Cullinane college sport

Cullinane sports co-ordinator Vaan Rauhina chats with the ki o rahi team he coaches.

The Sport Whanganui review of college sport continues, this week focusing on Cullinane College.

RUGBY
Cullinane U15 rugby side has had a solid unbeaten season winning 10 from 10 of its regular midweek games. The Sean Edmonds-coached heads into semi-final action today against Ruapehu in the Wanganui U15 midweek competition. A welcome addition to the team has been new French exchange student Meven Philippe. Meven has represented La Rochelle ASR U16 and College Jean Guiton. Meven was a member of the winning U16 College Jean Guiton side that won the national U16 title in France 2015.

FOOTBALL
For the 2017 football season, Cullinane College and Rivercity Football Club have joined forces to field a 13/14th grade team in the local league competition run by Central Football, with help from a youth Athletic player Seth Haakma as coach.

The team is a mixed bag with, in addition to the Cullinane students, players coming from the wider community, including the local Home Educators community.

Some players have a few years of football behind them, and others have never played in a team before, so started the season with plenty to build on. Results have been mixed, but the team has become stronger over the course of the season, as the players have gelled together as a team and found their strengths as individuals.

"I've been particularly impressed with the commitment of the students and of the parents," manager Cattyhy Norris said.

"We always have a good turnout at training and it's so lovely to have supportive parents on the side-line of each game. We are proud to have three boys in the team who have made it into the Whanganui 14th grade boys representative team, Liam Hughes, Jet Norris and Troy Rea."

HOCKEY
It's been an interesting and challenging season thus far for Cullinane Hockey.

"It's been great to have a few new players in the mix this year, and to see everyone welcome them with such enthusiasm," coach Petra Fleming said.

"Observing the seniors in the team stepping up in terms of leadership and role modeling is a testament to their character, and the community is blessed to have young people such as them.

"Although we haven't been successful in terms of winning games so far, we are definitely improving and finding our groove. The successes we are having are more about giving all our energy and supporting one another no matter the outcome. I look forward to further improvements and hopefully a few wins."

NETBALL
The 2017 year for our netball 'A' team at Cullinane College has been about rebuilding the team, culture, commitment and purpose.

"The school focus has been to build and strengthen the team and work towards the 2017 Lower North Island Secondary Schools Netball Competition (LNISS) in New Plymouth," coach Te Ora Nyman said.

"At the start of the year we decided that there would be a change in the trials. Y9-Y13. We wanted to ensure that all the girls were given an opportunity to trial for the top team, to develop and improve on skills, commitment and attitude. So we changed from Senior A1, A2, Junior A1, A2 to A, B, C, and D. Both the top A and B teams have a mixture of year group from Y9 to Y12.

"Currently we are playing in the Premier 2 competition on a Saturday afternoon and placed second in the grade to date. We have started training three mornings a week in the school gym to help prep us for LNISS. I would also like to make a special mention to the girls who made the Whanganui representation teams for 2017.

"Shannah Andrews (U17), Talitua Leo (U15 Blue), Te Whetu Matthews (U15 Blue), Maze Koro-Thompson (U15 Blue), Molly Bullock (U15 White), Agia Leo (U15 Development Black).

"For a small school we are playing and progressing well. We will continue to work hard as the season comes to an end and are all looking forward to the challenge ahead of us at LNISS," Nyman said.

UP-AND-COMING
Amorangi Rayner (Year 9) and Dante Karangaroa (Year 13) will be competing at the New Zealand Secondary School Weight Lifting Championships in Wellington on August 20.

Also, the Cullinane Premier netball team will compete at the lower North Island Secondary School Netball Tournament in New Plymouth, while the school's premier basketball team will travel to Tauranga to compete in the 'A' Premierships during Winter Tournament Week.