On the weekend of 15 and 16 March, our top Touch team competed in the South Island Secondary Schools’ Touch Championship. The competition drew teams from all over the South Island, but for us it was just up the road at Sheldon Park, Belfast.

The first game saw the team beat John McGlashan College 7-4. They then lost to eventual runners up Nelson College 6-7. A win against Marlborough College 12-7 was followed by a 7 all draw with Christchurch Boys’. This was enough to place us second in our pool.

On the following day we beat Shirley Boys’ in the quarter-final, which set us up with a semi-final against King’s High School. Unfortunately, we lost this game 6-7. This placed us third equal overall as there was no third and fourth playoff. We took some solace from the fact that both of the finalists (King’s and Nelson) only beat us by a solitary point, so it is fair to say we are competitive with the best in the South Island.

Thanks to the staff and parents that came to see the team play. The boys really do take heart from seeing people from our Bedean community coming along to watch and support.

The team has also been competing in the Super Touch competition, which is run by Canterbury Touch after school on Wednesdays. They are unbeaten in that competition, which will be decided in Term 4. After that, the team will be travelling to the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Competition, which is again being held in Rotorua in December.

The Team is…

Maddox Wright (Captain), Josh Cusin, LaDanian Davis, George Kneebone, Oliver Monks, Reuben Ngariki, Ethan O’Donovan, Kyle Peterson, Tom Robertson, Cooper Siave, Caleb Stevens, James Setter, Monty Fosita, Cooper McDowall, Manu Carey, Charlie Applegarth.

Head Coach Harrison Kirk did an excellent job with the boys. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable about the game, but his expectations of the boys in terms of attitude and behaviour are also excellent. Leanne Wright is the driving force behind the team and I am pretty sharp with the water bottles. Also providing support was our new teacher in charge of Touch, Mr Dean Hikaka. His contribution was much appreciated.

LaDanian Davis and Reuben Ngariki have both been invited to a camp in Auckland from which a New Zealand U18 team will be selected. That team is going to compete in the Asia Pacific Youth Touch Cup. We are waiting to see if some of our older players can earn selection for the NZ U20 team.