College Sport: St Kents opts out of A1 tennis comp

Photo / AP

Defending Auckland senior champions withdraw from tournament saying competition not strong enough.

Auckland's top tennis school has taken the unprecedented action of withdrawing its top boys and girls teams from the secondary school competition.

St Kentigern College is the defending Auckland champion in both the boys and girls senior A1 grades but will not be repeating last year's feats after withdrawing just a week out from the start of the season last month.

St Kent's director of sport Martin Piaggi says the school wanted two teams in each of the A1 senior grades as it had the depth and wanted the competition to be a true premier competition, as opposed to one where the weaker teams are easily crushed. The tennis academy, one of the few fully established in the country, is headed by Peter Langsford.

St Kent's did enter a second girls' team in the 2013 A1 grade, but that was a dispensation to ensure an even number of sides, thus preventing byes. However, there are college sport regulations which permit only one premier team per school in all sports, barring water polo (where Auckland Grammar School and Sacred Heart College both field two premier sides in the boys' division).

"We totally appreciate there is a rule that says if there are the right number of teams wanting to enter a competition, then each school is only allowed one team in the premiers. We accept that, but what we are saying is there aren't enough teams of quality to play in that premier grade," Piaggi said.

"It's not an easy decision to make because our kids want to pull on the blue and white, but when we sat down with the kids, they said they didn't want to get out of bed at 7.30am on a Saturday, drive halfway across Auckland and the game is finished in 20 minutes because the opposition is not [up to it]. It's not a premier competition."

President of the Auckland Secondary Schools Tennis Association Barry Schmidt, of Auckland Grammar, is disappointed no one from St Kent's contacted him to say they were looking at this drastic course of action.

"They are trying to make a statement here and force the issue. It denigrates our competition to have the strongest school pulling away and spitting the dummy like that because they think they're too good," says Schmidt.

He feels St Kent's is a victim of its own success, building so much depth in its tennis ranks that it does not know how to handle that within the schools' tennis structure.

Schmidt wonders whether there needs to be change to the constitution so that schools that don't play in the Auckland competition forfeit the right to play in national tournaments, as is the case with soccer. St Kent's players are free to enter the March 24-27 tennis nationals in Albany.

While the matter is before the Auckland Secondary Schools Heads Association board, there seems little it can do to sanction St Kent's. As it stands, there are six A1 boys' teams and seven A1 girls' sides, all now keen to win a championship which may have previously been beyond them.

Triathlon

Auckland SS championships (St Kentigern College):
Junior girls: Kendall Vaughan (St Cuthbert's College) 1, Megan Greensmith (St Cuthbert's) 2, Charlotte Carter (Baradene College) 3
Intermediate girls: Katherine Badham (Takapuna Grammar School) 1, Rose Dillon (Diocesan School for Girls) 2, Fowler Estafana (Baradene) 3
Senior girls: Alana Lythe (Westlake Girls' High School) 1, Tessa McNair (Takapuna Grammar School) 2, Madeline Evans (St Kentigern College) 3
Junior boys: Dylan McCullough (St Kentigern) 1, Adam McPheat (Takapuna Grammar) 2, Ryan Church (St Kentigern) 3
Intermediate boys: Daniel Hoy (Westlake Boys' High School) 1, Trent Dodds (Macleans College) 2, Moreau Alexander (Auckland Grammar) 3
Senior boys: Leo Roper (Macleans) 1, Matthew Roets (Westlake) 2, Joshua Chapman (St Kentigern) 3
Teams events:
Junior boys: Rangitoto College 1; Intermediate boys: Sacred Heart College 1, Sacred Heart 2, Avondale College; Senior boys: Macleans 1
Mixed, intermediate: Pinehurst School 1; Mixed, senior: Pinehurst 1, Pakuranga College 2, Pakuranga 3

