Eastland super vets heading south

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

An Eastland team will be in Hawke’s Bay this weekend for the first round of the Badminton New Zealand super veterans’ inter-association Division 2 competition.

Last year the competition was affected by Covid-19 and illness among players.

Although no teams pulled out of the competition, it was a challenge finding replacement players when changes had to be made.

This year the draw had just been completed when Cyclone Gabrielle hit.

Thanks to Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti cyclone funding, the super veterans’ team from Badminton Eastland will compete at the Meeanee Hall tomorrow.

Ties will be played in two locations. Teams taking part in Auckland are Auckland 2 and 3, Hutt Valley, North Harbour, Northland and Waitakere 3.

Teams playing in Hawke’s Bay are Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty, Eastland, Oroua and Waikato.

Eastland will play Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay.

Eastland finished in seventh place last year. Bay of Plenty were third and Hawke’s Bay sixth, although Eastland did defeat Hawke’s Bay five matches to four.

The Eastland team members are Ron Prebble, Alan Ledger, Sheree Gray, Annabelle Riwaka, Ruth Ledger, Ra Leach and non-playing reserve Linda White, all from Patutahi Badminton Club, along with regular on-loan player Matheus Batlajeri, from Manawatu, and Phil Carter from Hawke’s Bay. Kevin Lee, of Gisborne Badminton Club, is unavailable.

Gray returns to competitive badminton, having last played for the team in 2019.

All other team members played for Eastland some time during 2022.

Fitness levels could be better, but players are excited to be competing against teams of similar age and experience.