We love seeing the students of John Paul out there representing our school so well, it’s great to see so many people giving sport a go and getting involved.

Basketball

A great start to the B and C grade teams so far, with our 6 JPII teams on the court it’s hard to miss the waves of Maroon taking over. Our C-grade teams, Marist and Mercy, are in a tight competition with the GHS Lakers each week to see who can come out on top - the teams play in a series of mini-games each week. The Saints, who are playing in the women's B-grade had a tough game against GHS Kowhai. Both teams came out roaring, with a strong determination to win - it was a close game but ultimately the Saints held out and took the win.

We had a head to head clash in the B-Grade Secondary School league with the JPII Bishops going up against the JPII Cardinals. It was a great game to watch, with some great basketball being played - the Cardinals tried their hardest but ultimately the Bishops took the win on this one. We had the Jnr A Boys come up against the GHS Knicks - an absolutely fantastic game with the boys going board to board for a large chunk of the game. A riveting game with Jnr A Boys ultimately taking home the win. 

St. Thomas Basketball game.

On Tuesday 4th June, we had St. Thomas of Christchurch drove over for a friendly game of basketball against our Senior A Bishops and Junior A Deacons teams. Although the games didn’t work out in our favor, both teams played incredibly well and never stopped playing hard.

Badminton

On Thursday 9th May, the WCSS Badminton was in full swing. JPII had a boys and girls team to represent our school. The girls played in a round robin series, where they played each team once and the winner was decided by overall points. There were two boys pools with a round robin occuring in each of those before crossovers between the pools. I think we may have some future professional badminton players because both teams did amazing. It was a fantastic day with some great competition and outstanding games of badminton. In the end the girls managed to snag 3rd place after SWAS in 1st and WHS A in 2nd. The boys took 5th place after some tough games with SWAS A taking out the top of the boys grade.

Rugby

1st XV

On Wednesday 15th May, we had JPII join with GHS to create a 1st XV team who played against Westland High School in the first round of the Brockbank Graves Rugby. The boys had a tough start to the game with WHS scoring in the first 5 minutes of the game - however this didn’t deter the boys as they responded with a try of their own soon after.

With a final score of 17-38 to WHS

On Wednesday the 22nd May, the boys traveled to Christchurch to take on Papanui on their home grounds. It was a gray and gloomy day, with only 14 players the boys had a tough game ahead of them, but they didn’t let that dampen their spirits. Papanui, a solid side with a full bench, came out swinging. We managed to hold them back for a little while, but they took a good run on us and put a try on the board. It was a tough first half, finishing it off with a 29-0 lead. The score didn’t matter to the boys because they came back out ready to play again. A penalty try given in the early stages of the second half gave the men some momentum, they played solid defense and were jumping on every ball. Papanui had a strong and rough defensive line but a runaway try by Harvey took the boys to double digits. Papanui managed to score a few more tries on us, but ultimately the GHS/JPII combined team played fantastic and kept their heads high the whole game.

End score: GHS/JPII 14 - Papanui 55

On Wednesday 5th June, the combined team played a home game at John Sturgeon park against Rangiora High School. A fantastic show of rugby was on display with both teams keeping the score neck and neck throughout the game. There were mere points in it at half time, with both teams with 3 tries on the board, the boys were in for a solid second half. They powered through with some strong attacking and a good backline to score 4 tries in the second half, Rangiora unfortunately decided to do the same. It was all in all a fantastic nail biting game with Rangiora coming out on top. Great job team!

End score: GHS/JPII 41 - Rangiora 45

Girls

We had our first game of girls rugby on Wednesday 22nd May. A combined team made up of students from WHS/GHS/JPII who took on Buller High School down at Marist Field here in greymouth. It was the first time the girls had played together but that didn’t let that stop them from going out and playing some fantastic rugby. An outstanding amount of teamwork and skill shown, which was reflected by the final score

End score: Combined WC 95 - Buller 15

Cross Country

WCSS cross country took place at the Kumara RaceCourse on the 21st of May, we had four participants in this event. It was a stunning day out a Kumara and with the primary school events happening at the same time, there was a vibrant atmosphere all around. We are still waiting on results but congrats to everyone that took place, you all ran hard and should be proud of yourselves!

We have Sam Bryan heading away to Christchurch to compete in Canterbury Cross Country on the 6th June - Good luck Sam!

Keep an eye out in the notices for any sports or events that are coming up. Email sport@Johnpaul.ac.nz to register your interest or ask any questions.