Wairoa College joins Gisborne high school league

Gisborne Boys' High First XI captain Shai Avni tackles a Napier BHS player in a football match at the Rectory fields earlier this month. Napier won 5-3.

Four weeks into the revived Gisborne Football High School League, the six teams taking part each Wednesday will welcome Wairoa College into the fold today (Wednesday).

Gisborne Boys’ High School took on the organisation of the league following a weather-disrupted season last year.

Sebastian Itman, Boys’ High director of football, said he hoped Wairoa would travel to Gisborne for at least three games in the competition.

To avoid a bye, a joint GBHS Third XI/Junior C team will join forces with the GBHS Junior B team. Rolling subs are being used to give everyone a game, and a practice session will be run alongside the match to give the players – many of whom were new to football – as much time on the ball as possible.

The competition started on May 1 and teams have played three games. Last week’s programme was called off because of wet weather.

Lytton High School, a team of junior and senior players, are at the top of the table with three wins from three games. In second place are the Boys’ High Second XI.

Games start at 3.35pm and are 30 minutes each way with a 10-minute break. Teams must each provide a referee for half of the game.

Teams taking part so far have been Lytton High, Campion College, GBHS Second XI, GBHS Third XI/Junior C, GBHS Junior A and GBHS Junior B.

Itman said he would like to organise a challenge match between the winners of the high school league and the Boys’ High first 11, to be played in Term 3 to prepare the First XI for national tournaments week.

In the meantime, the First XI are taking part in qualifying games for the premier national high school competition.

Without any warm-up matches, they lost 5-3 to Napier Boys’ High at the Rectory ground on May 15. They were to play Lindisfarne College in Hastings on Tuesday last week, but rain caused a postponement. Their next game is against Taradale High School, in Taradale, on June 5 and the deferred game against Lindisfarne is set for June 18.

Itman is hoping the regular outside competition during Term 2 will give GBHS the match preparation they have lacked in previous Super 8 campaigns.

Another development is the entry of the GBHS Junior A team in division one of the Hawke’s Bay junior high school football league.

“Last Saturday they won back-to-back games in Hawke’s Bay,” Itman said.

“They beat Lindisfarne 1-0 at Lindisfarne and two hours later they beat Hastings Boys’ High School 6-0.”

Games have 35-minute halves, and the competition is running in terms 2 and 3 of the school year.

Itman said the Gisborne side would make five trips to Hawke’s Bay, playing two games in one day on each visit.

“That means we need to travel only five times instead of 10,” he said.

“It will be good preparation for the Hillsdene Junior Tournament in Week 7 of Term 3. In the past they have had only one or two exchange games in Term 3 before the tournament.”

At least six of the 14 boys in the squad had played together since they were about 10 and Gisborne Thistle player David Ure had always been their coach, Itman said.

They were Year 9 and Y10 students (in their first or second year of high school) and most were 13 or 14.

Itman said it had taken over two years to set up the new Boys’ High football structure, and it was possible only because of the support of the school’s staff, coaches and parent helpers.