Another term of plenty of sporting highlights at GHS. Our students continue to achieve across all levels of competition and sport @ GHS has some exciting things coming up in the next few months. Most exciting is our new Gym which is well underway and we have been able to see what that space will look like as we move towards its completion date.

Summer sports are gearing up and we encourage all our students to get involved and keep physically active.

If you want to know more about sports at Geraldine High School check out our Facebook page, Geraldine High School Sport where we post results, notices and photos.

Sports Updates

Fees and Uniforms

Just a gentle reminder that fees for sporting events need to be paid and uniforms need to be returned asap.

Badminton

The sport of Badminton has taken a bit of a back seat this year with the gym being out of action however we still had a number of girls take part in the Aoraki Girls Badminton Champs. A great day of learning for the girls and we are looking forward to 2025 and our new gym to get this sport pumping.

Southern Cup Basketball

This year our Senior A Boys and Girls teams entered the Southern Cup Basketball tournament held in Ashburton during Winter Tournament week. This was a big step up for our teams but they rose to the occasion and performed outstandingly. Huge learning occurred for both our teams and it was awesome to watch how the students gained confidence and skills over the three days of play.

Huge thanks to coaches, Dave Taylor, Ross Ashley and Bri Ashley. Thanks also to Megan Muff and Michelle Cramond who were managers for the teams. We will be back in 2025 better and stronger.

Cycling

Kyra Marett has been in action again at the Southern Tour.

Kyra was 1st U20 girl overall bringing home the winner's yellow jersey winning two stages along the way. The Criterium, which was an NZ Schools Championship and hillclimb, was backed up by second places in both the time trial and road race. Kyra also took out the points title earning the Green Sprinters Jersey.

Hockey

This year GHS entered two teams into the South Canterbury Youth Grade competition. Geraldine Red was a newly formed team who played in Tier 2. As a team of Y9s playing in a Y9-13 competition, they came up against some pretty tough opponents. They came back fighting each week and developed hugely as a team.

Geraldine Black moved up to Tier 1 after winning the Tier 2 competition last year. This was quite a step up which saw them take some big losses for a shaky start to the season! They found their stride later on and showed great improvement in skill & confidence.

Members of both teams formed a 14-strong squad which took part in the Coaches Cup Tournament in Oamaru to round out Winter 2024. This was the first tournament for every player, with lots of hard games resulting in learnings for all, as well as plenty of fun off the field!

CAIMS Games

We had a Hockey and a Netball team enter in the CAIMS Games this year in Christchurch in August.

The Geraldine Goats (Year 7/8 Girls Hockey) attended the CAIMS tournament in Christchurch. This was a two day sports extravaganza which included hockey games against Cobham Intermediate, St Margarets, Rangiruru and VillaMaria. The girls represented Geraldine High School with pride and played some fantastic hockey against some very slick opposition. The Goats had to dig very deep for their final game, fatigued and injured they played without substitutes to hold Villa to a 2-3 score. This tournament was a highlight that capped off a great season of hockey for the Goats. For many of the girls it was their first season of hockey and the improvement they made was unreal. We're looking forward to next year already. Go the Goats!

Senior A Netball Team

What a season it's been! From the first whistle to the final buzzer, our team has shown incredible growth, resilience, and passion. We’ve faced challenges head-on and each game, whether a victory or a lesson, brought us closer together. The dedication at every training session, the determination on the court, and the unwavering support for one another have made this season unforgettable.

We started the season strong, getting a few wins under our belt as well as two small tournaments which helped us work with some combinations and plays. We had a series of losses which we navigated through and came out on top of the dip! We won the Riccarton exchange which got us back on track. We worked hard through the last round of the season which got us back on top of the table and into the Prem Plate Final. We fought very hard in the final but came short of the title to Waimate. But our work was not over as we had the SISS Tournament right around the corner. We had a top 5 finish in our hopes so we came into the tournament ready to work hard. The girls did amazingly well, winning 7 out of 8 games over the 4 days of games. We ended up playing for 3rd in the final which we won after a hard fight! Our final position of 3rd meant we were able to secure Geraldine’s stop in A grade next season! We had an amazing tournament, it was such a good way to finish off such a memorable season.

Thank you to our amazing coaches, committed supporters, and every single player for your hard work and commitment. We are so proud of our girls!

