Here are current and upcoming sports notices and events.

Welcome to MAC Sport for 2023! Term 1 is a busy term with lots of fun sports events on, so make sure you keep up to date with all of the information through the school newsletter and the daily notices. If you ever have any questions come and see Ignacio (Head of Sport) and Claire (Sports Co-ordinator) in the Sports Hub (at the entrance to the gym) anytime. You can also contact us via email at sport@mtaspiring.school.nz

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

Good luck to our two Senior Volleyball teams who are competing in the Central Otago Secondary Schools Volleyball tournament for the next five weeks. They have been training hard with their coaches and are ready to hit the court! 

Sports Calendar: Term 1 2023

The term calendar is an overview of the sports events that are happening this term. If you have any questions about any upcoming events, please come and see Ignacio and Claire at the Sports Hub or email us at sport@mtaspiring.school.nz

Term 1

23 February-30 March: Central Otago Senior Volleyball competition - Thursday afternoon games (venues TBC)

5 March: SISS Triathlon/Duathlon Champs (Oamaru)

10 March: MAC Athletics Champs (MAC fields)

10-11 March: Otago Secondary Schools Athletics Champs (Dunedin)

10-12 March: SISS Rowing Champs (Twizel)

21 March: Upper Clutha Athletics Champs Year 7 and 8 (Wānaka)

23 March: MAC Downhill Mountain Bike Champs (Cardrona)

26 March: Otago Primary Schools Swimming Champs Year 7 and 8 (Dunedin)

27 March-2 April: MAADI Cup Rowing (Cambridge)

29 March: Central Otago Primary Schools Athletics Champs (Alexandra)

30 March: NZSS Triathlon Champs (Glendhu)

31 March-2 April: SISS Athletics Champs (Invercargill)

1 April: SISS Mountain Bike Champs (Coronet Peak)

4 April: Top Bike - Year 7 and 8 (venue TBC)

5 April: MAC Cross Country Mountain Bike Champs (Deans Bank)

Extra Info: The following websites / pages have detailed information regarding sport and competition the latest updates regarding school sport:

http://www.osssa.org.nz/ (Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association Inc.)

https://www.schoolsportnz.org.nz/ (School Sport New Zealand)

https://sportnz.org.nz/ (Sport New Zealand)

SPORTS NOTICES

CRICKET

Berber from Otago Country Cricket came to MAC on Tuesday to run the first session of the six week programme called Yeah!Girls. It is a free cricket programme being run on the school fields Tuesday lunchtimes 1:30pm - 2:15pm. It is open to all girls in the school from Year 7-13, and the sessions include fast-paced activities and games focused on having fun and being active with your friends. You don’t need to have played cricket before. 

It has already started, but if you would still like to join in, there is still some space. Please complete the registration form and turn up on Tuesday lunchtime. If you are keen to be involved in this great opportunity, please register via this link: https://www.playhq.com/new-zealand-cricket/register/264718

NETBALL : Pre-season Training

Year 7-10

Mt Aspiring Netball Club (MANC) are pleased to support the Net Skills Academy Pre-Season Training. This is the only netball pre-season training for years 7-10. MANC won’t be running separate training sessions for this age group. Sign up and have fun whilst learning skills from amazing coaches.

Link to registration form

https://forms.gle/iMGC7vYZ8qpsjK7M8

Year 11-13

Senior Pre-Season Training for Years 11-13.

Come on down to the MAC outdoor courts and get ready for the 2023 Netball Season. Bring lots of water, energy and a smile. Senior A and B coaches will be there to help out with sessions along with Paula from the Netball Smart Programme.

Mt Aspiring Netball Club (MANC) 2023 NETBALL REGISTRATIONS and TRIALS

The Mt Aspiring Netball Club has opened their registrations for the 2023 season. The club run all of the netball for our students, so if you want to play this year please sign up using the following link:https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/220851

Information for the MANC Netball Trials

Year 11-13 Thursday 9 March and Thursday 16 March. At Wanaka Rec Centre indoor court. Arrive 5.30pm to self warm up with Netball Smart Warm Up outside. Trials 6.00pm to 7.00pm.

Year 10 Thursday 9 March and Thursday 16 March. At Wanaka Rec Centre indoor court. Arrive 4.30pm to self warm up with Netball Smart Warm up outside. Trials 5.00pm to 6.00pm.

Year 9 Thursday 9 March and Thursday 16 March. At Wanaka Rec Centre. Arrive 3.30pm to self warm up outside with Netball Smart Warm Up. Trials 4.00pm to 5.00pm.

