Here are current and upcoming sports notices and events.

COMING UP THIS WEEK:

● Good luck to our A, B, 10A and 9A netball teams as they head to Dunedin this weekend to compete in the Otago Secondary Schools Netball Tournament.

● We’re into the fifth round of the Central Otago Senior Schools Basketball Competition next week. Good Luck to our MAC teams who have the following games:

- MAC Boys vs Dunstan High School

- MAC Girls Gold vs MAC Girls Blue

- MAC Girls Yellow vs Cromwell High School

- MAC Girls Black vs Dunstan High School

Sports Calendar: Term 2,  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 sports@mtaspiring.school.nz

Term 2

11/12 June:  Otago Secondary School Netball Champs - Dunedin - 9A, 10A, MAC A and B team

20 June:  Upper Clutha Swimming Champs - Wānaka

22 June:  Central Lakes Netball Festival - Cromwell - Year 7/8

27 June:  Central Otago Primary School Swimming Champs - Wānaka

3-5 July:  SISS Junior Netball Championships - Christchurch - 9A, 10A

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

ADVENTURE RACING

In October MAC will run its first Adventure Race Championships. This is a great opportunity for all of our students to experience adventure racing in a fun format in their own backyard.

The event runs for three hours for Years 7 to 9 students and six hours for students in Years 10 to 13 and involves three disciplines: foot (walk or run), bike and paddle. In Term 3 we will offer training and learning opportunities in preparation for the race.

So gather your team and register! If you can’t find a team, please register as an individual and our sports department will help find you a team.

For more information and to register please see this link: MAC Adventure Race Champs

We want to thank Mark Watson, Adam Fairmaid, and Bob and Cat McLachlan for helping to develop this fun event and for volunteering to share their amazing knowledge and experience with us - we are so lucky!

SPORTS RESULTS

SNOW SPORTS

Just as the snow is starting to settle on the mountains here, we are welcoming back our snow sports students who have spent the summer overseas training and competing. We’re so proud of these students and are in awe of the hundreds of hours of hard work they put in year round to hone their skills to help them achieve some outstanding results. This week we talk to nine MAC students who have travelled around the world in pursuit of their dreams on the snow.

Cam Melville Ives

My name is Cam Melville Ives and I compete in Snowboard slopestyle, big air and halfpipe. Over the past six months I have been to Switzerland, America, Italy, Austria and Germany all for snowboard training and events.

My northern hemisphere season started in November when I travelled with a group of New Zealanders to Kitzsteinhorn, Austria. We trained on the glacial pipe for two weeks before heading to Copper, Colorado for the first World Cup of the season. It was really cool to take all the tricks I learnt in Austria and to put them in a run (for example I learnt B2B double 1080s, Frontside 1260, Alleyoop double rodeo and many more). It was a great experience competing in my first World Cups in Kreischberg, Laax and Copper. Even though I sometimes did not land my desired runs, I am super excited to compete in some more World Cups soon. My best World Cup event this season was in Kreischberg, where I was really happy with how I competed as I was able to land two of my best tricks and place 21st overall. Another highlight of my season was hiking the Kitzstienhorn Summit (3,203m) with my halfpipe coach Tom Willmott.

My results for the season were:

1st - Laax ECP Halfpipe

1st - World Rookie Tour Halfpipe

2nd - Davos Europa Cup Big Air

21st - Kreischberg World Cup

32nd - Laax World Cup Slopestyle

18th - Laax ECP Slopestyle

4th - Laax Sudden Rush Banked Slalom - Pro Division

Fin Melville Ives

My name is Fin Melville Ives and I compete in Freeskiing – mostly halfpipe, but also big air and slopestyle. The countries that I have travelled to this season are Austria, USA, Canada and Switzerland.

Just like my brother Cam, my northern hemisphere season started at a pipe camp in Kitzsteinhorn in Austria. The camp was amazing because I learnt a right 1660 and it was essential training to figure out my pipe run before the World Cup season. It was an amazing camp and I’m hoping to go back there this year.

My World Cup season started in Copper and I was really stoked to make it to the finals and finish 6th. Over the season I competed in two more World Cup events in Calgary, making it to finals in the second one, finishing up 6th. To finish off the World Cup circuit I had one more event in Mammoth where I qualified for the final in 4th place. Overall I finished in 8th place in the World Cup standings for 2023 and am really happy with that!

