Last Saturday, secondary schools' Touch dominated Alhambra Park in North Dunedin. Our team, led capably by Holly Taylor and Brylee Milmine, decided the tournament would give them a taste of tough competition leading up to the South Islands in March.

Ex-Waitakian, Jasmine Hunter (who represented NZ in 2018), stepped in to coach for the day and we're ecstatic that she's available for the South Islands. Jasmine is still heavily involved in Otago Touch, selecting and coaching while studying for an Education degree.

We started the day with a solid win against OGs then had a jolt of reality playing two top New Zealand secondary schools' teams : Columba and St Hilda's which resulted in a couple of hard losses for the girls playing. However, the lessons learned from these fierce teams are invaluable and the coaches are glad to have a few key areas to focus on. The last match for 3rd and 4th place, vs OGs, was a nail-biter. At full time, the score was tied. In this scenario, 'drop-offs' occur which means only four selected players continue to battle it out for each team. It was fantastic to have Yr 9 Neve Mavor chosen by her team-mates to step up. In the end, with only seconds to go, speedy Sarah Jamison got one over the line. An exciting conclusion to an AWESOME day. Thanks heaps to the lovely Mums that accompanied the girls. We wish the team all the best for the South Island tournament in Christchurch.