LOGAN PARK HIGH SCHOOL
Felix Pettigrew
Felix has played handball for Logan Park High School for four years. He returned from the Oceania youth championships in Tahiti in December with a hard-earned silver medal, a testament to his dedication and skill. Representing New Zealand’s under-18 as a goalie, Felix played a crucial role in the team’s journey to the finals, where they narrowly missed gold against a strong New Caledonian side.
The path to Tahiti was paved with intense preparation. Felix participated in four rigorous training camps in Christchurch and Auckland, honing his skills alongside the nation’s best young handballers. This commitment reflects his passion for the sport.
Now in year 13, Felix is a key figure in Logan Park’s handball programme. His experience and knowledge are invaluable, and he is eager to share his skills and knowledge with younger students, ensuring the sport’s continued growth within the school. His silver medal is not just a personal achievement, but an inspiration to aspiring handball players across New Zealand.
QUEEN’S HIGH SCHOOL
Mikaela Brown
Sport: Archery.
Achievements: First in the under-14 women’s compound division 2 x 720 rounds at the Chingford Star 2024; first for team matchplay at the Chingford Star 2025; first in the under-14 women’s compound division 1440 at Graeme Marett Memorial Shoot; first in the 1440 under-14 women’s compound division 2024; first and third in the under-14 compound interschool competition.
Getting into the sport: My dad did it and I thought I would try it. I went to the beginner’s course at the Dunedin Archery Club and found out it was really fun and got coaching from my dad and lots of other archers. I started competing and trained harder.
OTAGO BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL
Blaine O’Brien
Sport: Ultimate frisbee.
Goal: To win the South Island secondary schools tournament that is held in Christchurch during Summer Tournament Week.
Getting into the sport: I’ve been playing disc golf since I was about 7, and a few years ago I heard about ultimate frisbee. I decided to give it a try and fell in love with the sport straight away, and since then I’ve tried to play whenever I can, and recently I joined the Otago Boys’ High School team.
Flynn MacGill-Brown
Sport: Diving.
Achievements: Silver and bronze medals at the Australian Secondary School Games last year, and selection for the New Zealand team to compete at the Dubai International Aquatic Championships in March.
Getting into the sport: I got into diving when I spent lots of time at the pool as a kid, and then wanted to do either swimming or diving, but was unable to do swimming because the registrations had closed, so I just tried diving and have done it since then.
Shaun Hasler
Sport: Mountain biking (downhill and enduro).
Achievements: I have had top-five results at previous South Island secondary school races, and finished sixth at the national secondary schools downhill race.
Getting into the sport: My parents got me into the sport as I have been riding bikes since an early age. I have been competing in local mountain biking races since I was 11.
TRINITY CATHOLIC COLLEGE
Sophie Hoexum
Sport: Surf life saving.
Achievements/goals: For the past two seasons, I have been very focused on canoe, and have won gold medals at nationals in 2024 and 2025, but in the 2025-2026 season I would like to compete in board, swim and ski events, as well as canoe.
Getting into the sport: When I moved from The Netherlands to New Zealand, we lived near a beach and I would always see all the other kids my age at the beach on their boards and body surfing, and I thought it looked fun. The next season, I joined Mairangi Bay Surf Life Saving Club. I really enjoyed it, but everyone at that club was way more competitive than I was, so I quit after three seasons.
Then we moved to Dunedin and I met someone from Warrington Surf Life Saving Club, who convinced me to join surf life saving again, so when I was 14 I got my lifeguard award, and the season after that I was asked to join a canoe team for the club.
After training for a while and going to a few competitions, our team decided we wanted to go to nationals, but we were not expecting to win anything as we had never competed against anyone in our own age category. Then at 2024 nationals, all of our hard work and training paid off and we got two gold medals for canoeing.
After these nationals, one of our team-mates went to Canada, so we couldn’t train as a full team for the next season until late December, which meant that once our team was complete again, we had to train really hard.
We saw that all of the teams that were entered in our age category were from big, competitive clubs from the North island, which was very nerve-racking, but once again we smashed all of our competitors at nationals 2025 and got two more gold medals.
