Waitaki Boys’ High School competed at the Junior Secondary Boys National Cricket Tournament in Palmerston North last month.
Waitaki Boys’ was the first Waitaki school to play at a national cricket tournament.
The tournament saw them take on cricketing powerhouses such as Hamilton Boys’ High School, Christchurch Boys’ High School, Auckland Grammar School and Wellington College.
It was great for the players to be exposed to that level of cricket, coach Mark Wilson said.
"It was a different level of cricket for a lot of those boys.
"They now realise that and that was a bit of an eye opener. But, in saying that, I felt that our top cricketers did compete really well against all of those schools at times. With the numbers they have, compared to the numbers we have, I was really impressed with how our boys went."
While they did not win a game, the team took away plenty of positives.
"We had a lot of internal results that we wanted to achieve and we reached all of those.
"One of the big ones was we wanted to bat 40 overs against Auckland Grammar. They’re one of the big [cricketing] schools of the country and if we could get through 40 overs against them, potentially that may put a bit of pressure on them."
The team was also awarded the Spirit of Cricket award which was voted on by the officials at the event, including umpires and groundsmen.
"We were very honoured in receiving that and were very proud to have that award coming back to Waitaki Boys’.
"Ash Tonkin, who ran the tournament, said to me at the prizegiving, this was the easiest decision they had made all week."
Wilson loved seeing the development of "every single kid" that played.
"Looking at where we started in the week and where we finished was quite outstanding and not just a couple of people, it was by everybody, in their own way."
The players also really enjoyed the week away.
"They loved it. Like everything, you are sort of a wee bit apprehensive when you go, but when you get there and things are going well, you don’t want to leave."
