On Friday 10 March, our basketball programme had its first taste of competition for the season at the BOPSS 3x3 Basketball competition.

This followed the first full school muster of the year, giving our Rangatira a chance to show up and show out on the Basketball court.

Pāpāmoa College entered 4 teams; Junior A boys, Senior A boys, Premier Boys and Senior A Girls. This was an opportunity for our ballers to put their hand up, get a group of players together and showcase their skills, as well as taking the first steps of the season towards greater goals in our regular season competitions.

Trustpower Arena was heaving with energy, the first tournament of the season was always going to be exciting. Our students played with great passion and great poise for the most part, Our Senior A girls had a tough day at the office, without winning a game but still competing hard and demonstrating the grit which will be needed when facing many of these teams again in the near future. Some losses were close and upon reflection, we could see how to rectify some mistakes and make improvements. Year 11 Amy Bell was a standout and an exciting prospect for the years ahead.

The Junior Boys demonstrated a high level of skill throughout the day, they took some comfortable wins but struggled to jump the final hurdle, losing to TBC in the gold medal match. This was disappointing for our boys but with the tough loss was a lot of learning around the impact of our emotions on the game and the need for teamwork throughout the entirety of a game. Once the dust settled, The boys were able to crack a smile and enjoy the silver medal for their hard work.

The Senior A Boys are a solid unit, this team including the full 5v5 squad have been together for a couple of years now. The strength in that bond shows and their ability to rise above another team through effort and teamwork is exceptional. In the Semi-finals, the boys faced a team that they had previously beaten on the day. A close game that was replicated in the semi, unfortunately, the tables had turned and the opposing team came away with a narrow win to leave us in 3rd place. Worthy recipients of the medal but hungry to build on the experience and go further in the year ahead.

The Premier Boys team played well against some elite competition, with a few players out, our team of 3 with no subs played every minute to their fullest. The team began well, getting a couple of hard-fought wins with some extremely skilful and strong play. However losing the final pool game, put them in a difficult matchup for the Quarterfinal, Losing to Mauao. This led the team to 5th place, with special mention to Tama Jones and Tamati Jones who are extremely athletic and awesome to watch.

A great day for all and a good measure to start the season as we look forward to Term 2. Training has begun and teams have been selected, Come on down to watch some games and support our awesome students this year!