Welcome to Sport at Cashmere High School for 2024. We are again excited about the year ahead and looking forward to cheering on all our Cashmere High students who get involved in the huge range of different sporting opportunities that are available. Term 1 is the busiest for the Sport Department with both summer and winter sports getting underway. The initial focus in the first few weeks of the term is getting our summer sports teams organised with weekly competitions beginning the week of Feb 19. Later this term winter sport registration and trials will be advertised through all our communication channels. At Cashmere we support the Sport NZ Balance is Better philosophy and actively encourage students to play lots of different sport throughout the year. For parents, the website has a huge pool of resources about youth sport and how we can all actively support students stay engaged and active during the teenage years. The best way to stay up to date with all things Cashmere Sport is through:

• Cashmere High Sport Facebook & Instagram page
• School notices (available on CHS Website)
• Sports Website – Sport on Offer page for individual sport links
• Cashmere Sport Office – noticeboard and help available

For anyone still unsure about how sport at Cashmere works please head to our FAQ page on the sports website. If you have any further questions please get in touch with the Sport Department.

Parent Involvement

With the increasing participation and number of opportunities we are heavily relying on parent and community support. The level of commitment varies from regular transport, management or coaching of teams. We are always looking to expand and love to hear from anyone that is keen to get involved with a sport this year. Equally, we are always very happy to hear from anyone that can support the sports progamme with financial support. Sponsorship or donations go towards improving the quality of our programmes or reduce barriers for some students unable to afford the often large costs involved. If you think you can help this year in any capacity please get in touch with Sport Director Michael Jones (jnm@cashmere.school.nz).

At the end of 2023 our Get2Go Adventure Racing team had an outstanding 5 days at the National Champs. Below is an overview of the event from team member Elise Brown:

Cashmere Junior Adventure Racers - National Champs!!

On the 3rd of December 2023, the Year 9 and 10 CHS adventure racing team of 8 (Katie Chin, Anna Wright, Greta Prince, Elsie Brown, Finn Groer, Silas Jones, AJ Williams, and Ben Coughlan) left for Tongariro National Park for the Get2Go Nationals. The Get2Go is a 5-day adventure race where the top 12 teams from across New Zealand compete in a series of physical and mental challenges.

The first 2 days consisted of 10 problem-solving activities including relays, bike skills, short races, rope climbing, and more. One highlight was a fire lighting challenge where teams ran a course to solve puzzles and gather fire lighting equipment, with the end goal of making an open fire and boiling a cup of water.

The next 2 days of competition were more physically based, with a multisport challenge, (kayaking, biking and running) and a full-day rogaine at the base of Mt Tongariro. The last event of the week was a running race, which had challenges at each checkpoint.

After a big week of racing, we managed to come away with the 1st-place trophy! It was an amazing week, and we had heaps of fun together as a team.

A huge thanks to Mr Bennett who spent endless hours organising the trip and running trainings.

To start 2024 we have also had notable success in rowing and beach volleyball.

Beach Volleyball – Cashmere had a large contingent of athletes involved in the NZSS Beach Volleyball championship held at Mt Maunganui. Cashmere was hosted at the marae of Mt Maunganui College and overall had a fantastic event. The standout result was in Div 1 Girls where Charlotte Grey & Roxy Murfin finished 2nd while Ethan & Isaac Rademaker finished 5th in a tough Boys Div 1 competition. Laura Smith & Louisa Chretien won the Div 2 title and completing the double were Travis Flectcher & Joseph Daniels who won the Div 2 title.

Rowing – To begin 2024 the Cashmere Rowing squad travelled to Twizel for rowing camp. A new addition to the squad was a new coach boat. This is an incredibly important asset for both safety of the rowers but also to allow coaches to give timely feedback. Cashmere Rowing is incredibly thankful to Ron Smith for donating the boat and it will be a valuable asset for years to come.

At the South Island Club Champs there were some great results to begin the season. Cashmere crews won gold in the U19 Girls Quad and for the third year in the row the U16 Girls Quad. Poppy Wyndham & Abbie Higgins won silver in the U19 Girls Pair and the U17 Girls Quad also finished 2nd. Alongside these outstanding results, our rowing novices were racing full days for the first time and these athletes have had huge improvement throughout the season.

Te Whare Rēhia (High Performance Centre)

Te Whare Rēhia has seen an exciting start to 2024 as we look to expand the ways students are utilising the facility. Sophie Glass, our Strength and Conditioning Coach, has been joined in the space by Hamish Sutherland who will be running Monday afternoon and Thursday morning sessions. With Sophie and Hamish, students now have more opportunities to access the space and make the most of free memberships and their expertise. Te Whare Rēhia will now also be open on Thursday mornings before the school day with Hamish for students wanting to make the most of their mornings. This year for Y11-13 students we are also running a High-Performance Program on Monday and Tuesday Mornings. These sessions will be aimed towards our higher-level athletes wanting to increase their athleticism in order to perform at higher levels in their chosen sports. Te Whare Rēhia is open after school for any Y11-13 students wanting to use any of the cardio or weights equipment. For junior athletes, our Physical Development Programme will run through Term 1-3 with age-appropriate small group sessions. For more information head to the Te Whare Rēhia tab on the Cashmere Sport page. 

Mr Michael Jones | Sports Director