2021... what a year for sport, a year of interruptions and cancellations, again…

Term 1 started a new, fresh season with trials and dreams become reality for many. Who knew what was lying ahead? Teams were selected, coaches and managers contacted before the season kicked off in Term 2.

In 2021, despite the consequences of 2020’s COVID ravaged year, we fielded 30 teams in the Waikato Secondary Schools Football Competition. Our depth of talent across the school contributes mostly to our achievements at the elite level at HBHS, so well done to all players for playing your part in our overall success.

The historic Referee’s Cup was back on this year. Unfortunately, the 1st XI could not defend their title (having won it in 2019 and the tournament did not take place in 2020), and did not make it out of their group. The chance for an HBHS team to win it was down to the young 2nd XI, who unfortunately came up short in the final.

With the mid-Term 3 interruption of COVID rearing its head again, all football plans were out on hold. The call was then made to cancel all high school tournaments, much to the frustration of many after the hours of preparation being put in, but mostly to those Year 13s in our 1st XI as they missed out on National Tournament the year before too. League play was halted, but we managed to fit in the last three games of the season before Term 3 ended, albeit with some defaults from COVID and examinations on at the time.

The annual five-a-side tournament was cancelled late in the year, again due to COVID rearing its head once more with Alert levels not allowing the running of one of the most fun and well attended football events in the country. Hopefully next year this can get back on track.

Our Referees Youth Academy continues to go from strength to strength. Waikato Referees Youth Co-Ordinator Nadia Browning comes to HBHS every Monday or Tuesday after school to tutor our boys in the art of refereeing. This year also saw an increase in the numbers attending futsal refereeing. Highlights must include Year 13 Fabian Scott now having refereed in the National Futsal League and in the Northern Premier League as an Assistant Referee. With a very healthy number of Year 9 and 10 students involved this year, the future looks bright for our refereeing ranks. A number of students are now at a stage where they can comfortably be involved in paid employment refereeing futsal games in summer and Youth Federation games in winter.

At the representative level, we have had Isaac Bates and Aiden Hemming selected for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Under 16 team, along with Lemuel Le Hane at the Under 19 level.

A special place in my thoughts needs to be acknowledged in our HBHS Football programme, and that is the massive effort and dedication shown by our student coaches. Mention must be made of the huge commitment from a number of our seniors; Kynan McCracken, Campbell Martin, Liam McCracken, James Havill, Callum Cameron, Keegan Parrish, Shaydon Govender, Eden Pundak, Ben Marsden, Sherif Hosni, Sam Ward, Reuben Carey, Thomas Spaans, Devon Collinson, Yash Kumar, Avitesh Singh, Ashish Chand, Anmol Dubey, Latham Magele, Keenan Howard, Ben Pruden, Alex Nielsen, Jobe-Ray Fitzgerald, Alex Pollock, Fuad Syed, Yasir Saifudeen Shemeena, and Ethan Cornforth. These 25 Year 13s have displayed service, given of themselves and helped pass on their own learnings to those who they coached. Thomas, Jobe-Ray, Alex, Fuad, Keegan and Yasir have all done this now for two years so another mention of recognition must go to those five individuals who have helped again.

Junior Report:

Thirteen junior teams participated throughout the region. Highlights included Sam Ward and Reuben Carey’s Junior Crimson finish second by a point in Division 3, Junior Steel coached by Mr Singh, Sherif Hosni and Ben Marsden came runners up in Division 2, whilst the Mr Marrow coached Year 10 A Colts team won the Junior Division 1, remaining unbeaten throughout the year. They saw off the challenge of the third placed Year 10 Colts B, coached by Old Boy Aizak Howell and the runners up Year 9 Colt A team coached by Old Boy Ben Dixon. Very pleasing to see a first, second and third place finish in the top Junior Division by HBHS in what bodes well for the future.

Year 10 Colts A Report:

The HBHS Year 10 Colts A team has done very well this year. In the local school league, the team has picked up maximum points beating every team convincingly. Throughout the league, the team has really stood up to become better people and teammates, with everyone competing against each other to be the best. We had an excellent coach in Mr Marrow who definitely got the best out of the boys which I know would have been a hard task.

