Director of Sport Chris Campbell has put together a team of scribes to summarise some fantastic sporting results to finish Term One.

It has been an incredibly busy term for sport at UHC. Yet again we have seen record numbers of students getting involved in various sports at a level that suits them, be it social or competitive. We have also seen some fantastic individual and team successes throughout the term. 

I would like to thank the many contributors that help make sport at UHC what it is. From the parents ensuring their young people are in the right place and right time for games and trainings, to the coaches and managers who sacrifice their own time to make sport a quality experience for our students. We seem to be going from strength to strength with our participation numbers, long may it continue. Here is a brief wrap up of what has been going on.

Basketball

The Senior A and Junior A boys basketball teams played in the St Pat's Silverstream pre-season invitational tournament over the Easter weekend.

The Junior A’s won four out of five pool games placing them second in their pool overall. They played against St Pat's Town in the semi final and lost. A top four finish for the Junior A’s is a successful start to their season and hopefully is a sign of things to come this year with the Wellington Junior Premier Competition starting in Term 2 and the zones regional competition in Term 3.

The Senior A’s followed the Junior A’s success in pool play also winning four out of their five games. However, after winning their last pool game, they placed first in their pool, setting up a match against Newlands College in the semi final. This resulted in another win for the boys and they were up to play HIBS in the final, giving them a top two finish at worst. Unfortunately, the boys were unable to pull off the win against HIBS a second time after beating them in pool play and the Senior A’s finished 2nd overall.

In conclusion, it was a very successful tournament for both teams and the Upper Hutt College basketball programme overall. Both teams did a great job of displaying the school’s values and showed good sportsmanship in victory and defeat.

Jacob Collis

Futsal

Futsal proves to be a hit again in 2024 with 14 UHC teams taking to the courts of the Walter Nash every week. Massive congratulations to our Senior Boys who beat local rivals St Pat’s Silverstream 5-3 in the Div 1 Final. In the Girl’s Div 2 final it was an all Upper Hutt affair with with UHC Reds managing to overcome UHC Maroon to be crowned champions. As well as the weekly competitions we also had our Premier Boys team compete at the Regional and National Championships. Here is what team captain Hamish Sheterline had to say about their campaign.

Futsal regionals

Our Regional Tournament for futsal this year was hosted at Akau Tangi Sports Centre in Wellington on Thursday 14 March. Our group consisted of HIBS, Wellington High and Heretaunga College. 

The first game was a hard fought 2-2 draw against a very strong HIBS side, which myself and the boys were very proud of. Feeling determined, we went into our second game to face Wellington High with high expectations and managed a close 1-0 victory. 

Our third and final group game was probably the most important to the boys, playing against Heretaunga. The whole team played exceptionally well and we came away from that game with a 6-2 win. 

These results put us on top of our pool group meaning we were to go through and face a very strong St Pat’s Town side in the semis. We fought hard and played to our strengths but unfortunately ended up on the losing end of a 0-1 semi final to the eventual winners of this tournament. We claimed 3rd place due to the standings in the group stages. The boys and our coach were all proud of this amazing achievement which put us all in a positive mood heading into nationals the following week.

Futsal Nationals

At the National Futsal Tournament, our first group game was against Rotorua Boys High, the side that knocked us out last year. This game was passionate and heavily contested with Rotorua ultimately taking the win with a 2-1 scoreline. This put the pressure on for our remaining group games. In our second game we came up against Middleton Grange in an intense match. We came away with a 4-3 win and gave ourselves an opportunity to get out of the group so long as we got a good result against our final group opponents.

In our last group game, we faced off against Hutt Valley High School with everything on the line. In the end, we weren’t up for it and Hutt High were the better team leaving us on the worse end of a 4-2 scoreline. 

This meant we were in the lower bracket, playing Hasting Boys' High School. Although we weren’t in the top bracket, we were still determined to finish this tournament on a high. After another passionately fought game with some standout performances, we came away with a deserved 1-0 victory. 

Our final game on this day was a 5pm kick against Aquinas College, a school which didn’t have much known about them. Being late in the day, after a large amount of working and playing all day, the boys and I came away dejected after a 5-0 loss.