Water polo

Premier boys championship: St Kentigern 5 Rangitoto 4; Sacred Heart Sharks 25 Kristin 2; AGS 1 5 Westlake Boys' 4
Premier boys plate: St Peter's 9 Sacred Heart Dolphins 9; MAGS 9 AGS 2 5
Premier girls championship: Rangitoto 6 Diocesan 5; EGGS 2 St Cuthbert's 1; Kristin 8 Westlake Girls' 8
Premier girls plate: Baradene 14 St Kentigern 2; Carmel 8 MAGS 3

Cricket

Premier boys A: RH Marryatt Cup final (Melville Park)
St Kentigern College 246/8 (James Ellis 100, Daniel Young 53; Will St John 3-23) defeated King's College 195 (Mitch Murray 43; Adityar Edekar 4-29, Sandeep Patel 3-34) by 51 runs

Two-day championship:
MAGS 327/8 (Jared Challis 88, James Michie 73, Aniket Parikh 73) St Kentigern 30/1
King's 101 (Scott Johnston 30, Healiss 3-19, Brett Bakkerus 2-3, Ross ter Braak 2-19) Westlake 74/5 (ter Braak 26 not out, Hamish McLean 4/24)
Sacred Heart 81 (Alex Cammell 4-5, J Curtis 3-13) Auckland Grammar 138/7 (H. Robb 31, M. Lobb 30)

Two-day plate:
Avondale 41 (Scott Martin 6-12, Niko Weerakoon 3-1) and 21/3 Rosmini 152 (Mirza 3/41)
Rangitoto 141 Kelston Boys 36/5
Liston 243 Macleans 61/3

Premier girls
White pool
St Kentigern 66/0 lost to St Cuthbert's College 70/1 by nine wickets; Diocesan beat Avondale (Natasha van Tilburg 82 not out)
Blue pool
Westlake 171/1 beat Mt Roskill Grammar 73/6 by 98 runs

Volleyball

Auckland SS senior championships (Trusts Stadium, Waitakere):
Division one boys: De La Salle 1, Rangitoto 2, Orewa 3
Division one girls: Orewa 1, Westlake 2, Rangitoto 3
Division two boys: Northcote 1, Long Bay 2, Southern Cross 3
Division two girls: Avondale 1, Lynfield 2, Elim Christian 3

Tennis

Senior boys A1: Sacred Heart beat Westlake 5-4, Rosmini beat MAGS 5-4; AGS beat King's 8-1
Senior girls A1: MAGS beat St Cuthbert's 5-4, EGGS beat Baradene 6-3, Diocesan v Carmel

Junior Boys A1/A2: St Kentigern beat King's 8-1, Macleans beat St Kentigern 6-3, Sacred Heart beat St Peter's 9-0
Junior Girls A1: St Cuthbert's beat Macleans 6-3

Intermediate Boys A1: Rosmini beat AGS 2 8-1, St Kentigern beat King's 7-2
Intermediate Girls A1: St Cuthbert's beat St Kentigern 7-2

Yachting

Auckland SS regatta:
Team placings: Auckland Grammar 1, Glendowie 2, Rangitoto 3, Takapuna Grammar 4, Westlake Boys' 5, Westlake Girls' 6, St Kentigern 7, Sacred Heart 8