Rural Livestock Under 15 Rugby Tournament

This year's tournament was based in Prebbleton and consisted of 3 days of great rugby for our U15 Boys. There was a lot of learning and new experiences gained from participating in these games. The tournament is a South Island wide competition and gives our players an opportunity to be exposed to different schools, teams and styles of play. Our boys were competitive in many of their games showing plenty of determination, teamwork and skill putting together some positive passages of play. With a few boys new/returning back to rugby in the team it was exciting to see the progress they and the rest of the team made. It is an encouraging starting point moving into next season for when many move up to U16. Next season will see a good 6-8 players returning for a second year and along with new additions, we look forward to further developing our standard of rugby. The boys were very respectful and a pleasure to take away for a few days. Well done and a special thank you to all involved behind the scenes who helped us have this opportunity.

Trap Shooting

This year we had William Kaufman compete in the Aoraki Trap Shooting champs. This was a first for Geraldine High School. William had a great day of shooting and found the experience a valuable one. William did particularly well as it was a format of shooting he was not familiar with. Best of luck for 2025 William.

AIMS Games

Tyla Patterson was our sole representative at the AIMS Games this year. Tyla competed in the swimming at the games and came away with a number of PB’S. Top effort Tyla.

Football

GHS first 11 set off for the Linwood Cup Tournament 2024 in Invercargill on Sunday the 1st September with a bare-bones squad of thirteen, hoping to have enough players to make it to the last match and eager to test their metal against the bigger schools. The Linwood Cup tournament comprises twenty teams in four pools of five teams. Geraldine drew Pool B which consisted of three very strong teams and a daunting task ahead.

The first day of competition was a roller coaster with a 6-1 win in the morning followed by a 6-1 loss in the afternoon against Southland Boys who went on to progress to the final.

The wind and rain played a role in keeping things interesting for everyone including the tournament organisers who had to find alternative fields to play on and juggle fixtures.

Under the leadership of Team Captain Carlos Johnson (GHS Tournament MVP) and coach Paul Jonhson the team grew in confidence and a realisation they have what it takes.

Match three against Trident from Whakatāne was the pinnacle match for Geraldine of the Tournament. The Trident team were strong favourites for making the finals. Geraldine surprised everyone including themselves with a one-zero loss.

This result showed what the team was capable of and in the remaining three matches GHS were consistently competitive only losing by one or two goals and ending the tournament with a negative 4-goal difference over 6 matches.

Every player in the squad gave their all and enabled each other to play better football.

Notable performances from goalkeeper Logan Adams who caught the attention of opposition coaches for his reflexive saves and Asher Harmon Barnes who scored five goals in play plus a sixth goal in a penalty shootout in the final match. Jephthan John scored three goals and was awarded “Best Goal Celebration Moves”. Tournament MVP, Captain Carlos Johnson whose enthusiasm and dogged determination got the GHS first 11 to the tournament and inspired the team to play with heart and 100% commitment.

After a 5-year hiatus, GHS's first 11 are back and looking very promising. The team have one final fixture to play against mid-Canterbury in September before switching to spring and summer five-a-side football hosted by Geraldine Football Club. The 16-player squad are sad to farewell four experienced year 13 players but optimistic about recruiting another four keen students with a passion for football in 2025.

The team are hungry to return for another crack at the Linwood Cup. The future is bright for football at Geraldine High School.

A huge thanks to teachers Janet Harding and Kevin Weaver, parents of the squad, and especially Bridget and Ian Baker for all their hard work.

Riccarton Exchange

Our annual exchange with Riccarton High School took place in late July this year. We travelled to Riccarton with our Senior Boys and Girls Basketball teams, the First 11 Football team and the Senior A Netball team.

Great play throughout the day by all our teams with the Senior A Netball team and Senior A Girls Basketball team winning their games. This meant we were tied with Riccarton however when it came to the countback on points Riccarton came out on top. 2025 will be our year to cinch the title.

GHS Sports Committee

Our GHS Sports Committee held their first fundraiser for the year recently. It was a hypnotist evening and by all accounts this was a very successful night of entertainment. The committee will be deciding what to do with the funds raised at their next meeting.

Next on the horizon is a Golf tournament to be held later this year. Watch out on our FB page for more details about this event. Start getting your team together.

In this issue

Sports & Cultural Awards 2024