As the winter sports season draws to a close, the hottest spot in town has been Ōtepoti’s Ice Stadium, playing host to the 2022 Dunedin Schools’ Curling Championship. With Columba College teams taking part in both the Novice and Experienced grades, their ice-capades have entertained and enthralled over the course of the past 10 weeks.

The Novice team of Year 11s Evie Auchinvole, Hannah Hopkins, Tylah James and Catalina Nock (under the name ‘Broom Goes the Dynamite’) swept aside the competition during league play, finishing the regular season at the summit, with only one loss. The July holidays, followed by a bye week, slowed this momentum to a glacial crawl as they slipped out of title contention, losing to eventual champions Bayfield High School. Yet, rather than sending a chill up their collective spines, this cool crew regrouped, and romped to a well-deserved 3rd place finish in their first season of competitive curling, much to the delight of their hardy crew of supporters. Thanks must go to their unofficial yet oh-so-loyal sponsors, Wolf at the Door café, whose fine fare no doubt fueled their fast finishing.

The Year 13 team - Doves on Ice – looking to build on 2021’s Novice title-winning triumph, saw their season impacted by an assortment of winter ailments. A couple of early defaults made for a hard road in the Experienced grade; however, to their credit, the team of Maddie Anton, Maya Bromby, Ella Herbert and Isi Weston-Cooke persevered and continued to hone the skills they have learnt over the past three seasons – summed up eloquently by Maya’s observation that “every game is a fun game”. They are indeed to be commended for embodying the values of our college, as well as paving the way for others to follow in their frozen footsteps.