No garden leave for former stars

Time has not dulled the Old Boys or Girls skills as Wanganui Collegiate School formally opened its hockey turf with two all-star games on Saturday morning.

The sport, according to research and memory from former students, began at Collegiate in the 1950s when the vegetable garden was turned into a field as the school sort to create a winter sports alternative to rugby.

Since then, they have produced several top players on the national and international stage, and a number of them took to the turf in the men's and women's invitation games.

Former Black Sticks Michaela Curtis and Anna Symes, along with Symes' daughter Pip, a Junior Black Stick, played in the women's game which was a 3-3 draw.

In the men's game, Honours Tie recipient Ben Collier helped guide his Blue team to a 7-4 win over the Black team, which included fellow former Black Stick Hayden Shaw.

Black Stick Bridget Blackwood (36 caps) sent her apologies from Auckland where she had club commitments.

Spokeswoman Kathy Norman said she was delighted so many former and current Collegiate people took part or came out to watch.

"We've had some locals come along that don't even belong to Collegiate, but they've just come to watch a good game."

Collier showed all the skills throughout his match, including right up to the finish as he worked his way through the field and sent a perfect pass through the gap for the Blue strikers to wrap up the scoring.

It wasn't quite so smooth getting the scissors to cut through the ribbon at the game's conclusion to officially open the turf after two years, but Collier managed it all with a smile.

He was then able to watch his former Grey House win the 7-a-side inter-house tournament played on the turf that afternoon.