Heading south was the junior boys basketball team (Dunedin), the girls football team (Timaru) and the boys hockey (Ashburton). The senior A netball team, and the junior boys and senior girls basketball teams played at home in Nelson, while the boys football went over to Blenheim. The girls hockey had the only North Island fixture in Levin.

All teams participated positively and had valuable experiences. Some went on to achieve placing results as well. As always, this kind of participation relied on the huge contributions from coaches, managers, parents and supporters, so a huge thank you to all of you.

Here are some reports back from the fields:

Junior Boys Basketball

The junior boys basketball team finished up their tournament in Dunedin with a 62-60 win against Riccarton. Coach Carlo Varricchio fills us in on the highlights of the week.

I have been really impressed with the growth of the boys over the tournament, especially Kahu Goldsmith who stood up and took a leadership role. The boys never gave up in each game we played, regardless of the score. I'd set them a challenge each quarter defensively and offensively and they delivered. Our defence in the last two games was outstanding. The amount of times we stopped the other team scoring with the shot clock going off and then not even getting a shot up was very impressive. Well done boys!

Girls Hockey

Coach Nikki Webb shares with us her overview of the girls hockey team’s few days in Levin.

This was the first time the Nayland girls first 11 hockey team has competed at a national tournament in over six years. Nayland had three senior leaders, Layla Mahuika, Brodie Morrison and Jess White, who set an awesome inclusive platform where all team members were valued and respected. This platform got Nayland off to a great start, winning three out of their four pool matches and placing them in the top four of the tournament. We could not be more happy with the result of fourth at this national tournament. As well as this Penelope Taulafo was awarded overall player of the tournament by the officials for her performance and attitude during the week.

Boys Hockey

Here coach David Munro reports back on a string of amazing performances that culminated in a place in the grand final: a fantastic achievement.

The Nayland College Boys 1st XI hockey team took part in the Coaches Cup Tournament in Ashburton where we made a strong start to the tournament with a 10-0 win over a Tokomairiro High School/Lawrence Area School Combined Team. Both Max Baker and Henry Buchhalla scored a hat trick of goals in an impressive team performance.

This result was followed up with a 15-0 win over a young Rolleston College team. Logan Bishop completed a hat trick whilst Max Baker top scored with four goals as Nayland kept a second clean sheet.

On Wednesday, the team faced their toughest challenge yet, playing Papanui High School in a game that would decide who topped Pool D. Once again, Nayland College were the winners. Two goals from Max Baker, a fifth minute strike from Finlay Pike-Barnett and 5th goal of the tournament for Henry Buchhalla saw the score finish 4-0. A very pleasing first three days at the tournament saw Nayland score a combined 29 goals and not concede once across three games.

Nayland College played Roncalli College from Timaru in the semi-final on Thursday. Tewen Lafond scored in the first quarter before Roncalli equalised early in the second quarter. From here however it was all Nayland as goals from Finlay Pike, Thomas Kingsbury, Henry Buchhalla and Zach Moffat lead to a 5-1 win and a finals meeting with Lincoln College.

The Coaches Cup Final was a tense affair with the result being settled in a sudden death shootout. With the score nil all after the first quarter, Tewen Lafond once again got the first goal in the second to see Nayland hold a 1-0 at half time. Two quickfire goals in the third quarter, however, saw Lincoln take the lead before a goal from Thomas Kingsbury meant the teams went into the final quarter with the scores tied at 2-2. After a desperate finish, neither team was able to break the deadlock so the game went to a shootout.

Each team saw three goals scored and two efforts saved in the first round of the shootout so sudden death was required to split the two teams. Unfortunately, in the sudden death, Nayland was unable to score and Lincoln converted their effort to finish winners of the Coaches Cup.

An outstanding effort from the Nayland College Boys to finish with the silver medal, a tournament to truly to be proud of, and a fitting farewell for Year 13 students Logan Bishop, Thomas Kingsbury and Caleb Jessop.

Boys Football

According to coach Hamish Lewis, the Nayland boys first XI football team had a lot of fun in a tightly contested tournament in Blenheim. Here he singles out some memorable moments.

Nayland 1st XI topped our pool by winning all three of our pool games, including beating Christchurch Boys (2:0), Mount Hutt (6:1) and Kapiti (1:0). The games against Christchurch Boys and Kapiti were intense encounters played at high speed in great conditions. On both occasions Nayland proved more clinical and so secured victories.

On Wednesday Nayland set up for our quarter final showdown with Wakatipu, however the rain became heavy by the time the game started, and unfortunately the end result was a loss to Wakatipu (2:1) The afternoon saw the wet weather set in and the afternoon’s game was a (3:2) loss to St Bernards.

On Thursday in our final game against Lincoln the boys showed great tenacity to fight back from a 2:0 half-time score to finish 3:3 and win the game with a 4:2 penalty shootout. The team showed good composure and all the Nayland penalties made the back of the net, including captain Jonny Lewis’s, who confidently smashed it straight down the middle.

Both Chris and I were happy with the grit and determination the team showed and they were certainly the best bunch of blokes with some great banter, enjoying CHIPS in the Lamborghini!

Senior A Netball

Here coach Dayna Whiting fills us in on the team's recent promotion to the A grade competition.

The Senior A netball team had a tough week after being promoted to A grade after their B grade performance in 2018. They had some tough fought games in the first two days and played some nice netball, however walked away without a win.

On day three Nelson saw some heavy rain which meant a different style of play for the team. Taking a while to adjust to the weather, the team put out a good performance in the second game, clocking their first massive win.

The win put them in the 25th-29th playoffs where they continued their winning streak to finish 25th. Most importantly, the team has held a spot in the A grade for 2020, something most teams find difficult to do after their A grade promotion.

Captains Puna Wikaira and Katelyn Gardiner, along with year 12 Georgia Nicholls, had an outstanding tournament and played a huge role in the final days, leading the team to their wins.

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