Heading into the final day, we were determined to make up for the disappointing note we ended on the previous day, coming up against Havelock North High. Again, the boys worked incredibly hard and everyone played their part in an amazing 5-4 win for us. For the final game, a win would have meant we have a positive wins to losses ratio. This game was against Napier Boys' High school, another respectably strong side. After a back and forth and rather nitty-gritty game, the lads all played out of their skins, everyone putting their bodies on the line for each other, we took the win with a 3-2 scoreline.

Overall, the experience was a great one for all of us, especially for the new boys who hadn’t been before. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we’re all hoping for another shot at these competitions next year, potentially to improve results. Thank you to Eli Meyrick for coaching us, a big thank you Simon Parton for helping with transport and an especially large thank you to Chris Campbell for making this possible for us.

Senior Touch Rugby Regionals

What started as a beautiful day down at Fraser Park, ended up as a bit of a learning curb for our young students. Marquee set up, blanket down and seats unfolded, it was the perfect scene for a day of touch.

We started off the day with a good hard fought win against Taita. It was back and forth for the majority of the game but we managed to pull through in the end. What then followed were 3 hard losses to Wainui, Scots and Paraparaumu. The standout players on the day were the hard working Jah Reremoana, the skilful Jayden Toko and the hard working female pair of Nikyah Pou and Perzia Wright. Each and every student had moments of brilliance but knowing we lose only one person from this team for the following year leaves us in good stead for the next tournament.

Overall our students had an awesome day and learnt a lot through their own play and by watching teams who have been together a while. We have grown as a unit and will only be stronger for the future. Touch! What a game!

Mitch Browne

Ki O Rahi

The Becketts had the privilege of taking a group of 16 students away to our Ki o Rahi Regionals held at Kāpiti College on Tuesday 12th March.

This was our first time attending this Tournament and all the students should be really proud of how well they played.

People often ask what the game is about. There are not many sports that have two distinct game plans depending on if you are attacking or defending. This tākaro provides another opportunity for our ākonga to be immersed in Te Ao Māori. Ki o Rahi first started in NZ and the Māori Battalion took it across the world, teaching it to others in World War 2. Like any sport, it has continued to evolve and develop over time, and it has been a privilege to be a part of this kaupapa. Although each game is only 20 minutes, it is a fast paced game that requires evasion, strategic thinking and teamwork.

We had some tough competition and started our first game playing the defending champs, Wainuiomata College. This was a bit of a wake up call with them winning by quite a big margin, but provided good insight into how we could pick our game up. We then went on to defeat both Kāpiti and Onslow to make it through to the top eight playoffs. This saw us move into some tough games where we lost against two Kura, Te Ara Whanui and Porirua. Finally, we won our last game against Kāpiti to come 7th out of 16 teams.

Kathleen Beckett

Regional Athletics

Last month we took a small but talented team to Newtown Park to compete at the Wellington Regional Athletics Champs. 

Our first success was Zoe Hilton finishing 2nd in the 3000m, Zoe then managed to run in the 1500m not long after, claiming another 2nd place finish and a spot in the Wellington contingent to compete at the North Island Champs. It is of note that Zoe also finished 1st in the Steeplechase event that was held prior to Regionals. This is a new discipline for Zoe and one that she shows a lot of promise in. 

Our next success came at the High Jump with year 9 Ruby Tourelle elevating herself above the rest of the competition to claim 1st place in the Junior Girls' event and a spot in the Wellington team. A massive thanks to our student volunteers who assisted the organisers on the day.

Lawn Bowls

Lawn Bowls continues to prove to be popular at UHC and as it turns out we are pretty good at it! Our top pairs duo of Taui White and Erwin Beukes competed at the College Sport Wellington Pairs Champs at Petone Bowling Club and progressed through pool play to set up a final with Kuranui College of Greytown. 

Unfortunately, our boys had to settle for silver in what was a very entertaining final. Looking to continue their form and go one step further, Taui and Erwin represented the Upper Valley Zone at the Zonal Champs held at Naenae Bowling Club. Again the pair progressed through the early stages and were set for a showdown against the pair from the Wellington Zone made up of a duo from Rongotai College. 

Taui and Erwin proved to be too strong in the end and rightfully claimed the Warwick Dugdale Cup. Medals and cups aside the pair can now call themselves the best bowlers in Wellington!!!! Well done boys!