Rolleston College Sport Update

Wow! What an amazing couple of weeks for Rolleston College in the Sporting Arena. There has been so much going on with some awesome results. See updates from all the sporting action below!

South Island Secondary Schools Touch

The Rolleston College Mixed Touch Team had an incredible South Island Secondary Schools Tournament and finished as the South Island Secondary School Mixed Touch Champions. This was following an impressive performance at the Christchurch Secondary Schools Touch Tournament - where they also won! This placed them as an undefeated team between the two tournaments.

The team this year consisted of Hunter Keno, Tamzin Taylor, Raikyn Barnes, Paris Edwards, Roman Keno, Abigail Hotton, Cooper Johnson, Brianna Labudde, Shaun Kempton, Kayshana Rapana, Shay Masala, Jacob Pierson, Anika Gates-Thorn, James Paterson and Liam Dunn.

At the South Island Secondary Schools they went through at the top of their pool with three wins against St Kevins, Waimate High School and South Otago with a draw against Lincoln High School 5-5. In the semifinals they faced St Andrews College who they beat 7-5 and then progressed to the final where they faced a highly physical final against Rangiora High School where they won 6-5.

For a team who was pulled out of a hat as the wild card two years ago to enter the 2019 South Islands to the position of winning the whole competition two years later in 2021 is extremely impressive. This team is testament to the fact that “Hard work beats Talent when Talent does not work hard” These talented players worked extremely hard with three seasons worth of 7am training sessions twice a week in addition to Thursday night games.

A team does not get to be the best without a great coaching and management team behind them and we have been so fortunate to have this in the Keno family.

To quote two of our senior players:

“Jase and D were 100% committed to helping us achieve the goal of being at the top. They told us that if we worked hard enough we could do it and we did. The culture they set is humbling and Jase always sets the tone for Sportsmanship and Respect. This is the teaching we have had from them beyond the game”

Anika Gates Thorn

“Jason and D are the most committed and respectful/respected people I know. They are so motivating and encouraging. They taught us to be better sportsmen and women”

James Paterson

Canterbury Secondary Schools Athletics

Canterbury Secondary Schools Athletics Champs saw 43 learners head to Nga Puna Wai to represent Rolleston College. Apart from the freezing weather, thunder and lightning we had some very impressive results. Everyone gave it their all and we saw many learners head back on Saturday for finals day.

From this we have had the following learners qualify for South Island Champs on April 9th and 10th.

Ted Ward 400m

Ryder Allin 100m

Sophie Mercer 100m and 200m

Luke Barrett Discus

We wish you all the best of luck going into South Island Champs!

Futsal

On Tuesday we saw our Junior Boys and Senior Boys futsal teams head to Wellington for the National Competition. This is the first time Rolleston College has competed in this tournament. A big thank you must go to Sam Stokes and Darren Meyers for heading up to Wellington with the teams.

The Junior boys were unbeaten through pool play defeating Rototuna High School, St Andrews College, Lincoln High School, Rongotai College and Wellington High School.

Their quarter final match was a thriller against Mt Albert Grammar with the winner being decided by penalty shoot out. A real team effort was needed for that win!

They came up against Selwyn College in the Semi Final and had a narrow 4-3 loss and couldn’t quite pull it back in their final game going down to Scots College 4-2.

This team should be very proud of their achievements over the week with this being the first time Rolleston College has been to this National tournament. They did incredibly well to finish fourth in NZ. The future looks very bright for this team.

The Senior boys had a tough pool with a narrow loss to Christchurch Boys then a one all draw with New Plymouth Boys before a loss to Rongotai College. The support these Senior Boys showed the Junior team was definitely a highlight. Well done to Reece Ager who helped coach the Junior boys in between playing in the Senior team.

Volleyball Satellite Tournament

This week has also seen 6 teams of Volleyballers ranging from Year 9’s to Year 13’s head to Wharenui and Pioneer Stadiums to compete against other South Island Schools. For some players it has been the first time they have competed in a Secondary Schools Tournament and it's been awesome to see all the smiles, laughs and support all the teams have shown each other. This would not be possible without the support of Tom Arps, Duncan Gittens, Julius Ndondo and Grant Ross.

Senior Boys -Finished 9th in Division One

Junior Boys - Finished 11th in Division One

Y13 Girls - Finished 8th in Division Two

Y11/12 Girls - Finished 9th in Division Two

Y10 Girls - Finished 6th in Division One

Y9 Girls - Finished 9th in Division Two

Volleyball is a sport that has quickly grown at Rolleston College and we look forward to building on these performances in the future.