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:

We are currently in the middle of the busiest week of sport all term. It’s Summer Tournament Week and we have large numbers of students spread around the country competing.

● Our MAC Mountain Bike team are taking on the South Island’s best at the Skoda South Island School Championships at Coronet Peak over the next four days.

● The New Zealand Secondary School Triathlon Champs are being held at Glendhu Bay this week and we have a strong MAC contingent entered in this end of season event on our home turf.

● 13 of our MAC rowers are halfway through their campaign at Lake Karapiro for MAADI Cup. As we write this week's SportsBag there are some outstanding results coming in from these students, with three crews having already secured spots in the A Finals for Friday and Saturday, and many more into the semi finals. Go MAC!

● The Central Otago Primary School Athletics Champs are being held in Alexandra  Friday 31 March. We have a large team of Year 7 and 8 athletes who have qualified for this event after their strong performances at the Upper Clutha Athletics Championships held earlier this week.

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

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

30 March-1 April: SISS Mountain Bike Champs - Coronet Peak

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

4 April: Top Bike - Year 7 and 8 

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

There are lots of exciting events coming up in our sporting calendar. Entries are now open for many of these events and we are also taking registrations of interest for some events later in the year too. Please read below and get in touch with us if you have any questions.

MAC CROSS COUNTRY MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPIONSHIPS 

The MAC Cross Country Mountain Bike Champs are being held next Wednesday 5 April. There are both competitive and recreational categories. If you are keen to get involved sign up here: MAC XC Entry form.

BASKETBALL

Basketball registrations are now open for Year 11-13 students wanting to play in the Central Otago Secondary School Basketball Competition. There has been an update to the programme and games will now be held on MONDAY nights in Term 2 (not Thursday’s as previously advertised). Please complete this registration form if you are interested in being involved: https://forms.gle/4sgb9EwBeSf32md56 

ROAD CYCLING

The Otago/Southland Secondary Schools Road Cycling Championships are being held in Invercargill on Tuesday 30 May. The events involved are: Road Race, Individual Time Trial and Team Time Trial (four in a team for team time trial). If you are interested in participating in this event, please come and see us at the Sports Hub for more information.

HILLARY CHALLENGE

2023 marks the 23rd year of the Hillary Challenge for Year 11-13 students. The South Island Hillary Challenge event is a 6 hour long, navigation-based challenge that requires the students to traverse the course on foot and mountain bikes. The South Island Challenge is being held in the Geraldine area on 21 May.

No prior experience is necessary, as these challenges are designed to attract students of all levels, so you don’t need a high level of skill and experience to join in and have an awesome time. Teams can choose to be as social, or as competitive as they like. Some basic skills, a little fitness and a 'give it a go' attitude is really all that is needed.

For those students who are more competitive, there is the chance to earn one of the places to compete in the National Hillary Challenge Final later in the year. Here is a video from last years final showing what it is all about 2022 Final.

More info about the 6 hour challenges can be found HERE. If you are keen and interested to be involved in a MAC team this year, please come and see us at the Sports Hub.

SPORTS RESULTS

OTAGO PRIMARY SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIPS 

Last weekend a team of 14 Year 7 and 8’s headed to Dunedin to compete in the Otago Primary School Swimming Champs. For many of our athletes this was their first event outside of Central Otago, and with more than 300 Otago school students participating, it sure made for an exciting day!

The whole team were really supportive of each other and we definitely were one of the loudest schools up in the grandstand! We had some outstanding performances from our students and special mention must go to Hana Carnie (Year 7) who broke the Otago Primary School Swimming Championships record in the 50m backstroke, and also to our 4x50m mixed open age relay team (Stella Harper, Hana Carnie, Sophia McClintock and Vinnie Lamb) who also broke the Otago Primary School Swimming Championships record. For the full results see here: Otago Primary School Swimming Results.

Finally, a big thank you must go to all the parents who made this event possible for our MAC students and also to those who volunteered to help run the event - Lou Carnie (Team Manager), Victoriya Lamb (Marshalling), Debra Tayor and Amy McClintock (Time Keeping).