Today we highlight some unsung champions: the coaches and officials. Many Otago secondary schools have pupils who dedicate a tremendous amount of time, energy and passion to either teaching fellow pupils new skills and passing on their knowledge as a coach, or getting behind a whistle and actually allowing sport to happen.
LAWRENCE AREA SCHOOL
Grace Bradfield
Roles: Coaches touch and netball.
Year 10 pupil Grace is a volunteer coach. It is her second year coaching year 3-4 touch, and her knowledge and energy are what the team enjoy most, as do her year 3-4 netball team. Grace is also involved in the local swim club, where she is a valued team member.
Grace’s attitude towards volunteering is fantastic. She spends a couple of hours of her personal time every week to ensure the younger pupils are given the opportunity to participate in their sporting activities.
Playing netball and touch and competing in swimming is what has driven her to help others. It also gives her something to do after school. "Teaching younger children how to play is a big thing to me. I love teaching new skills and showing them what sport is all about and encourage kids my age to give it a shot as well, as it is a very fun thing to do."
Grace would like to further her coaching by stepping up to year 7-8 netball in the future and sharing the skills she has. Lawrence Area School is pleased that Grace will be at school for a few more years, as she is an outstanding role model.
EAST OTAGO HIGH SCHOOL
Samuel Paton
Roles: Netball umpire and touch referee.
Samuel is no stranger to being at the end of a whistle. However, at the end of last year he decided to try his hand at officiating a new sport, and took on the challenge of refereeing during the East Otago community touch module.
He has been heavily involved in netball officiating over the past few years but was intrigued when his sister and PE teacher at school suggested going into touch refereeing. Sam was happy to take on the challenge, but definitely noticed the difference in sheer amount of running that touch refs had to do.
EOHS has offered opportunities to develop as a referee by arranging people to come to the school and talk about the pathways in officiating and upskilling the pupils. Samuel has the goal to improve his understanding of the rules in touch and develop his overall fitness to better cater to the speed of the sport. He enjoys seeing others get outside and enjoy themselves and being able to facilitate an enjoyable game for all involved.
Paige Walker
Role: Referee.
The East Otago community touch module was Paige’s first time being a referee in the sport. She completed a Touch NZ accreditation course and volunteered for this module. Paige was inspired to referee and take on what her aunt and cousin do. She found out quickly that being a referee can be very challenging by keeping the game flowing but yet keeping it under control. Paige also took part in playing in many touch games during the module. Her goal was to gain self-confidence and assurance and she is looking forward to seeing what she can achieve this year.
COLUMBA COLLEGE
Aliya Drake
Sports: Futsal and football.
Role: Coach.
Aliya, a year 13 pupil, has been coaching futsal at Columba since 2018. Most recently, she has coached a year 7-8 team, and over the years has also coached year 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6 teams at Columba.
Aliya is the assistant coach of the Southern United academy girls under-15 yellow football team. She also coaches at Fantails, a programme that runs weekly football sessions for girls aged 4-12. Aliya was selected to be a member of the Ford Female Mentor Programme last year, which was an amazing experience for her.
The willingness of children to learn, and the joy they get from playing football, are things Aliya loves to see. She enjoys seeing faces smiling and children having fun when engaging in sport.
Aliya has set a goal to achieve her C-licence through NZ Football within the next two years. She hopes to inspire a love of the game in young players, in return for the inspiration she has received from her coaches growing up.
Her advice to pupils interested in coaching is to start off at a junior level first coaching with a friend, or as an assistant coach to build your confidence. Coaching sport is fulfilling, and Aliya has enjoyed every moment of coaching over the past six years.
CROMWELL COLLEGE
Bridie Nicol
Sport: Netball.
Roles: Coaches Cromwell College Junior Wildcats, and umpires.
Bridie’s sister’s team needed an umpire one Saturday so she volunteered and ended up really enjoying it. Central Otago Netball mentors her and runs workshops to improve skills.
Bridie finds it challenging when she hears parents or coaches on the sideline saying negative things or trying to umpire the game themselves, but really enjoys umpiring. "It just feels good to help younger students play a sport I love."
She hopes to pass her zone theory exam later this year.
OTAGO GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL
Riley Iosua
Sport: Netball.
Role: Coach.
Year 13 pupil Riley has taken on coaching for the first time this year. She was inspired to apply after having done this as part of PE and decided to take what she had learnt in class a step further.
The only difficulty she has had with her team so far is getting them communicating effectively with each other, as the team members have been taken out of their comfort zones and friend groups, and been placed with others they do not know. Riley and her fellow coaches have been working on this throughout the season.
Riley is more than happy with her coaching thus far and enjoys seeing the younger pupils fully engage in trainings and games and responding well to her as a coach, giving her and her fellow coaches a sense of achievement after each training session and game. The team are very committed and attend all trainings and games.
Depending on her study commitments next year, Riley would still like to be involved in coaching at Otago Girls’ High School. Along with her coaching role, Riley has her own team training and games to attend.
