Winter sport is in full swing for 2021, and there is much to celebrate for the UHC sides including a number of players who have notched up 50 games for first teams. Upper Hutt College's Sports Activator, Chris Campbell reflects on the start of the yar

It is great to see so many UHC teams taking the various fields and courts around the Wellington Region. A special congratulations to Harry McMahon, Ashlee McEnirney and Elsie Kepakali for bringing up 50 first team games for Upper Hutt College. This is a great achievement that takes about four years to crack, you should be immensely proud.

Here are just a few highlights from an action packed start to winter sport in 2021.

Netball

Netball has seen an increase in participation and we now have seven UHC teams. The growth is great and it also includes two junior boys playing the sport. This has meant an increased demand for coaches and umpires. Fortunately, our awesome students and whanau have stepped in to ensure every student gets a quality experience. Recently we had ten students attend and pass the College Sport Wellington Netball umpiring course at the Walter Nash stadium. Great work.

Our Premier One side have a mix of youth and experience and are competing well within their school grade and are still challenging in the women’s club competition on Saturdays. The future of Netball is incredibly bright with a very successful and undefeated junior A team sitting pretty at the top of Collegiate One. Watch this space….

Basketball

Basketball continues to be one of the most popular sports at UHC with social and competitive options available for boys and girls. Like netball, basketball has an army of student and community volunteers that allow us to field so many teams. The junior boys are on a hot streak at the moment with standout performances from Scott McCrea, Philjay Reid and Kawiti Polata. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

Rugby

Our 1st XV are optimistic about the prospect of back to back premier two titles and retention of the Isberg Cup. The nucleus of last year’s team has returned and there are some new faces that will only enhance the side. Just on the horizon is an opportunity to create a bit of history, on Wednesday June 9 the boys go to Scots College in the first round of the Coed Cup. Scots College in recent years have been one of the powerhouses of New Zealand Schools rugby so it would be a great scalp to take. Best of luck boys!!! Our U15s and U65kg teams have now completed their grading and are into their championship. Good luck to all teams.

Hockey

There has been somewhat of a mini revival for hockey in the last couple of seasons and it has resulted in us fielding competitive boys and girls 1st XI’s. This is down to the commitment from our senior players and the support that is given from parents, caregivers and the coaching staff. If it wasn’t for that dedication and passion, we would be seeing the results we are. Speaking of results… both the boys and girls will be eying up victories in the upcoming Heretaunga Exchange. Hockey has been one of the sports where we haven’t had the most amount of success in recent years but our teams are determined to change that.

Football

We have seven teams playing the beautiful game in 2021 and so far we are seeing some fantastic results. The boys 1st XI have qualified for the Premier Reserve grade with a game in hand, this is an incredible achievement and is the highest our boys have played in recent history. To highlight their achievement, the have scored 23 goals in 4 games!!!

Not to be outdone by the boys, the girls 1st XI are now into their 3rd season without a loss and hope to be at the business end of a very competitive table at the season’s end.

It is worth noting that the junior boys team and the senior social girls are both without a loss thus far in their respective competitions. There must be something in the water!!