The South Otago High School senior touch team took fourth place from 43 teams during the NZ Secondary Schools Touch Nationals in Rotorua last month, making it the best placing South Otago team and mixed team the competition has seen.
Team manager Emma Puna said the team had punched well above its weight in reaching fourth spot, losing by only a single point during a drop-off against Botany Downs in its play-off.
"We’ve got real depth in the team, led by our co-captains Harlin Puna and Sydney Marshall (both 17), who’ve provided continuity and strong leadership for several years now.
"Our guys are playing against some schools with almost 2000 students and single-sex teams, meaning the pool of size and talent those schools can draw from is just so much bigger. So the whole team is stoked to have put in such a gutsy performance, and come away with some personal and competition bests."
Mrs Puna put the team’s success down to big heart, and unique strategy, which appeared to be creating a change of attitude in the sport.
"We use our girls as much as our boys, making us very fluent as a team. We play some of our girls in non-traditional touch roles, so I think other teams will see that can bring success and maybe look at things a bit differently in future."
Eleven of the 16-strong squad were already Otago representative players, Mrs Puna said.
Captains Puna and Marshall were both national representatives.
"We’d like to thank all our coaches, families, supporters and players for their massive effort this season. Here’s to the next."
