On Sunday 17th March I had the pleasure of driving nine very excited girls to Wellington for the 2024 Futsal Nationals.

After finishing 7th in 2023 and with a relatively young team this year, the girls were hoping to maintain their place in the Top 8. 

Day One started off with a 4-1 win over Wellington College. The coach and players were a little disappointed with the result as everyone felt more goals should have been scored. Goals and goal difference are always vital as only the top team from each of the eight pools goes through to the quarter finals. The second game of the day resulted in a 0-0 draw with John Paul College. Reflecting after the match, the team and coach were relatively happy as no goals were conceded to a very strong opposition.

Day Two started with an early 8am game against Marlborough College. The girls knew they needed a big win to improve their goal difference. They were hoping that John Paul College drew or didn’t score many goals in their game, as HGHS were four goals behind them on goal difference. The girls did their part and won the game 7-1. With some quick maths by the coaching team the team realised they would qualify top of the pool by ONE goal! 

Our quarterfinal later that day was against Papanui High school. The girls dug deep with some very tired legs and drew the game 2-2. This meant straight to a penalty shootout which the girls managed to win convincingly, nailing all their penalty kicks! The sense of excitement was very high as the girls and support team were stoked they had made the Top 4! The third and final game of the day was a semi-final against Napier Girls' High school. The girls gave it their all but eventually lost 3-2. 

The last game of the tournament the next day was playoff for 3rd and 4th in the country. The girls came up just short and lost 2-1 to Wellington East College, a very talented side and winners of the tournament for the previous two years. 

It was an awesome few days away. Plans are already being made for Nationals 2025 as we continue to strengthen the Futsal programme here at HGHS. Thanks to coach Wes Hendricks and assistant Dylan, manager Zoey Milne, the Sports Department for organising the trip and to all the parents of the players for your support. Looking forward to Nationals 2025!