The Hawke's Bay Junior Buckingham Guards marching in the National Championships in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied.
The Hawke's Bay Junior Buckingham Guards marching in the National Championships in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied.
Hawke's Bay's Buckingham Guards shone brightly in difficult circumstances in the Marching New Zealand Championships in Christchurch on Friday.
The junior team (under 12s) came second overall out of 66 teams in the championships, leaving coach Stacey Sime thrilled with their performance.
The nationals took place in Horncastle Stadium onFriday, which went into lockdown during the competition due the terror attacks.
Sime, who has been coaching for 20 years, said the girls remained calm throughout the ordeal, supported one another and staying focused throughout.
After getting multiple phone calls from concerned parents, she was able to share photos of the teams on their "Marching" Facebook page to show parents and caregivers that the teams were safe.
Sime said both the juniors and seniors took part in the competition and she was immensely proud of their performance.
"There's two phases in marching - the technical phase, which is marching to audio music and then there's the display which is a routine to enhance the performance."
"The under-12s had 22 teams in their grade, and we marched in the top six which was pretty cool and the seniors had 13 teams in their grade, I was just rapt to have them march in both championships."
"The juniors (under 12s) came second in display, second in technical and second in the overall championships."
Sime said it was a remarkable result for the team as they were fairly small compared to others with a total of 30 members.
The Hawke's Bay Senior Buckingham Guard team performing in the Marching Championships in Christchurch. Photo / Supplied.
Although marching was somewhat of a niche sport, it was one that gave the girls huge confidence and life skills, she said.
"The girls just love the friendships, they get to travel all around the country."
"There's also leisure marching which is what some of the older ladies participate in, it's not competitive and it's not judged. It's just good for all the ladies to get together and sometimes they come down and perform in our local competition."