A highlight of my season was when I was lucky enough to be invited as an alternate at the X games - it was a crazy experience! My season ended early when I had a crash in Aspen and I fractured my tibia. It has healed well and I am now back on the snow and am away again training at Mammoth. My goals for this year are to compete in Junior Worlds at Cardrona in August/September, to go to a training camp in Austria in November, to compete at two World Cup Halfpipe events in December and to get selected to go to the Youth Olympics in Korea in January 2024.

Kazuma Saka

My name is Kazuma Saka and I am a Freestyle skier. My northern hemisphere training this year was five months long and I stayed with different host families most of the time. I also travelled mostly by myself and it was quite a challenge sometimes!

I left New Zealand in December and headed to Tokyo to spend some time with friends and my grandparents. Then I travelled to Hokkaido and skiied powder in Niseko for the first few weeks - it was amazing. I then joined Team Summit at Copper Mountain in America. I did a few competitions while I was in Copper and got first place in the USASA (United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association) rail jams and first place in slopestyle. I am not at a level yet where I can travel to do more competitions, so most of my time was spent training to learn new tricks. My host family was amazing and they took me to all different mountains around Colorado - I had an amazing time.

I then travelled to Switzerland and spent 3 weeks with Karen Melville Ives (Fin and Cam’s mum) in Laax and did the Laax Kids Open. I crashed, but managed to get the spot prize of the most stylish skier of the day, which was a new iphone. Was super happy with this one! I then spent time training in Crans Montana and I eventually met up with my coach in Ruka in Finland. I was training really hard and learning lots of new tricks there, but unfortunately my season ended early with a concussion.

My goal for this coming ski season is to learn new tricks including a switch double cork 900. I am also hoping to make it to the finals in the Continental Cup. I love filming too, so I am hoping to make a film this season in New Zealand. I must say that I am so lucky to have very supportive parents and school who allow me to do what I love to do in life!

Luke Harrold

My name is Luke Harrold and I am a Freestyle skier. This year I have been to many countries including America, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy for competitive skiing.

I competed in many competitions over the northern hemisphere season and some of my results were: 

● World Rookie Tour in Madonna, Italy where I came 2nd in the Under 15 Division for Slopestyle. 

● Copper Mountain Colorado Open Division Revolution Tour Slopestyle - 18th 

● Copper Mountain Open Division Halfpipe Revolution Tour - 3rd

● Laax European Cup Open Division Slopestyle - 9th

● Laax Open Division European Cup Halfpipe - 1st

My biggest competition of the season was the Aspen Open Halfpipe Competition where I placed 1st in the open age division against competitors who have been competing in the Olympics! This competition was definitely the highlight of my season and my most memorable moment.

My goals for this year are to compete at the Junior World Championship at Cardrona this winter, to compete at the Youth Olympic Games in Korea in January 2024 and to compete in my first World Cup events in the northern hemisphere winter.

Harry Rowden

I’m Harry Rowden and I’m 15 years old. This summer I travelled to the United States to train and compete for the Team Summit Freeride Ski Team. Unfortunately, three weeks into my trip I knocked myself out and ended up with a pretty bad concussion, so I had to sit out of a few competitions. After getting back on snow I had one competition before I came back home. I had a pretty gnarly run with a few control issues, but was lucky enough to end up in the top 10 out of 50 riders. This wasn’t the result I was hoping for, but you can only learn from your mistakes.

The highlight of my trip was definitely skiing in Aspen with some other Wānaka skiers, Fin Melville Ives and Olly Thomas. We skied some great snow and had an awesome time. I also went to watch X Games while I was there. It was so sick to see all the pros.

Going into this winter I hope to get some good results and have a great time training and competing with the Treble Cone freeride team!

Isabel Watterson

My name is Izzy Watterson, I’m 13 and I compete in Alpine Ski Racing. I am the U14 New Zealand Giant Slalom and Super Giant Slalom Champion and am in the New Zealand Youth Squad. I compete both here and internationally and have just returned from competing this summer in Switzerland.

