On Sunday 28th August, our second XI hockey team travelled up to Taupō to compete in the prestigious Chris Arthur Cup tournament.

On Sunday 28th August, our second XI hockey team travelled up to Taupō to compete in the prestigious Chris Arthur Cup tournament. The tournament consists of the top second XI teams across the country, and we previously placed 9th pre covid in 2019. After placing 5th in our Christchurch SSL competition, the girls were looking to work hard and earn those semi-final spots that we narrowly missed out on in Christchurch.

Despite being ranked below our rivals Napier Girls’ High School and Whangarei Girls’ High School in our pool, this did not deter our team from our goal to make the top 2 of our pool. Our first game was against Whangarei Girls’, which we won convincingly, 3-0. We used this as motivation for our 5:30am wake-up the next day, to play on the turf at 8am against Napier Girls’. The early wake-up did not discourage the girls at all as we came away with a 5-0 win, winning our pool and earning a quarter-final place. The girls played exceedingly well as we played a strong team game and executed our offence well. Our quarter-final proved to be tough against a strong St Cuthberts side. Nonetheless, we took on the challenge of this game and had a strong 3-0 win, which was well earnt and an extremely competitive game from both sides.

In our semi-final, we faced our first Christchurch team of the tournament, which was St Margaret's College. After winning 1 and losing 1 against them in the Christchurch SSL competition, we knew this was going to be a tough game against the eventual winners of the tournament. We played our hardest, putting our all into this game, and were put on the back foot with an unlucky goal in the second quarter which we struggled to come back from. We eventually lost 2-0, which was extremely gutting for the girls and year 13s in the team, but we were immensely proud of the performance we put on. Emotions were high and the girls had put their all into the game, but we managed to move forward and focus on our last game.

Our 3rd place playoff on Friday was against a strong Diocesan Girls’ School team from Auckland. After colds, a game reflection and some team activities, the girls were motivated to get the bronze treats and end the tournament with a win. We were especially motivated to play for our year 13s who were playing their last game for Christchurch Girls' High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora. The girls started the game strong, with energy levels high and some great opportunities. We managed to score first, which boosted the girls’ confidence and spirit levels across the turf. Dio came back in the second half, levelling the game, and despite a strong dominance in possession, we were held off for the rest of the game, with the whistle blowing at 1-1. We proceeded to shootouts, starting strong with Zoe Trolove executing her shootout perfectly and Emma Keast also slotting hers away.

It turned out that these goals were all we needed, as our amazing goalie Caitlin Baker kept a clean cage for shootouts, and saved all four of Dio’s attempts to seal the bronze medal win for us. The girls were ecstatic to have come third at the top 2nd XI tournament in NZ and were extremely proud of our efforts over the week. We could not have done it without the amazing support, dedication and efforts of our coaching team, manager and supporting parents and sponsors. 

The girls had an awesome time exploring the natural hot springs of Taupo, Huka Falls, and Lake Taupo and playing some memorable hockey.