Hastings Girls' High School soccer players mix with their Selwyn College opponents from Auckland during their tournament in Wellington. Photo/Supplied
Hastings Girls' High School soccer players mix with their Selwyn College opponents from Auckland during their tournament in Wellington. Photo/Supplied
The week of September 3-8 is one full of excitement for many secondary school students as it is winter tournament week for most sports.
While the weeks leading up may be filled with exams and assignments once they hit the road, as most did on the Sunday afternoon, the nervousenergy starts to build. The staff all know that all the paperwork is done and some are as nervous as the students. Deep down all they are wanting is for their teams to perform well and display the values of the school.
Hastings Girls' High is no different in this regard. They sent away their best netball, basketball and soccer teams with the netball side competing at the Lower North Island tournament in New Plymouth, the basketball team at the Zone 3 Premiership tournament in Palmerston North and the soccer team at a tournament in Wellington.
The basketball team, which was coached by Dustin Sadler and his assistant Sina Au, finished third at their event where the top six qualified for the October 2-7 nationals in Palmerston North. This side has improved on its previous results at this tournament which is a real credit to the coaching staff and the determination of the players.
The Bob Morgan-coached soccer team played on artificial surfaces all week and it took the girls a few games to come to grips with the conditions. However they finished with a credible three wins, two draws and three losses against teams which have played on artificial surfaces regularly.
The Ina Jones-coached netballers lost to a strong Kapiti College team in the plate final. Asher Grapes and Liana Mikaele-Tu'u were named in the tournament team.
Last Friday all the teams returned home with some tired students, staff and parents. To a person, the feelings were of pride and achievement, while they may not have won the gold medals everyone concerned had seen some success. The learning from a week away at tournament is immeasurable, it really does teach people life skills which will stay with them forever.
So when the sports administrators were asked if all the behind the scenes paperwork and planning was worthwhile they replied: "Look at the smiles on the students' faces, how could it not be?" - Bob Morgan