My greatest achievement this season and probably the thing I am most proud of, is that I finished as the number one U14 Female racer in Switzerland. I did lots of racing and competitions. Another moment I am proud of was at the Samnaun International GS Race (15 countries) where I skied from bib 75 out of 90 U14 girls into 2nd place, 0.03 seconds off taking the win. In some of the national points races I was also able to secure the fastest time of the day for boys and girls in all age groups, which was quite exciting too and filled me with lots of confidence.

A few of my other race results from this season are:

● 1st U14 Central Swiss Championships in GS and SL, 2nd U16 category to my older sister Mathilda

● 1st U14 Imholz Cup series in the Canton of Uri, 2nd U16 category

● 1st U14 Rubin Cup series in Central Switzerland winning every race in Slalom and Giant Slalom.

For the second year running, I was able to take the win in my age category at the Grand Prix Migros Finale in Les Diablerets (kombi discipline) in horrendous conditions. It is the biggest Youth race in the World with around 7000 athletes competing in qualifiers to make it to the finale. On the second day in the Giant Slalom, I spent 7 hours waiting on the mountain before skiing 4 gates and crashing out, after which the race was abandoned due to safety.

Lastly, I was selected to represent Central Switzerland in their U16 team at their Inter regional races. I had top 5 finishes in these, which meant I qualified for the national races. Unfortunately, because I am not Swiss I wasn’t allowed to go, which was disappointing.

My goals for this year are to defend my New Zealand National titles, make the youth squad selection and compete again in Europe. I am hoping to do some race series in different countries, so that I get to race as many different people as possible and experience different environments before I am old enough to compete in FIS level races in 2 years' time. Ski racing involves a huge amount of fitness, so I am working hard to improve every aspect of this. I do a lot of work before school in the mornings with a trainer and my sister, who also competes in ski racing, and I am also supported by Aspiring GymSports to continue with my gymnastics, which is great all-round training for every sport.

Travelling and competing in sports is great because I have really good friends all over the world. I get to experience and learn about other cultures and see what is happening in the rest of the world. On the down side, I miss my friends and my home in Wānaka and it is hard to fit in school work and everything else with so much training. I don’t really like hot weather that much, but a little bit sometimes would be nice too!

Lottie King

My name is Lottie King and I do freestyle skiing. I recently travelled to Canada for my training, and was based in British Columbia. My season was packed with big competitions, including the BC Games and Canada Junior Nationals. It was such a great season, filled with new friends and accomplishments.

One of my favourite moments from a competition this year was definitely the podium ceremony at the biannual British Columbia Games. This competition was filled with the best freestylers from all around BC, and I was so proud to have claimed 1st in slopestyle and 2nd in big air. Riding off of these results I went into the Canada Junior Nationals feeling confident, and landed with 3rd in big air and 5th in slopestyle. I also competed in the Timber Tour competitions across BC too, which increased my love for competing. These were my most memorable moments while I was away, and they make me feel more confident than ever going into the New Zealand ski season.

I’m extremely proud of my results considering this was only my second season in freestyle, and I hope to continue to develop this season. This year I want to add more tricks to my repertoire and focus on my trampolining. I can’t wait for this season to begin!

Lucia Georgalli

My name is Lucia Georgalli and I compete in snowboard Big Air and Slopestyle. I have had such a fun northern hemisphere season.

I spent the first week or two getting my feet back on the medium jumps. I then did a Europa Cup in Davos, Switzerland and made it to the finals but unfortunately didn't land my finals runs clean and I placed 6th. For the next couple of weeks after that competition I worked on my backside and frontside 720s and got a lot of repetition on those, so that I have them on lock for competition. I also worked on some backside 9s and frontside 720s.

After a 10-day break where I stayed with my brother Oscar in Laax, I competed in the World Rookie Tour Final and got 1st which I'm hyped about! My run on the jumps was a front-side 720 into a back-side 720. One of my prizes from winning the World Rookie Tour was an invite to the Swatch Nines, Anna Gassers progression session and The Prime Park Session at the end of this year. I also competed in the Laax Europa Cup Premium and got 3rd place which I'm stoked about and I stood on the podium with Mia Brookes the World Champion and Momo.

Sylvia Trotter

My name is Sylvia Trotter and I'm a freestyle skier.

Last summer I spent 3 months at Whistler Blackcomb in BC Canada. The three months were spent training, improving my air game and getting ready to string together harder comp lines for this winter season. Whistler was amazing! It was an incredible experience and I loved exploring the different places and cultures.