Starting the year with a record six senior teams saw our school awarded a commendation award from Volleyball Waikato for our efforts in growing the game for our region. It didn’t stop there with more and more students getting involved in social or competitive competitions.

Coming off a successful end to the Junior season in 2020 saw more than half of our Senior A team coming to us fresh as seniors. The step up into the senior level was challenging for the boys as we played against some of the top players in New Zealand in our local competition. We came away with a respectable third in the Waikato Competition and placed sixth in our division at Nationals. Tahlor Cahill was named in the Waikato super seven for his prowess and size across the net.

Super 8 saw our boys headed off to Palmerston North. With a very young and inexperienced team, we battled in many games and in a very tight competition. Despite beating the eventual third place team, we placed sixth overall. Malachi Misa was named as the team MVP for the Super 8 tournament. The Senior Volleyball award deservingly went to Aki Tuivailala, voted by both his teammates and coaches.

Record numbers in the junior school saw us plan to enter eight teams into the Waikato Junior competition. However, with Level 2 restrictions and then the eventual Level 3 lockdown, we only saw our Junior A and B teams start their campaigns. Both teams competed well and made continual improvements in their few games played. The future of Volleyball at HBHS is certainly exciting!

HBHS was fortunate to have four boys named in the Waikato Under 17 Volleyball team to compete at the Interprovincial Championships in Wellington in June. Tamwi Metai, Keteitoga Inoke, Hikawera Puriri and Moses Mapa outplayed their ranking to come away fourth in New Zealand. This is an outstanding achievement given that 80% of the team are still also eligible for the Under 15 age group. Well done boys!

With large numbers of teams entering the Waikato competitions, this wouldn’t have been possible without the support of other staff and parents. First of all, thanks goes to Mrs Stoner, Ms Chambers, Mr Simmonds, Ms Te Kani, Heidi and Arama Puriri and Samantha Healey for their management of our senior teams. A special mention to Allen Inoke for his coaching of both the Senior B and Junior B teams. Another thanks goes to senior players Siokivaha Falekaono and Malachi Misa for their service during their volleyball career at HBHS, and Tahlor Cahill for his addition to and leadership of the team this year. Your energy and talent will surely be missed.