Let the board race begin . . .
WAIKANAE defended the Ralph Morse Shield with a comprehensive victory over traditional rivals Midway in the Gisborne senior championships at Midway Beach over the holiday weekend.
The Cory Hutchings-coached team ended Midway’s 16-year reign as top club last year by just one point. But there is a new breed rising at Waikanae and they helped accumulate 454 points to Midway’s 260, with Wainui third on 41.
The Waikanae performances earned “total respect” from surf lifesaving great Hutchings.
“There is a new culture at the club,” said Hutchings, who is in his fourth year as coach. “When I came here it seemed that finishing second to Midway was good enough . . . it’s not. And that’s a mark of respect we have for Midway, who have been the dominant club for so long.
“Now we have athletes training from 6 every morning who can’t wait to take on Midway and race against the likes of Olivia Corrin (New Zealand representative and Midway star). This latest group of kids are more ambitious. They want to win. They don’t want to settle for second and they have my total respect. A winning attitude is such an important ingredient.”
Hutchings, who will take a "small but competitive” squad to the national champs in Christchurch in five weeks, was also delighted with the Waikanae junior team, who were second overall to Midway — 470 points to 451 — in the junior champs.
“The club is growing in numbers and the good thing is the juniors see the seniors winning and they want to win. To get so close to Midway in the juniors says a lot for the culture we’re developing.”
Waikanae head coach Cory Hutchings said all his athletes “raced their bums off all weekend”.
'Turning seconds into first'“It was great to see them turning third places into seconds and seconds into first just because they had a never-give-up attitude,” he said. “I’m not going to single out anyone. They raced as individuals in a lot of events but they were racing for the club. I’m proud of everyone who competed.”
Hutchings said the re-emergence of Waikanae at senior and junior levels was good for Gisborne.
“Waikanae are in a rebuilding stage but once their juniors start coming through to the under-16, u19 and open divisions, Gisborne will have a strong team.
“Wainui don’t have the numbers to challenge us or Midway, but they have some talented juniors coming through, and if they continue in the sport they will add to the overall senior strength in the district.”
Under-10s 'giving it heaps'Waikanae juniors coach Callum Wilson congratulated Midway.
“They’ve worked really hard on their junior athletes and it showed on Saturday,” he said. “It was really pleasing to see our own young under-10 athletes pushing their boundaries and giving it heaps. For us, it’s all about kids getting amongst it at that age and not letting the anxiety of competition stop them from having a go. I was proud of our little clubbies . . . they were awesome.”
Midway head coach Matt Sutton admitted his club was “in a bit of a hole in the senior ranks at the moment”.
“There’s no getting away from that,” he said. “It’s something we’re working on and the positive thing is that Jared Phelps, with help from some really enthusiastic parents, is doing a great job with the juniors. The club is bubbling with talented juniors and Jared goes way beyond what is expected working with the juniors, which shows we are moving in the right direction.”
Sutton said Hutchings had done a good job changing the culture of his athletes.
“You could see it in the way they wanted to win.”
Wainui juniors co-coach Sonia Keepa was delighted with her charges.
“Overall it was an outstanding performance,” Keepa said.
“Apart from the u10s we had athletes on the overall podiums in every other age-group. The club ran a six-week training programme during the school holidays and all the hard work paid off. The programme allowed the kids to hone their skills and build confidence, all the while building a good team spirit. We’re building towards the Oceans champs in Mt Maunganui in three weeks.
“The local champs were a great preparation and we’re taking a team away this weekend to the eastern regional junior champs in Waihi as we continue the build-up to Oceans. Over 600 kids will compete in Waihi.”