Late principal understood the role of sport in pupils' lives

These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association, which is proudly sponsored by Perpetual Guardian.

Kavanagh College

Tribute to Tracy O'Brien from Michael Mackenzie, director of sport.

I thought this week I would not talk about sport. Instead, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to my principal, Tracy O'Brien, who died very suddenly recently. As I look out my office window there is a gap in the principal's car park, instead taken up by some flowers. I always knew when Tracy was in when I saw his red Mazda parked up where it should be.

Tracy was a very supportive principal when it came to sport. He understood sport plays a big part in pupils' lives. He was a keen sports fan himself, especially rugby and fishing, and he often talked about his big fishing trips back up north. Tracy was also a very respected member of the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association, of which he was chairman for five years. As Bishop Michael Dooley said at Tracy's memorial Mass, ''he was a man of the people'' and served our school values of respect, service, justice and truth very well. Tracy never turned away any pupils, as he was a firm believer in everyone deserves equal opportunity.

Eternal rest grant to him, Oh Lord

And may the perpetual light shine upon him.

Rest in peace, Tracy.You will be missed.

South Otago High School

The team of Keely Hill, Maddie Deacon, Ben Smart, Paris Skipper, Sam Stratford, William Casey, Jonty Sopp, Callum Maze, Keaun Owen, Kobe Thomson, Gemma Johnson, Tia Valli (c), Aimee Johnson, Blake Dodds and Ryan Soper competed valiantly in the mixed grade at the SISS touch championships in Christchurch on March 15-17.

Results on day one: 13-2 win Rolleston; 10-2 win Linwood; 4-4 draw Motueka; 8-0 win Riccarton. Day two: semifinal, 11-9 win against a tough Waimea, which came back towards the end. Final: 14-3 loss to Lincoln. This was a clinical game from Lincoln, whose set plays were second to none, and it deserved its second placing at nationals in December last year. Thank you to coaches Allan and Luc Thomson, who steered the team all weekend. The school is now looking forward to the national championships up in Rotorua in December.

Queen's High School

Pupils have had several opportunities to develop their leadership skills over the past few weeks. Eighteen girls attended the OSSSA and Sport Otago's student coaches workshop at the Edgar Centre. They had sessions on how to teach a skill, getting to know your athlete, planning a coaching session and sports injury and prevention. They also had a session with a coach in their selected sport.

Four of our senior pupils attended the sports leaders workshop hosted by OSSSA. This workshop included sharing best practice, planning an event and information about the big picture of sport in secondary schools.

Ten pupils supported the annual primary schools triathlon run by Sport Otago.

Nineteen pupils competed at the OSS athletics championships. Jodie Hyatt was the standout performer, placing in all four of her events. She was first in the under-16 100m, second in the long jump and third in the discus and shot put. The under-16 relay team finished second.

Nine pupils participated in Triathlon Otago training sessions and then competed in the short-course event at Macandrew Bay on March 17. For most, this was their first experience in a multisport event and all are keen to continue.

Teams have been busy competing in the Otago senior volleyball and Otago futsal tournaments, and the South Island satellite volleyball tournament, in which the senior team finished fifth.

Otago Boys' High School

It has been busy time for teams as they transition from summer sports programmes and prepare for winter sports. They have had terrific involvement in the summer sports, culminating in tournament week, and have produced some standout performances individually and as teams in many sports on a national level. The level of participation has grown in term one and winter registrations are looking very promising. This would not be possible without the tremendous commitment of volunteers, coaches, managers, parents and teachers in charge. The focus in the winter is to offer all boys quality programmes for all sports and help them to have a positive experience in the sporting environment, whether competitive or social. This starts with their coaches having an understanding of what the boys want and need and then the school providing the coaches with support in delivering this. A major focus is to transfer the school's values and associated behaviours from the classroom on to the sporting arena.

Mount Aspiring College

Summer tournament week resulted in some excellent performances around the country.