Touch

Senior
Counties Zone Boys: Wesley 3 James Cook 1
Counties Zone Boys: James Cook Puutake 7 Alfriston 2 4; James Cook 3 Papakura 2; Alfriston 1 4 Manurewa 1; Wesley 5 Tangaroa 4
Counties Zone Girls: Alfriston 3 James Cook 0; Papakura 1 3 Tangaroa 3
Counties Zone Girls: James Cook Puutake 6 James Cook 0; Papakura 1 4 Alfriston 1
Counties Zone Mixed: Manurewa Mixed 6 Pukekohe Red 1; Rosehill default to Alfriston Mixed
Counties Zone Mixed: Alfriston Mixed 4 Manurewa Mixed 1; Tuakau 4 Pukekohe Red 4
Southern Zone Boys: Aorere 4 Southern Cross 4; De La Salle 3 Mangere 2; Otahuhu 13 Auck 7th Day Adv. 1; King's 14 Papatoetoe 2
Southern Zone Boys: King's 10 Auck 7th Day Adv. 1; De La Salle 6 Papatoetoe 2; Mangere 7 Aorere 3; Otahuhu 8 Southern Cross 1
Southern Zone Girls: Auck 7th Day Adv. 3 Papatoetoe 2; Otahuhu 7 Mangere 0; Aorere 5 Southern Cross A 1
Southern Zone Mixed: Mangere 7 Southern Cross 2
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool A: Botany Downs 1 4 Pakuranga Mixed 4
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool A: Edgewater default to Sacred Heart A; Edgewater default to Botany Downs 1
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool B: Tamaki 3 Sacred Heart B 2
Eastern Zone Boys A Grade Pool B: Macleans Mixed 7 Pakuranga 2
Eastern Zone Boys B Grade Play offs: Howick Red 4 Sacred Heart C 3; Howick Blue 8 Selwyn 0; One Tree Hill White 5 Glendowie 0; Saint Kentigern Snr A 6 Saint Kentigern Snr B 4
Eastern Zone Girls A Grade Playoffs: Sancta Maria 6 Saint Kentigern Snr A 0; Saint Kentigern Prem A 17 Pakuranga 0; One Tree Hill 4 Macleans 3; Botany Downs 1 11 Botany Downs 2 2
Eastern Zone Girls B Grade: Glendowie 2 Saint Kentigern Snr C 0; Saint Kentigern Snr B 9 Botany Downs 3 0
Central Zone Girls A Grade Play offs: MAGS 11 Onehunga 0; Baradene 4 Diocesan A 3; AGGS A 2 EGGS 0; Marist 5 St Cuthbert's A 2
Central Zone Girls B Grade: St Mary's Red 9 Baradene C 1
Central Zone Girls B Grade: Baradene C 10 St Cuthbert's B 1; Lynfield 12 Marist Gold 2; AGGS B default to Baradene B
Central Zone Boys A Grade: MAGS 9 St Peter's B 2
Central Zone Boys A Grade: St Peter's A 8 Dilworth A 6; MAGS 5 Onehunga A 2; St Paul's 5 Dilworth A 2
Central Zone Boys B Grade: Dilworth B 9 St Peter's C 3; Dilworth C 4 Lynfield 2
Central Zone Mixed: MAGS 10 MRGS 2; Western Springs 9 Marcellin A 0
Western Zone Boys: Massey 1 8 Avondale A 0
Western Zone Girls Pool A: Avondale A 6 St Dominic's 1 0
Western Zone Girls Pool B: Waitakere 6 Avondale B 1
North Harbour Boys A Grade: Westlake Boys B 6 Mahurangi 2; Westlake Boys A 11 Orewa 1
North Harbour Boys A Grade: Rosmini 3 Westlake Boys B 0; Orewa 4 Mahurangi 1
North Harbour Boys B Grade: Hato Petera 6 Northcote 4; Takapuna 3 Birkenhead 1
North Harbour Girls A Grade: Westlake Girls A 8 Kristin 0; Whangaparaoa 7 Pinehurst 4; Rangitoto A 7 Mahurangi A 1
North Harbour Girls A Grade: Mahurangi A 8 Kristin 3
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A: Kristin Jade 6 Westlake Girls Gold (North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B) 0
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A: Kristin Jade 6 Hato Petera 1; Westlake Girls Green default to Westlake Girls White
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A: Westlake Girls Green default to Carmel Cruisers; Hato Petera 2 Westlake Girls White 1
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B: Westlake Girls Red 6 Rangitoto B 0
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B: Westlake Girls Red 9 Westlake Girls Black 0
North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool B: Kristin Jade (North Harbour Girls B Grade Pool A) 6 Westlake Girls Gold 0
North Harbour Mixed Grade Pool A: TKKM O Te Raki Paewhenua A 10 Long Bay B 0; Kaipara 1 10 Birkenhead Blue 0
North Harbour Mixed Grade Pool B: Mahurangi A 11 Kaipara B 0; Orewa 17 Birkenhead White 0