Year 8 Thursday 9 and 16 March. 3.30pm to 5.00pm. NOTE:  MAC School Outside Courts. We encourage all Year 8’s to attend.

Year 7 - no trials or selections.

SPORTS RESULTS

Challenge Wanaka Triathlon

Last week MAC had 106 students competing in the Challenge Wanaka Triathlon events at Glendhu Bay. The weather was absolutely stunning, which made for perfect race conditions. The Year 7 and 8’s were first up in the Intermediate Challenge and, with a mix of both iIndividual and team athletes, we had the field well covered. With a 200m swim, a 6km bike and a 2km run, they worked hard, supported their teammates, finished their races with big smiles and came away with some fabulous results.

Podium finishes were awarded to:

Year 7 Individual Boys:

2nd - Theo Taylor

3rd - Sam Taylor

Year 7 Individual Girls:

3rd - Fern Goodwin

Year 8 Individual Girls:

2nd - Eva Small

Year 7 Boys Teams:

1st - ‘Speedy Spurs’ - Charlie Whipp, Iz Letcher and Harper Norman

3rd - ‘Spider Pigs’ - Ford Mills, Sam Seville and Hunter Parr

Year 7 Girls Teams:

1st - ‘Girls just want to have fun!’ - Janey Mavor, Hana Carnie and Naiah Beazley 

3rd - ‘BHJ’ - Betsy Rowden, Honor Jones and Jordi Bright

Year 8 Girls Teams:

1st - ‘Grip, rip and bust’ - Paige Boomsma, Laia Mactaggart and Ally Gray

2nd - ‘The Headless Chickens’ - Brooke McLachlan, Bonnie Raynes and Scarlett Henshall

Later in the day, it was time for the Challenge Wanaka Secondary Schools event, which also doubled as the Otago Secondary Schools Triathlon. Athletes were split into three different age groups for this event - U14, U16 and U19. The course for the U14 and U16 age groups consisted of a 300m swim, 10km bike and a 3.5km run, while the U19 course involved a 400m swim, 20km bike and a 4km run. 

The performance of our secondary students was absolutely outstanding across all courses. The enjoyment, commitment and sportsmanship that our students displayed was amazing and this was very easy to see in the results that this team achieved. MAC students were rewarded for their efforts on the day by winning the brand new ‘Bill Godsall Trophy for the Top Performing School at Challenge Wanaka!’ Congratulations to the whole team for this awesome effort!

Podium finishes in the Challenge Wanaka Triathlon were awarded to:

U14 Individual Male

3rd - Marshall Watson

U14 Male Teams

1st - ‘BAM’ - Arnaud Mackenzie, Milo Adams and Ben Soper

2nd - ‘MAC Gold’ - Jacob Weatherly, Rhys Taylor and Beau MacLachlan

U14 Female Teams

2nd - ‘MACCERS’ - Georgia Beale, Liv Fairmaid and Sybella Pepper

U16 Individual Male

1st - Jack Sides

U16 Female Teams

2nd - ‘MAC ATTACK’ - Mabel North, Rhian Telfer and Amaya East

3rd - ‘MAC Black’ - Lucy Radford, Sophia Tuck and Chantel Thurston

U19 Individual Male

2nd - Tom Sides

3rd - Josh Moody

Tennis

Last week MAC took five teams to Dunedin to compete in the Otago Tennis Secondary School Teams Tournament. We had a strong team and MAC’s presence was definitely felt at the tournament. Our boys dominated the Boys competition and had some close matches amongst each other for an outstanding finishing line up of 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The girls also put in a very strong performance, with the team of Georgia Beale and Kaitlyn Tooley only narrowly losing in a supertie to St Hilda’s in the final. Our other girls' team of Georgia Lindsay and Lucy Radford completed the MAC teams efforts finishing 3rd in the cup category.

It was a great day of tennis at the Edgar Centre, with MAC teams displaying fantastic sportsmanship and team spirit. Huge thanks to Teresa Tooley, Megan Beale and Norie Haines for all of your organisation and for accompanying the team to Dunedin.

MAC Boys

1st - Lochie Hunt and Finn Thomsson

2nd - Tane Haines and Noah Vincenzi-Johnson

3rd - Sam Beale and Nat Warburton

MAC Girls

2nd - Kaitlyn Tooley and Georgia Beale

3rd - Georgia Lindsay and Lucy Radford

Cricket

This year MAC has entered a First XI cricket team into the Gillette Cup, which is a 50-over, knock-out national competition run by New Zealand Cricket.

