Kavanagh College
This will be the last year in sport for Kavanagh College as it transitions to Trinity Catholic College from the start of 2023. Kavanagh started in 1989 and has had some tremendous athletes through the college over those 33 years.
It has been another busy year at Kavanagh. The highlights were the sports exchanges, including the junior Catholic schools exchange and the senior quad tournament. National tournament week is another massive highlight for the teams which travel throughout the South Island to compete against other schools.
The school athletics day, cross-country and swimming sports were very successful again this year. The pupils also enjoy competing in the local sports competitions run by the Otago Secondary Schools Sport Association and the regional sporting organisations.
It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Kavanagh College, but we welcome Trinity Catholic college as a fresh start and a chance to start a new chapter in Catholic education in the city.
Otago Girls’ High School
The school recently held its sports awards to recognise different categories, the top award being New Zealand Sidey Blues.
This year, 21 awards were presented to pupils who were selected for New Zealand teams and placed at national events. Most recently, Rosie Maley was selected in the under-18 national ice hockey team to travel to Bulgaria to compete in the world championships in January. Other national honours were in orienteering, rowing, cross-country and rugby league.
More highlights of the year include the OGHS cricket team qualifying for the national tournament in Christchurch; the rowing team winning medals at Maadi Cup; the first XV winning the Otago secondary schools competition; rock-climbing athletes featuring not only in Otago but gaining honours at South Island and national events; Catherine Lund featuring again in South Island, national and overseas events in cross-country, winning on the athletics track and even taking part in multisport events; and Rosie Falcous attending the Youth World Cup in Italy for surf life-saving, helping the team win a silver and bronze medal.
King’s High School
King’s Lions sport has two missions: to encourage and motivate young men to continue with sport through and after school, and educate and inspire those young men who seek a career in sport.
The first XI football team won the Malcolm Cowie Tournament in Papakura with a clutch goal in the final by captain Max Davidson. The first XI hockey boys are rebuilding after their most successful period and finished fifth at the Johnson Cup tournament in Christchurch. The basketball team had a challenging draw at the South Island tournament in Invercargill, and just missed out on the quarterfinals. The King’s Panthers under-15 rugby team finished top of its pool at the South Island tournament before being beaten 11-8 by Southland Boys’ in the final. Young loosehead prop Henry Hunter was the star of the final for King’s.
Several King’s Lions teams will also get their chance to compete in national and South Island tournaments in their chosen summer codes. The touch team heads to Rotorua for the national tournament in which it finished runner-up in 2020. The junior volleyball team will head to Nelson for the South Island tournament, and the junior cricket team will compete through the qualification process to attend the Junior Gillette Cup.
The school’s new high performance centre is on schedule to begin construction in term one of 2023 and the sports council has done a brilliant job in raising $120,000 for the new equipment.
The centre will be used for PE and sport and be available to the King’s High School community.
The Catlins Area School
Every Wednesday for the past three weeks, 11 Catlins pupils have travelled to Lawrence to compete against two other area schools in a volleyball competition. This is a new initiative involving Roxburgh, Lawrence and The Catlins area schools. It is a result of considerable ingenuity from the schools’ sports co-ordinators and PE teachers with backing from the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Association, and has supported the pupils in their sporting passions, without rural travel restrictions getting in the way.
The addition of this competition in term four is an exciting opportunity for these schools to meet, practise and participate in volleyball. With small school numbers and remote rural locations, it is often a challenge to find another team to connect and practise with.
Lawrence Area School was a phenomenal host and put on kai for the last night. It is a pleasure to see the rangitahi enjoying sport and making new connections. The schools will debrief and connect again with the hope that more schools based in the South Otago area will be involved next year.
Blue Mountain College
Leila Hill (year 10) and Ruby McPherson (year 11) were among those to shine at Blue Mountain this year.
Leila plays in the netball A team for the school, but her other passion is rugby. Blue Mountain has not had the numbers to have its own team for a few years, so Leila travels to Gore to play for Eastern during the rugby season.
She was selected in the Southland under-18 team, for which she competed in Balclutha then at the South Island tournament in Waimate. “This tournament had to be my highlight of the season, coming away in fourth spot,’’ Leila said.
Logan Park High School
Five years of handball development at Logan Park show real success. Two pupils have been selected for New Zealand teams — Ethan Dalwood in the under-20 team, and John Barham the under-18 team. They travel to Rarotonga next month for an Oceania tournament that also serves as qualification for an event in Europe. Ethan, John and Yannick Medvecky-Wolkenhauer were involved with the Otago men’s handball team that won the New Zealand championships.
Bayfield High School
Bayfield is proud to have completed a clean sweep at the recent Otago junior volleyball championships, winning both the boys and the girls divisions in a tightly contested competition.
