Steeped in 62 years of tradition and history, the much anticipated winter Quad Tournament with St. Margaret's College (ChCh), Craighead College (Timaru), St. Hilda's Collegiate and Columba College was held across Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th August in Dunedin.

Hosted by St. Hilda's Collegiate School this year, our top Netball, Hockey, Badminton and Debating teams gathered early on Monday morning for a chapel service and welcome ceremony to begin the two days of friendly competition between schools. Two days of exciting sporting match ups followed, with athletic skill, team spirit, camaraderie, and competition being showcased to the highest degree. 

Columba Senior A Netball began their exchange with a game against the formidable St. Margaret's College on Monday morning, going down 27-21, followed by a strong win against St. Hilda's Collegiate in the afternoon (39-29). Tuesday morning they played Craighead College, and after being rattled in the 3rd quarter they went on to win this match by a comfortable margin. These results placed Columba 2nd overall in the Netball. Well done Senior A!

The Columba Debating team consisting of Sophie Davies, Sophie Bowmar and Anise Maclean were very impressive over the two days of competition, winning all three of their debates with class and style. Their performances in the prepared, impromptu, and limited preparation debates against the participating schools resulted in Columba taking out the overall top spot, winning the debating for Columba College. Congratulations, girls!  

The Senior A Badminton team consisting of Keira Hollamby, Zoe Revell-Lynch, Eri Lovegrove, Mia Revell-Lynch and Oil Pathchotinont had a great day of competition winning against all three schools. Columba was too strong across the board for St. Hilda's and Craighead cleaning up both match ups with a 6-0 scoreline, and after some great individual games, Columba also came out as overall winners against St. Margaret's with a score of 4-2. Amazing results, Columba Badminton! Well done.  

It was a tough couple of days on the turf for the Columba First XI Hockey team, as they braved the icy conditions and played their hearts out against some top quality opposition. First up on Monday morning was St. Margaret's College, where after holding a 2-1 scoreline for the majority of the match, Columba went down 4-1 in the last few minutes. The afternoon presented another challenge against their local rivals St. Hilda's Collegiate, and despite some great hockey being played, St. Hilda's came out on top 3-0. The Hockey exchange finished up for Columba with a game against Craighead on the Tuesday morning. Craighead was leading 1-0 during the match, and with two further goals being scored in the dying minutes it ended up being an exciting finish for spectators. Unfortunately only one of the goals went the way of Columba, with Craighead taking out the win 2-1.  The Columba First XI team has another chance against St. Hilda's next week when they take on their Hilda's comrades in the local secondary school competition final! Good luck Columba First XI Hockey for this exciting challenge! 

After a wonderful few days of competition, friendship and fun, Columba College came out as joint winners with St. Margaret's College for winter quad exchange 2022! A fantastic result, which we are all very proud of. The Columba MVP's for the tournament were:

• Netball: Holly McRae
• Debating: Sophie Bowmar
• Badminton: Keira Hollamby
• Hockey: Amelia Francis 

Thank you to all the Columba team Coaches, Managers, teachers in charge, and supporters who gave up their time and energy to assist our teams across the exchange. We are eternally thankful for you ongoing support and encouragement. Congratulations, Columba!