The last few days have definitely felt like Spring is in the air. It has been lovely having a taste of what is to come. However, as often happens the first day of Spring has reverted back to a wicked chilly winter blast, just in time for tournament week.

This hasn’t deterred our athletes and is well underway with five sporting codes Badminton, Basketball, Climbing, Hockey, and Netball, all busy vying for placements. Our 2nd XI Hockey team is up in Nelson and everyone else is competing here in Christchurch. As the newsletter goes to print halfway through tournament week we will get as many results as possible to you, with the rest following on.

As always please email us with any sports news you may have: louise.eder@stmargarets.school.nz

Badminton
Congratulations to Angel Ni Year 9, Nonny Panyarachun Year 12, Lucy Wang Year 12 and Jasmine Russell Year 12 who have been selected into the Canterbury Age Group Badminton teams.

Basketball
As you can see from the following write-ups Basketball continues to go well, with our teams all having heaps of fun on the court. Although it is annoying not being able to watch your daughter's games, we thank you for your patience.

Senior A
We welcomed back on court two of our injured players at this week's game against Hagley College. After a very close start, we managed to pull away nicely and won 64-40. Great job Team SMC.

Year 10B
Our season is going well, we are improving and have won a couple of games! But we have also lost a couple. We are working on our shooting and passing the ball around the team and also getting those layups after running up the court. Our coaches are really great and always cheer us on and take good training sessions. Basketball is a really fun game and I am sure everyone in our team really enjoys it!

Year 10C
The 10C basketball team has had a great balance between social and competitiveness this season. Our team works well together and we’ve definitely improved our skill level over time. Although we are social, it feels good to represent the school, as well as being active and having fun on a Friday night.

SMC Green
This season so far has been super fun for us all and although the scores of our games aren’t too flash, our team spirit makes up for it! We love getting on the court every Friday and can’t wait for the rest of the season!

Cross Country
Three of our fantastic runners, Sophie Booth Year 8, Sophie Maxwell Year 8, and Charlotte Maxwell Year 6, have been invited to join the Canterbury Runners in the IRXC2020 Te Rōpū Oma o Waitaha Cross Country. Due to constant COVID disruptions this event has been held up. There is one last try with a date set for September in Wellington. Fingers crossed this can go ahead.

Hockey
A huge congratulations to the Coach of our SMC White Team (Charlotte Lee) and to Mezzy Surridge from our 1st XI team. Charlotte is sitting up very high on the top goal scorer table for the Canterbury Premier League and is currently sitting second with our 1st XI player, Mezzy Surridge. This is an awesome achievement for both of you.

Netball
Senior B
All the best to our Senior B-girls who are playing in their semi-final this Saturday. Even though spectators are not allowed we wish them all the best and will be there with them in spirit. Go SMC.

SMC Yr 7/8 A v Huntley School
Our Yr 7/8 A team received an impromptu opportunity to play visiting Huntley School from Marton. Huntley School were on their biannual tour and had a gap in their schedule and we were lucky enough to be able to fill it! Our SMC girls played the Huntley girls in a very close fought battle. Each quarter was super close with some strong defence from both teams throughout the court. Both teams shooters performed well under the pressure, however, SMC came out on top 11-10 at the end of the game. Well done girls. It was a great game for the girls to experience being a part of and they made some new friends in the process. A huge thank you to Kate Ballantyne and Charlotte Coughlan for giving up their time to umpire the game, you both did a fantastic job!! THANK YOU.

SMC Junior COVID Netball 2020
Our SMC Junior Netball girls have unfortunately had their Hagley competition games cancelled this past couple of weeks due to COVID so to ensure the girls still had an opportunity to play we decided that we would play each other. Our Year 3 team and our two Year 4 teams battled it out in a round-robin tournament after school on Thursday. It was fabulous seeing the girls racing around and having loads of fun on the netball court. Even though it has been a disrupted season for these girls they are still out there giving it their best and their skills are developing well. Thank you to our senior girls for the fabulous job you are doing coaching the girls. Your expertise and your ability to create a fun netball experience for the girls is fantastic.
Our Year 5 and 6 girls were to follow suit on Friday afternoon but the rain curtailed our plans!! It was fabulous to see the girls in action out on the court and most of all to see them loving what they are doing. The big sister little sister bond on the netball court at SMC continues to flourish ❤ Amanda Hardy - SMC Netball Convenor

Skiing CSS
We are super proud to announce our SMC Girls A and B Ski teams came 1st and 3rd on the slopes, coming away with the Archibald trophy; “A team of 12 skiers and snowboarders travelled to Mt Hutt on August 13th to compete in the CSS Ski & Snowboard Championships. With stormy weather forecast, the girls were eager to get racing, despite the increasingly icy course.
Our girls raced exceptionally well, with Isla Fulton winning the girls snowboarding and four girls placing in the Top 10 of the skiing. Particular recognition should go to Paige Causer Y13 and Kara Gooding Y9, who were both placed in the Open Girls Grade.
The weather turned nasty just after racing finished for the day and the girls were quite happy to board the bus home. Overall, they had a fantastic day with great results on the snow. All the girls should be commended for their exemplary behaviour, especially with the strict new social distancing measures in place on the mountain.”
Sophie Beaumont 

Winter Tournament
In our current climate, it is awesome to see that some winter tournaments have been able to go ahead this week. It opened on Monday with the most stunning Spring weather which was perfect for the outside players. However day two was a completely different scenario with howling winds, rain and bone-chilling conditions. Our Hockey girls both in Nelson and Nga Puna Wai braved the conditions magnificently showing true SMC spirit and courage and our Netballers and Badminton players were super happy to be housed inside. After all, it is called a winter tournament! 

Results to date are as follows with a full round upcoming in the next newsletter. Congratulations to all our teams who have had some awesome games so far.

Badminton
Our Badminton girls had a great first day and at the end of day one they were placed:

A1 2nd

A2 3rd

A3 3rd

Badminton has now finished their two days of the teams' event and moves onto the singles competition.

Hockey
Our Hockey girls had to endure the cold and wet weather on Tuesday, both in Nelson and at Nga Puna Wai.

Results to date:

Hockey 1st XI

v James Hargest won 5-1

v St Hilda’s won 10-2

v Burnside won 3-2

v Villa Maria won 3-1

v Rangi Ruru result pending

Hockey 2nd XI

v Middleton Grange won 12-0

v Cashmere lost 0-2

v Papanui won 7-0

v Nelson College lost 1-5

Now playing off for 5-8 positions with a semi-final on Thursday

Netball
Senior A Netball

v Craighead won 47-24

v CGHS won 40-28

v Rangiora won 30-18

Semi-final v Villa Maria won 43-33

Final v St Andrew’s College lost 23-34

Senior B Netball -

v Oxford Area School won 42-10

v Avonside won 24-14

v Hornby won 59-7

Semi-final v ChCh Girls B won 29-27

Final v Darfield A won 26-20