Wow, where has 2019 gone? This year has really flown by. As we reflect on all of the girls sporting achievements over the last 12 months, we can honestly say how proud we are of them all. We have been able to report on so many varied sporting codes and we thank you for getting in touch to let us know exactly what it is that you are up to and how you are getting on.

Sport is such a vital part of SMC and our trophy cabinet certainly reflects this.  Please keep the news coming, especially over the Summer break. louise.eder@stmargarets.school.nz
From us all here in the SMC Sports Office, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Enjoy those holidays and for those of you who are competing over the Summer, we wish you the very best of luck. We look forward to seeing you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready for another fabulous year of SMC sport in 2020.

Athletics
Good luck to the following 12 Athletes who have made it through to the CPS Athletics on the 4th December, at Nga Puni Wai.

Year 5
Charlotte Maxwell, 1000m High Jump, Long Jump,
Lexie Boon 60m
Year 6
Hannah Millar, Shot Put
Isabella Wilson, Discus
Victoria Gomes Lira, 60m, Long Jump
Year 7
Sophie Booth, 60m
Year 8
Clare Gomes Lira, 60m, Relay
Rosa Turner, 100m, Relay
Charlotte Coughlan, Shot Put
Payton Edmundson, Shot Put
Poppy McNeill, Relay
Evie Leeson, Relay

Over the last few years, St Margarets has been known for having an exceptionally strong Year 8 relay team. This is not only due to the talent of our Athletes but also to the amazing coaching of Pip Keenan over this time. A huge thank you to Pip who keeps a very watchful eye on all of our Athletes. The girls are busy training hard in their own time to make sure that they perform well on the day. We wish all of our 12 girls representing SMC the very best of luck. We would also like to wish the following four girls, Anoushka Chiswell Y13, Lily Cockram Y11, Scarlett Kirby Y10, Alex Rees-Thomas Y9, the very best of luck as they head up to the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Championships in Wellington on the 6th-8th December.

Basketball
Congratulations to Kate Zarifeh, Year 12 and Olive Tuipulotu, Year 10, who will be joining the U17 Waitaha Performance Programme Squads for the Summer.

Junior School News
Our Years 1-3 had a lovely time at their Swimming Carnival last Tuesday. Even though the weather was a bit on the chilly side, the girls were able to swim across the pool with confidence. It was a very colourful affair with everyone trying their very best on the day.

Indoor Football
St Margarets entered three teams into this terms School Sport Canterbury Indoor Football competition. The teams were a mixture of Year 9 and 10 players. All were enthusiastic and competitive, with particularly close and well-contested games against the Villa Maria and Avonside Girls’ teams. The girls played with pride and represented the school well.

Netball
Congratulations Mia Allison and Jess Milne who have been selected to attend the Netball New Zealand Development Camp in Auckland from January 16-19. A great achievement for both girls following their hard work this season.

Polo
Congratulations to the SMC Polo Team (Skye Turner, Georgia Levey, Petra Green and Rosa Turner) who came third in the B Grade tournament last weekend. We farewell Georgia and Petra who have ridden in the Polo Team since Year 9. We thank you for your contribution to St Margaret’s sport and it has been a pleasure working with you.

Rugby
Our Sevens Rugby Team, in their smart new uniforms, has enjoyed a great season this term. The team of Molly Williams, Molly Roberts, Liberty Perkins, Victoria Clark, Kate Marfell, Poppy Williams, Lucy Roberts, Liyah Faga-ieti and Stella Ashcroft made it into the final of the Condors Qualifying Tournament, placing second. The team really put themselves on the line and fought hard, with Stella an ex Commonwealth Games Gymnast achieving a spectacular try due to her gymnastic ability. She got foot tripped and instead of falling flat on her face, kept her momentum going by rolling across the ground while she kept a firm hold of the rugby ball. As she came out of her roll, she stood up in one fluid movement and finished off the skilful manoeuvre with a try. What an awesome way to score a try.

Volleyball
“Over an exceptionally hot weekend, we had two Volleyball Teams playing in the Canterbury Junior Championships here in Christchurch. The Junior A Team ended up 5th overall and finished their tournament on a high winning their last two games. This meant that they qualified to play in Division 1 of the South Island Secondary Schools' Tournament at Pioneer Stadium this week. The Junior B Team did themselves proud, finishing top of their pool and ending up 4th overall after losing a tough semi. There was a huge improvement in the girls' Volleyball over the weekend and they were great ambassadors for SMC. Thanks to the coaches and managers for all their time and effort over the weekend in very hot conditions!!!”
Junior A Volleyball Team SISS
Emily Forrest, Ivy Brown, Meg Downs, Bridie James, Charlotte Haycock, Olive Tuipulotu, Josie Seymour, Emily O’Connor, Ophelia Staniford.
Year 9A Volleyball Team
Hannah Wylie, Asha Scully, Cleo McLeod, Grace Hale, Phoebe Spear, Lucille Smail, Miya Hartsonge, Tess Morgan, Emma Mason, Anna Marra.
Junior B Year 9/10 Volleyball Team CSS Div 2
Emma Mason, Stella Foulds, Lucy Horton, Anna Marra, Allie Lowry, Sahara Macfarlane, Zoe Smith, Emma Graham
A huge thank you goes to the coaches and managers of these teams

Water Polo
Our Junior Water Polo Team has had a very successful competition during the term finishing 2nd in the Canterbury Junior Water Polo final at Jellie Park.
The team of Josie Seymour, Jemma Burrowes, Isla Gath, Niamh McKenzie, Maisie Perriam, Bridie James, Frances Dougherty, Eve Barnsley, Claudia Hundleby, Kate Van Peer, Victoria de Costobadie and Mikayla Donaldson travelled up to Blenheim at the weekend for the South Island Secondary Schools Junior Water Polo tournament. We are proud to report that they finished 3rd. A huge congratulations to Jemma Burrowes for her selection in the tournament team. Thank you to Sharon McClure for coaching the girls and to Georgia Reed and Josie Persico who travelled with the team as assistant coaches. A big thank you to Nicky Coventry for managing the girls so well. 

Tennis
We have been well represented by Ruby Young, Victoria de Costobadie and Sorell Shand who have been playing in the Junior Canterbury Secondary Schools Tennis Championships at Wilding Park this week. Ruby pulled off a great win to claim the Year 9 singles title, while Victoria after a hard-fought battle was the runner-up in the Year 9 plate division.

Triathlon 
A hot sunny day on Wednesday this week for the Canterbury Primary Schools Triathlon for Year 5-8 students at Pegasus. The following girls had a great day under the careful supervision of Bindy O’Callaghan and Anna Turner. With huge numbers competing at each year level our girls produced some awesome results.
Year 5 - Poppy Blakely – 30th, Charlotte Maxwell – 6th
Year 7 - Sophie Maxwell – 12th, Gemma Sitjes – 14th, Sophie Booth – 18th
Year 8 -Rosa Turner – 29th

Volleyball 
St Margaret’s has had two teams playing in the SISS Junior Volleyball Championships at Cowles and Pioneer Stadium this week.
A great opportunity for these girls to have tournament experience while managing to notch up some wins.
Four of these girls are also playing in the Junior Beach Champs on Friday.
Well done to all players, coaches and managers.