 10 pupil Pippa Sherriff and year 12 pupil Annalise Wilson have both recently been selected in the Otago women’s tennis team to play in Timaru.
Mount Aspiring College
Junior teams have been involved in various tournaments this term. The junior girls’ volleyball team competed in the OSS junior championships, winning the overall trophy for the first time.
Earlier this term, three year 9 and 10 teams competed in the Central Otago touch tournament in Queenstown, two teams placing second and third. The year 9 team went on to play at junior tournament week in Dunedin wher eit gained valuable playing experience. As a rural school, these tournaments offer the students unique opportunities to experience multi-day tournaments.
In 2019, students from MAC participated in more than 40 activities, broke 12 MAC sports records, celebrated 23 national champions and had 12 students represent New Zealand at international events.
Tokomairiro High School
Touch is well under way for the group of keen players. A junior mixed team of year 9 and 10 pupils playing in the Dunedin secondary schools competition on Tuesday nights at the Oval has a couple of wins under its belt. A promising year 7 and 8 team is playing in the South Otago competition on Thursday nights. Several pupils were selected for representative touch teams, Millar McElrea in the Otago under-16 boys team, Jon-Duncan McLeod and Jimmy Flannery in the Otago under-16 mixed team and Jenna Griffin in the South Otago under-16 girls team.
Four year 9 Tokomairiro boys joined forces with the year 9 South Otago High School cricket team in a knockout competition against Central Southland College in Balclutha in October. It was great to see these alliances forged so students can continue to play sport from smaller schools. Unfortunately, the team narrowly lost to Central Southland. Two boys are continuing to play on a Wednesday night for theSouth Otago junior cricket team.
Queen’s High School
Year 13 pupil Jessica Gill recently travelled to Auckland for the Netball New Zealand awards dinner and was presented with the youth volunteer of the year award. This was in recognition of the five years she has volunteered as a coach and umpire in the primary school sector. She not only coaches teams at Carisbrook and St Clair Primary Schools but also also runs a skills academy and umpires at senior level.
Year 9 pupil Janivah Moata’ane has been selected in the Otago under-16 touch team to play in the South Island tournaments later this year.
Year 9 and 10 pupils enjoyed participating in the OSSSA junior sports week. Teams played in the dodgeball, 3x3 basketball and volleyball competitions.
The annual House aquatics day involved pupils competing in novelty events, championship races and water skills assessments. The day concluded with hydro-sliding and leisure pool activities.
The year 9 and 10 volleyball teams competed in the Otago junior volleyball championships on November 15-16. The year 10 team lost a close final against Mount Aspiring College while the year nine team was seventh of 12 teams. The year 10 team is in Christchurch for the South Island junior championships.
