The for the first time, King’s High sent Lion’s Water Polo Team to Rotorua for the Div. 2 Secondary Schools Nationals. King’s were the only South Island team competing so all of the teams were a bit of an unknown to us.

The first rounds would determine whether King's went through to the top 8, with our first game against Hamilton Boys'. The team put them away 6-2. 

The second game was against Rangiototo who had spent time watching the King’s team, taking notes on strengths and weaknesses. . It was tied up 4 all going into the last quarter but after a horror 4th quarter, King's ended up losing to them 5-8.

 Our third game was against Auckland Grammar and with Hamilton Boys' beating Rangiototo, we needed to win this game to play in the quarter finals. The boys dominated throughout the game keeping just ahead of Grammar the entire game. The Lion’s were up by two in the fourth quarter but with a Grammar 5 meter, they pulled within 1. With 8 seconds on the clock, Grammar called a timeout. Their plan was to put the goalie at point, and it worked, he scored a quick shot to tie the game with 2 seconds left. Not enough time for King’s to get the ball and score. This put King’s out of the top 8. 

From there they had their sites on 9th. They played three teams which they handily put away coming away to win the plate final.

It was a great experience and the boys are looking forward to heading back in 2020 with even more determination to make the top 4.
A big thank you should go to Cameron Innes who has come back to coach the boys and Cynthia Matai who was the Assistant Manager.

Also a massive thank you for the financial assistance to help the team get to Rotorua from:
The King’s High School Student Council
The Southern Trust
Bendigo Valley Sport and Charity Foundation