KEY POINTS:
On land, water and just about everywhere in between, Hamilton Boys' High School names appeared at the top of many result sheets this year.
The Waikato school is, unreservedly, College Sports' school of the year.
From success in major rowing regattas in the first term right up to
last weekend when their first XI won cricket's Gillette Cup and the touch team took out that national championship, Hamilton BHS has been to the fore.
Like many of New Zealand's bigger schools, they operate an elite sports academy which offers the best coaching and encouragement from year nine onwards.
The coaching panel is a veritable who's who among New Zealand's best. Rowing is under the watchful eye of Glen Ross and Dave Thompson, Nigel Hotham and Todd Miller coach rugby, soccer is headed by Dave Edmondson, former Black Stick Hymie Gill is in charge of hockey, and former cricket international Chris Kuggeleijn looks after cricket.
Headmaster Susan Hassall has no doubt the academy plays a major role in her school's sporting success.
"It is quality coaches who make the difference," she said. "It is a privilege to work with people who are so committed to the values and vision of our school - to be the best we can be."
Hamilton BHS first rugby XV holds the Moascar Cup and were joint winners of the national title, drawing with De La Salle in a keenly fought final. They won the right to play in that four-team championship as winners of the Chiefs regional championship after winning the Waikato schools' crown.
They then had Kane Adams, Glenn Robertson, Aaron Kelly, Vince Elliott and Tawera Kerr-Barlow named as New Zealand representatives.
Their sevens team won the Condor national championship having Kylem O'Donnell, Adams and Kelly named in the national representative team.
Adams completed the hat-trick when he was selected for the New Zealand touch team with O'Donnell, Tim Kautai and Declan O'Donnell.
The touch team had the perfect finale to their season in which they earlier won the Waikato title and the Waikato/Bay of Plenty regional championship when they beat Orewa College in the national final last weekend.
On the water, the school's rowing programme produced outstanding results and were easy winners of the overall trophy at the New Zealand SS regatta where they won the big titles - the Maadi Cup (for under-18 boys eights) and the Springbok Shield (for under-18 boys fours).
They also won the under-18 pair, under-17 four, under-16 quad and the under-15 eights and fours.
Six of the school's rowers won selection in the New Zealand junior team who competed in Linz, Austria. Five of those rowers, Matt Cameron (cox), Andrew Healey, Isaac Holden, Ben Bullock and Jason Kitchin, were in the NZ junior eight who won silver at the Junior World Championships. Coxswain Taylor Bond has also been selected in the NZ junior four.
Coach Thompson was named Waikato SS regional coach of the year.
Led by Peter Bocock and Matt Thomas, who were named in the tournament team, Hamilton BHS beat Westlake BHS in last weekend's Gillette Cup final in Palmerston North.
The team was captained by Anrag Verma who won this year's Waikato Sportsman of the Year award and was a member of the New Zealand under-19 team who toured England in July and in the under-19 World Cup team in Malaysia.
The first XI play in the men's premier league and the second XI in the men's senior A competition, leaving the Development and Emerging XIs to play in the Waikato SS championship, with the latter taking that title.
Gill steered his hockey XI to victory in the India Shield competition in Dunedin while the first soccer XI won through to the final of the Lotto Sports premier championship in Napier where they lost 3-1 to MAGS in a keenly contested battle.
Elsewhere, Scott Creighton (under-16) and Blair Housie (under-17) finished first and third respectively at the NZSS individual road cycling championships at Mt Wellington; Raukura McGrath was selected in the New Zealand under-16 Waka Ama crew who finished third in the international final in San Francisco in July; the yachting team won the Burgess Trophy as the top team in the Waikato/Thames/Coromandel region; and the chess team of Sven Schubert,
Richard Dare, Zac Johnson and Bill Xu finished third at the NZSS chess nationals.
Hamilton BHS certainly had all the bases covered in an amazing sporting year and can deservedly count themselves as New Zealand's top sporting school.
This is the last College Sport this year. The first College Sport in 2009 will appear in February.
