Rotorua’s Madison Blues seniors march into 2023 with plenty of excitement and triumphs

Madison Blues seniors at the New Zealand Marching Championships. (From left): Tamara Hayward (coach/marcher), Cushla Heta, Renee Matcham, Dayna Holloway, Lauren Breen, Karen Bedingfield (coach), Alyssa Wikingi, Rangiatea Bockman and Ngawai Clendon.

Rotorua’s Madison Blues Marching Senior team has had an exciting start to the year, winning a national championship and preparing to showcase their skills in Australia.

Recently, the team marched at the New Zealand Marching Championships in Christchurch, and came away with first in the NZ Senior Champion Display category.

Coach Karen Bedingfield says they were ecstatic and over the moon with this result.

“It’s been a long time coming - Although Madison Blues has come close to winning a national championship this is the first time we can actually walk away with the title.”

She says at the nationals, there are qualifying rounds on the Friday, with the top six for each section - display and technical drill - competing again on the Saturday for the championship.

Karen says the team had been excited to get out there and do their best. The team of seven ranges in age from 14 to 37.

“We did get into the championships for our technical drill as well and placed sixth, which is still a great feat considering they were competing against teams that have 14 girls and have marched overseas.”

She says another highlight was the announcement that Marching Waikato, which Madison Blues is part of, is hosting the New Zealand Marching Championships next March in Hamilton.

And in other exciting news, the team have also been invited to perform in the inaugural Australia and New Zealand DrillDance and Marching Tattoo being held in the Gold Coast in July.

Karen says it is not a competition event, but is a showcase of some of the best marching teams from the two countries.

She says they found out in January that Madison Blues Seniors were invited to take part, after doing well in the North Island Championships in December.

The team was ecstatic about being given this opportunity and will be fundraising hard over the next few months, needing to raise $25,000 between now and end of June.

“It’s a great opportunity for the girls to go overseas and be part of a prestigious event, and to see how teams do things over there in Australia. It’s super-exciting.”

Madison Blues Seniors marcher Lauren Breen, 18, says winning first in NZ senior Champion Display had felt so surreal, and there were a lot of emotions.

She says they trained twice a week, sometimes three times, and in the three days leading up to competing at the nationals, they spent most of the day practicing.

“[At the nationals], I loved spending time with the team. Because this was my last year, I was very emotional. I was trying to take it all in and wanted us to do well, so winning was the icing on the top.”

Lauren says this was her last year as she has moved to Wellington for her studies at Victoria University. Her marching journey began at the age of nine.

When asked what it was she loved about marching, Lauren had many reasons.

She says she loves the friendships you make and that they last forever, and she didn’t think she would have travelled as much if she didn’t do marching. She also loves the competition of the sport.

Lauren says being invited to attend the Australia and New Zealand DrillDance and Marching Tattoo is an amazing opportunity.

“It was so crazy when we got invited. We’ve done so well, and it was so surreal”.

“I think it is going to be exciting to have a trip with the team - we are a very close team. I’m looking forward to spending time with them outside of marching and seeing what Australia’s marching is like, as it is very different.”

Madison Blues Seniors marcher Renee Matcham says the team’s result at the national championship was amazing and they all worked so hard to get there.

Renee says she has been out of marching for nearly 20 years, and this was her first season back.

She would have been seven years old when she started marching, and Renee marched for nearly 10 years before moving to Australia, where she stayed for nearly 20 years. She came back to Rotorua in July last year and rejoined Madison Blues Marching.

She says the team bonding during nationals was also a highlight.

“We got to know each other really well over the past season, and spending that time with the girls makes [for] a really cool friendship”.

Renee loves the challenge of marching, and the benefits it has for her physical health and wellbeing. It was also a great way to make new friends when she moved back to Rotorua.

She says being invited to the Australia and New Zealand DrillDance and Marching Tattoo was a massive achievement, and it was great to have the judges recognise the team for what it could do.

“To be there would be pretty amazing.”

“We are all very passionate about what we do, and love both the technical and fun sides of marching... it felt like everything about this team was working towards the same goal.”

Renee says she is very grateful for the coaches and managers, as they created the best environment for their team to grow, knowing when to push them and when to have fun.

“When our coaches level up, we level up.”

Rotorua’s Madison Blues Marching is celebrating its 21st birthday this year, and will be looking at recruiting again over next few months. For more information and contacts, go to www.sporty.co.nz/madisonblues.