First HGHS trip to head offshore since COVID, our touch team competed at the biggest secondary school tournament in the world.

It is really nice to be able to share our trip to Australia.

In the October holidays, we had the opportunity to take 17 girls to Australia to compete in the biggest Secondary School Tournament in the world. It had over 450 teams competing in a showcase of top level touch. For some of our group, this was not only the first time they had ever been on a plane but also the first time they had left NZ.

The first part of our trip included lots of training and we were lucky to get in touch expert, Tristan Mana, for a couple of sessions. We also got to play a warm up game against the Queensland Māori U16/U18 girls, this was a great opportunity for us to connect and share our culture with our Australian whānau.

We were fortunate to do many activities while we were there, visiting theme parks and even getting to experience Australian wildlife. Once we had exhausted all the theme parks it was time to get into the business end of the trip. We had a massive 4 days of touch coming up.

Our first game was played under lights and it was such a neat experience for our girls. They came out firing and were absolutely unstoppable during this game. Over the next couple of days we came up against some really good teams. Each game we improved and the girls became more confident. We were fortunate to make it into the top 16 playoffs. The first game was a nail-biter with us only just winning. The Top 8 game was a bit more comfortable, and we were happy with the win. Then it was time for the semi-final against Chancellor! This was such a great game, it was try for try and in the end we just ran out of time and Chancellor took the win. For us as a team we were so proud of making it into the Top 4. Our team had minimal preparation but have now  gained a lot of experience which will help them get ready for the NZSS Touch Nationals in December.

We would like to thank all our whānau that made it possible for us to travel, to experience the best touch and to gain lifelong memories.

Also like to thank Matua Toti for all his help with the build-up to our trip. Matua Toti and Whaea Frankie also wrote our new school haka which we performed while away. We felt proud to share our culture in Australia. Thank you to Aunty Poto, Whaea Pani, our amazing whānau, Michelle Samson, Carl Shepherd and Marina Ieremia for giving up their time to come along and be a part of our team.