The Burnside High Senior Mixed Touch Team was formed late last year as a way for our Yr 13 students (Yr 12’s then) making it to their first ever NZ Secondary Schools' Tournament, held every year in Auckland in December.

The road to Nationals started with our first tournament where we qualified in the Canterbury Secondary Schools' Top 8, to make the Super Touch competition on Wednesday afternoons. The Mixed teams play in the same grade as the Boys' teams.

Our second tournament was the Canterbury Secondary Schools' Championships, where we would soon meet our rivals, Lincoln High School, who we would eventually lose to in the final.  Getting 2nd place still guaranteed us a spot at the South Island Secondary Schools' Championships a week later. First day of the tournament, we went undefeated before hitting a speed bump in the form of, yes.... the Lincoln High Mixed team, in the final on day two. We would go on to lose our second final against Lincoln, but.... we did it! We had qualified for Nationals in December, as the second- best school in the Mixed grade in the South Island!

Jump forward a few months, winter sports have finished, we are heading into our busy end of the Touch season in Term 4 and we get hit with the worst possible news...that we have lost 4 players for various reasons. Given the opportunity to pull out of attending Nationals, this team refused to hang up their boots, proving over the next few months to be the right decision. This team would go on to beat Papanui High Boys team, Lincoln High Mixed team,  Cashmere High Boys team,  Shirley Boys High team on our way to the final vs Christchurch Boys High. We would eventually lose 8-5, a fantastic result considering they are a team full of boys and we are a mixed team.

This Burnside High Mixed team is like any typical family, they argue, they nag, they have each other on, but in the end when it really matters, they play for each other, they work for each other and they have each other’s back. This team has come a very long way from the team that played its first game together in January. It’s a team that both Richard Bull (Manager) and I have enjoyed being a part of and we can't wait to take them away to Nationals and do their families, friends and Burnside High School proud.

Go The Cabbage!!!