Now to the exchanges. Overall, the team has done a great job beating one of our biggest opponents Auckland Grammar 8 - 0. Out of the four exchanges, we won two, lost one 2 - 1, and the other exchange winning 4 - 1. We were very disappointed with these results but were very determined to find out the teams that beat us were in our same pool for Nationals. The prep up to Nationals was intense but very good for us all to know each other better and keep improving on our weaknesses in our team. Sadly because of COVID, Nationals was cancelled but over this season it was a great team to be involved in and great to have a coach who could keep the team together through everything.

Compiled by Isaac Bates

Senior Report:

Our Senior Football programme continued to be as popular as ever, with 17 teams spread throughout 9 WSSFA divisions with the lone divisional winner of Senior Orange taking out Division 6. Our Senior White team finished second in Division 4, the Mr Salsano coached Year 11 Development team finished runners up in Division 2, seeing off the challenge of Mr Nixon’s Senior Bronze. Our 2nd XI came top of the bottom four of the Premier Division whilst our 1st XI came runners up in the Premier Division.

2nd XI Report:

Historically at HBHS there have been two Premier Senior Football teams, the 1st XI and the 2nd XI. This year I was given the opportunity to be a part of the 2nd XI, and I am proud to say I was appointed the 2021 Captain. This year's roster was widespread, featuring members from across all three senior years, so we knew it would be a good year, with players prepared to show they had what it took. As the only 2nd XI in the Premier Division, it is always tough, as Year 11s and 12s must face Year 12s and 13s in 1st XI squads, so for many in the team the 2nd XI is a chance to experience higher level football before transitioning into the 1st XI either in the following year or the one after. However, despite this, we made a good showing at the pre-season tournament, going undefeated until the final, drawing nil all and losing narrowly on penalties. When the season arrived, we knew teams no longer underestimated us, and as such we needed to step up our game. We did this immediately by beating the Hillcrest 1st XI 7 - 0  and establishing ourselves as a team not to be taken lightly. For the rest of the season, we fought valiantly, gaining multiple wins over rivals St Paul's 1st XI. However, a series of draws saw us placed into the bottom half of the Division, something we were disappointed in based on our start. However, my words to the boys, and any future 2nd XI members is that every victory you take against a 1st XI squad is momentous. You are younger and typically less experienced. Fight with passion, determination, and pride, and you will be amazed by the things you will achieve. This year we had many opportunities for trophies, however the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately affected the outcomes. We started the year by our narrow loss in the pre-season tournament but redeemed ourselves in the Knockout Cup. This year we fought many tough opponents, however, despite this, still made it into the Knockout Cup semi-final by beating our fellow HBHS teammates the 1st XI in a penalty shootout, with saves from goalkeeper Michael Moloney and goals from Mason Finlay, George Dixon, Charlie Holloway and Dakota Brady to seal the victory. Due to COVID-19, we were unfortunately unable to finish the tournament, with matches scheduled against the St Paul's 1st XI and assuming a win, the St John's 1st XI in the final, nor were we able to attend the National 2nd XI Tournament in New Plymouth. All in all, despite some setbacks and COVID-19 cancellations, this was a good year for the 2nd XI with significant wins and well fought draws, ultimately showing that you should never underestimate the HBHS 2nd XI just because we are the 2nd team. To my squad members; I am so proud of you. As your captain I am so proud of the things we have achieved as a team, and you have achieved as individuals. I look forward to keeping up with you all as you work hard to make it into the 1st XI as Year 12s, or as Year 13s. Keep up the good work and always remember that no matter what team you make, you must always show determination, heart, and most importantly pride for your school, your sport, and your teammates. To those who will make the 2nd XI in the coming years. Make sure you work harder and harder as the year goes on. Coaches are always watching. Show your skills, show you work hard, and opportunities will come during the year, or in the years that follow.

By Michael Moloney

1st XI Report:

