LEAD STORY - COLLEGE SPORT: Teams continue winning streak

Flaxmere College Badminton: Our badminton teams had a busy fortnight playing in the HBSS singles and doubles championships, as well as continuing on their winning way in the C Grade weekly competition. Sala Tangimama finished a creditable second place in the B-Grade singles and Vaeiva Crichton and Shontelle Roy won the C-Grade girls doubles tournament.
Basketball: The senior girls basketball team finished off a very successful season, beating league rivals Karamu High School by a 20-point margin. The junior girls' team placed first and the senior boys' team placed third in their grades.
1st XV vs Staff: On Thursday last week, Flaxmere College staff (plus some old boys) rugby team played in the annual fixture against the 1st XV. The game was a bruising encounter, especially for those staff closing in on 40. The staff team led 12 nil at the break, after some slick work from ex-Hawke's Bay representatives Eddie Hekenui, Dillon Solomon and ex Taranaki rep Jason Bright.
The second half posed problems for the staff team as lack of match practice and fitness started to take its toll. The 1st XV brought on fresh players and started to make inroads into the deficit. Rod Oli made a decisive break with five minutes to go, which led to a try in the corner, resulting in a narrow 15 to 13 victory to the 1st XV. Vaea Kaho was once again the standout player for the 1st XV who were led well by Martin Nicholson. The game was played in good spirits and reflects the strong and positive relationship that staff and students have at Flaxmere College. HB Co-ed U15 rugby tournament: Flaxmere College U15 rugby team played in the annual co-ed U15 rugby tournament at Carters Arms Park last Wednesday. In their first game the team lost to Wairoa College, who proved to have a much bigger forward pack and strong running No.8. They managed to pick themselves up for their second game against Karamu High School only two hours later. The result was a turnaround as they won 50-15. Contributing to the success were star players Oranga Harris and Fagan Wamoana who played second five and centre respectively. The tournament was a success and shows rugby is alive and well in the co-ed schools in Hawke's Bay. Thanks must go to Jonathan Mathews for organising the event. Hastings Boys' High
I sometimes explain to students here the folly of thinking of the short term, expecting instant results and instant rewards. This relates to our team, where many of these guys could have given up last year when we were being beaten sometimes by 40-50 points. I think this made our core players want to improve even more. Some did give up and some were detrimental to the group so had to be cut for the good of the team. We only expected excellence in and outside of school and if this was broken you were made to make up for your mistake (eg picking up rubbish after school, running sprints before practice), for degrading our team cohesiveness. We have a motto in our team: ``If a individual makes a mistake, it is the team's mistake'. What we mean by this is if you have a turnover in the game or miss a defensive assignment, it is the team's fault for not knowing our systems properly so you won't make the mistake. It is the same inside class or outside school. If mistakes are made in these areas it is a team error for not helping your teammate not make a right decision or not helping him do his homework. I think this made our core players want to improve even more. I congratulate these players on committing their time last year and in the Christmas holidays, with the hours spent training after school and sometimes on weekends to become the hardest working team in the school. Basketball is considered as a year round sport now with competitive high schools running their training programmes all year. So if you are not working hard, everyone else could be catching up or passing you. I think the success this year with our year 9 and 10 students making the Senior A final of the Hawke's Bay Division and most recently winning the Junior Premierships in New Plymouth is testimony to our hard work. _ Thomas Bartlett, head coach Team: Czebalos Smiler, Ravi Mani, Dion Mataira, TeRira Huirama, Manahera Kenrick, Kyne Tobin, Sean Leach, Garry Crawford. Assistant coach: Graham Takie. Coach: Thomas Bartlett. Results from the Junior Premiership Tournament in New Plymouth: bt Paraparumu College 82-61. Player of game: Manihera Kenrick _ 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, 6 points bt St Patrick's College 89-43. Player of game: Ravi Mani _ 5 steals & 32 points. bt Hutt Valley High 89-25. Player of game: Kyne Tobin _ 4 from 4 from 3pt range, 8 rebounds, 26 points. bt Wanganui High 67-35. Player of game: TeRira Huirama _ 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 14 points. bt New Plymouth 71-55. Top input off bench from Sean Leach and Garry Crawford. bt Palmerston North Boys 69-51. Top team effort. Grand final: bt Wellington College 68-62. Top scorer: Czebalos Smiler _ 25 points. Player of game: Dion Mataira _ Shut down their best player with his denial defence.