The highlight at the Maadi Cup regatta was the form of the novice girls crew of Hayley Ambrose, Ruby Boyd, Emily Findlay, Pipi Horan and coxswain Patrick Hartley, which claimed gold in the under-16 quad and silver in the under-15 quad.

Abby Fisher won the under-15 100m and 200m at the SISS athletics champs in Nelson, while Niamh Townsend was third in the under-14 100m. This follows the success of the under-15 girls team in breaking the 4x100m relay record at the Otago championships last month.

Leo Staufenberg finished an impressive fifth in the under-16 boys event at the New Zealand Schools triathlon champs in New Plymouth.

At the NZSS adventure racing champs in Cromwell, the senior boys team of Jack Findlay, Zach Smith, Laurie Watson and Campbell Wright won, while the senior mixed team was second. Earlier in the month, five teams competed in the the SISS adventure racing champs in Gore.

The school's mountain bikers continue to shine and 18 students competed at the South Island schools champs in Methven. Fiona Murray won the under-20 enduro and came second in the downhill, and Kalani Muirhead won the under-17 girls enduro and downhill events.

Five teams competed in the OSS futsal champs in Dunedin. The senior girls and boys were successful in the A divisions, as was the junior boys team.

Columba College

The school took part in in the annual sports exchange with John McGlashan College and St Andrews College in Christchurch last month. Columba was successful in touch, St Andrew's in tennis and, after a tight volleyball contest, St Andrew's was victorious to claim the exchange title.

Five teams took part in the summer sports week in Christchurch, the touch team winning its third consecutive South Island title.

The school attended a week-long national volleyball championship in Palmerston North. This is the biggest event on the secondary school calendar with six divisions and more than 160 teams competing.

The water polo team took part in the SISS competition in Christchurch.

Blue Mountain College

The junior kayaking team of Olivia Hughes, Sarah Harris and Sven Captijn finished second in the team slalom in the Southland Paddles Up slalom comp at Mavora last month.

Fifteen pupils competed at the OSS athletics competition last month. Liam Criglington finished second in the senior boys 1500m and Paige McIvor was third in the senior shot put. Joe Robertson was first in the under-16 discus and third in the javelin, while Caleb Stuart was first in the javelin and third in the discus. In the under-16 girls grade, Brylee Dawson was first in the javelin and Sydney Robertson second, while Cosima Hill was third in the under-15 girls javelin.

Five of these pupils travelled to Nelson to compete in the SISS athletics championships. Caleb Stuart excelled to gain first place in the under-16 boys javelin and was eighth in the discus.

Joe Robertson pushed himself to fifth in the under-16 boys discus and eighth in the javelin. In the under-16 girls javelin, Brylee Dawson-Tait was seventh and Sydney Robertson ninth.

In the under-19 boys, Liam Criglington had some tough competition placing 16th in the 1500m. Great achievement for all of these pupils to get to this stage of the competition.

Bayfield High School

Bayfield High School would like to congratulate Eva Hofmans. Eva finished second in the A final of the under-18 single sculls at the prestigious Maadi Cup.

Well done to the senior A girls volleyball team. It spent the week at the satellite tournament in Christchurch, where it finished second.

The senior A futsal team has just returned from the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Wellington. After being placed in a tough pool, the team finished 20th out of 38 teams.

The Otago athletics championships provided some great success for pupils. William Van Heezik won the under-14 boys hurdles. Emily McLennan finished second in the under-15 girls high jump and shot put and was third in the discus. Eliot Luna finished second in the senior boys triple jump and third in high jump. Eva Hofmans was third in both the senior girls long jump and hurdles. Tasman Charteris-Wright was third in the senior girls 800m and Josh Stoddart finished third in the under-14 boys shot put.

Bayfield crews won both the non-spinnaker gold division and non-spinnaker silver division in the SISS Sunburst sailing regatta. The third crew finished second in the silver division. Well done to Robbie Bevin, Emilia Haszard, Jack Campbell, Oliver Jones, Ben Caton and Tasman Charteris-Wright.

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