Students from MGC, MBC & Bohally Intermediate participated in the Underwater Hockey Centrals Zone Secondary Schools Tournament.

The tournament is used as a qualifying tournament for schools' Nationals which will be held in Auckland later this year.  The five top teams from each grade receive an invitation to attend Nationals to compete for the top spot in their grade.

Five Marlborough Senior UWH players (2 MBC & 3 MGC), and Nayland and Waimea College players recently came together to form the Tasman Senior Composite team under the direction of coaches Bruno Brosnan and Marama Stanbridge-Brien, with Tracy Norton as team manager. Each week Marlborough players would travel over the hill to train with the Nelson group as they prepared for the tournament which was only weeks away. At the beginning it was hard.  At the outset, none of the players knew their own teammates or how they played. Our players would travel over after school every Thursday and in their own time on a Sunday.  After weeks of training and coaching the team slowly came together as a competitive unit to get on the planes headed for Wellington.

Our senior players were in for a tough start: they were drawn to compete against all the top senior teams from Wellington and Nelson on their first day, which saw them go down hard against many high-achieving players. The team improved with every struggle and set their eyes on the following day where they would take on the other half of their grade. The team was energised and ready to go on the second day, and they would finish strong with victories over Wellington College and Wellington High School B, as well as Hutt Valley High School. With two games left to play on the tournament's final day they won both and took 5th place in the senior open grade. Unfortunately, because it was a composite team, our seniors were unable to claim 5th place and receive an invitation to the school nationals; Wellington College B took their place.

Our Marlborough Junior team was made up of players from MGC (5), MBC (3) and Bohally (2). Richie Price and Bryan Bailey coached this team prior to the competition, and Ritchie traveled with the team along with manager Ank Mulder.

The young team traveled to Wellington with a lot of excitement and nervous feelings, but they played superbly and returned home after finishing 3rd in the junior open grade. Unfortunately, like their senior teammates, they were a composite team and unable to formally claim 3rd place. These young athletes showed incredible bravery and dedication by remaining focused throughout the competition.

The highlight of the weekend was the camaraderie and support the two teams shared throughout the tournament.

A very big thank you to the coaches and management team, of the composite teams, for all their hard work and dedication.  They moulded our groups of players into two very competitive teams, all of whom will be forever thankful for the experience.

MVP’S were Blake Barret for Tasman and Riley Friend for the Marlborough team.

The tournament costs were helped by support from a grant received from the Pelorus Trust.