The 2021 football season started off the usual way with early morning fitness sessions and trainings. After pre-season wins over St Kentigern, Rangitoto and New Plymouth, emotions were high throughout the team. We started off the season with the annual Referees Cup but unfortunately we were unable to qualify for the final after drawing 0 - 0 with St John’s, losing to eventual winners Cambridge High, and beating Hillcrest 5 - 0. We started the season off strong with a comfortable 7 - 0 win over St Paul’s Collegiate, with Year 11 Thomas Cave bagging a hat-trick in his first Premier League game. Our second league game was against main rivals St John’s. This game doubled for the Challenger Shield and the boys were up for it. After piling on the pressure and having chance after chance we found ourselves trailing 1 - 0 at the break. We came out strong and managed to draw level at 1 - 1. Unfortunately, failing to convert our earlier chances came back to haunt us and we ended up losing 3 - 1. We ended up bouncing back winning our next five league games in a row. Amongst these league games we also had annual exchanges against Auckland Grammar, New Plymouth Boys’ High and Tauranga Boys’ College. Due to last year's COVID-19 outbreak we were unable to play in these exchanges so the team was really looking forward to these games. In these games, we lost to Auckland Grammar, drew with New Plymouth and beat Tauranga and, with this 2 - 0 win over Tauranga, it also qualified us top of the region for Nationals later on in the year.

Our focus was now turned to our Super 8 Tournament. After coming runners up last season the team was eager to go one more and claim back that title. Our first game was against Gisborne Boys’ High School. Knowing two wins on Day 1 would see us book a spot in the top four we were eager to get that done. We came out strong, pinning Gisborne back on their 18-yard box but after relentless attacks for most of the first half we went into the break with the score locked at 0 - 0. However, we came out strong in the 2nd half sticking to our game plan and managed to find the back of the net in the dying minutes to take a 1 - 0 win and the 3 points. Our second game on Day 1 saw us come up against Hastings Boys’ High. We knew that all we needed was a win and we’d be into the top four. We wanted to leave everything out on the field. We did just that, scoring early and managing to see out the game to win 1 - 0 and book our spot in the top four. On Day 2 we had our last pool game against Tauranga Boys’. In a game that decided who topped the group, Tauranga came out strong wanting to take that top spot. We ended up losing the game meaning we finished second in the group and would face New Plymouth in the semi-final, in a rematch of last year's final. The team was fired up for the game and this was reflected on the field. We threw everything at them, having chance after chance, but like the story of our season, we were unable to convert. That was until young Oliver Campbell popped at the back post to score his first goal for the 1st XI and put us 1 - 0 up going into halftime. We knew that New Plymouth was not about to back down and that they would come out strong. After playing them twice earlier in the season we knew they had depth on their bench that they were going to use and this is what they did. After New Plymouth scored to level the game with only 15 minutes to play, the momentum shifted in their favour. They were able to find the back of the net once more and with little time on the clock we ended up losing 2 - 1, placing us into the play-off for third and fourth. We faced Palmerston North in this match and although we played some of our best football we were unable to score and ended up losing 1 - 0 meaning we placed fourth overall.

The tournament was a big learning curve for our team and with the league splitting into the top half and bottom half our attention was now back on the league. We needed three wins from three to secure the title but unfortunately, it didn’t start off how we hoped, losing 2 - 1 to Cambridge High. Unfortunately, we were not able to play for almost the next two months due to field closures and lockdown. As well as this due to lockdown we also had our National Tournament cancelled for the second year in a row. We returned from lockdown with only 2 games remaining and our first game was against St John's. In possibly our biggest game of the season in what was basically our “final” we knew a win would guarantee us the league. Perhaps the nerves got the better of us and we were put on the back foot and found ourselves trailing 3 - 0 at the break. With the league slowly slipping away from us we needed a big second half. We managed to pull a goal back but it was a little too late and we lost 3 - 1 meaning St John's were crowned winners. Our last game was against St Peter's Cambridge. It was a great last hit for our leaving Year 13s and we won 6 - 0 with every Year 13 having a hand in one of the goals. With this win we finished second in the league and our season had come to an end.

The team would like to say a massive thank you to coach Aaron Scott and manager Colin Taylor for managing and coaching the team. I would also like to acknowledge Captain Lemuel Le Hane for leading the team. To the boys returning next year I encourage you to go one better and to strive to do your very best at all times. It has been an honour to be the Captain of Football for 2021.

1st XI Report compiled by Kynan McCracken

And so overall, we won three championships in the Waikato competitions. We’ve been thankful to play in 2021, and whilst the future is never certain, we aim to continue to improve in many different ways in 2021. Of course, we thank the boys for representing the school with such pride, along with the coaches, managers and referees for making it all possible.

To those spreading their wings and leaving HBHS, please continue to play or be involved in the beautiful game. To those returning, gear up for more fun, more challenges and more football (we hope) as we look forward to 2022.

Mr Aaron Scott

Director of Football