The team went to Alexandra to play Dunstan High School on Sunday 19 February. While the team is quite young (one Year 9 and six Year 10's), they are very keen and enthusiastic about representing the school. It was a big task as the Dunstan team is made up of mainly seniors and MAC had not beaten them for a number of years.

Against the odds, the MAC team was victorious scoring 149 in 43 overs and having Dunstan all out for 99 in the 26th over. What an incredible effort!

The MAC opening pairing of James Muir and Sam Harper played incredibly well to get MAC off to a great start, 48 runs in 14 overs. Will Anderson joined James to make another great partnership of 40 runs. James Muir, who had opened the batting, occupied the crease for longer than anyone else in the match, facing 105 balls.

The tail did not succumb easily and the team made it to the 45th over with 149 runs, with much of the team having never played in a 50-over match.

Jackson Clark opened the bowling and supported by Sam Harper, had Dunstan at 4 for 45 after 8 overs. Rossco Rowley replaced Jackson and his first ball resulted in a runout with a fantastic throw from James Muir. Tom Sides took 2 wickets for 4 runs off his three overs. It was now 8 for 74.

Ryan Tombling came on with his spin. A couple of chances could have seen a couple of wickets for Ryan, however it was not meant to be. William Noble-Kirkbride kept the pressure on for a couple of overs and then Sam came back to take the last wicket, finishing with figures of 5 wickets for 35 runs in 6.5 overs and Jackson finishing with 2 wickets for 39 runs off 6 overs.

Congratulations to the MAC team on such an amazing game! The team now moves to the next round which will be against the Wakatipu First XI - an even bigger challenge. A massive thanks to Tim Muir for umpiring the game, the teachers who travelled with the team, and the MAC parents and grandparents who provided transport, as well as feeding, watering and cheering the team from the sideline.

Equestrian

It has been another busy week for our Mount Aspiring equestrian riders. The Maniototo A&P Show was on 15 February, the South Island Series Finals were held in Gore and the Mt Benger A&P show was in Roxburgh on Saturday 18 February.

The South Island Series Finals classes are judged over 22 rounds at 22 show jumping events and the riders earn points, which go towards their South Island ranking. Sophie Fountain riding Tonic placed 3rd in the Mini Prix jumping 1.15-1.20m. She has had a great season and overall achieved 4th in the South Island Mini Prix Series for 2022/2023. Sophie also came 4th overall for the 2022/2023 season in the 1.10m South Island show jumping series on her pony Lucky. This is a rewarding end to a demanding season for Sophie and the Fountain Family.

Bailey Blackmore riding Kennebrook Christmas Magic attended the Maniototo A&P Show. She received 3rd place in the 80cm show jumping, 2nd in the 90cm show jumping and a clear round in the Hunter Round the Ring.

Hazel McRae had success at Mt Benger A&P Show on Saturday and fighting the intense heat, she rode away with Reserve Champion Saddle Hunter Pony in the show ring, 1st Saddle Hunter Pony over a jump and 2nd Hunter pony over a wire fence, which was exciting for everyone to witness. She also achieved 1st place in the 90cm Show jumping.

Abbie Cameron-Small riding Got the Giggles at Mt Benger A&P Show had fun in the trotting race, coming 1st in the first race and 4th in the second. Yet, her main achievements were receiving 1st place in both 60cm and 70cm show jumping. In section A for showing, Abbie received 1st place in her classes to achieve Reserve Champion and overall Novice Champion Pony. Abbie also received her first medal for Best Rider 13 years and under.

Laila Telfer attended her first ever show and as ambitious as it may seem to select Mt Benger A&P Show for this, she rose to the occasion and had an incredible first experience. Riding Willowmead Wizard in Section B she came 3rd in Best Presented Combination, 1st in Novice Section B Pony, 3rd in Open section B Pony and 4th in both Novice and Open Paced and Mannered Pony. Demonstrating that her riding lessons have paid off, Laila also achieved 2nd place for Best Rider 10 years and older. We are all very proud of Laila and look forward to seeing what the future holds.

Sarah-Jane Berben also attended Mt Benger A&P Show and in the Utility Classes she was 1st place in Tidiest Turnout, 1st Best Pony, 1st Best Rider and 2nd in Paced and Mannered Pony. 3rd place in Combination Mount and Rider. These placings awarded her as Reserve Champion in Pony and Horse Utility Class.