Region’s French connection to heroic day
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Luke went to France for the 2020 commissioning of the museum and its 2023 opening, while remaining connected with the project during and since its design.
“We established strong connections through which we collated the information, took the idea to market and found its home inside the refurbished mansion, while meeting some incredible local people along the way, especially young people eager to get involved.
“The museum’s soft opening welcoming locals for a free first look proved the strong emotional connection to me ... most people had tears in their eyes walking out and we had people come up and say ‘thank you for looking after us back then, we hope we’ve looked after your boys well’.
“It’s been fantastic to deliver a special, authentic museum to a special, authentic little town,” he added.
John Boswell’s last visit to Le Quesnoy was in 2024 under his former role as head of the New Zealand Army, where he too was impressed by the dedication of the township to remember the efforts of young New Zealanders.
“Le Quesnoy’s liberation was a distinctly New Zealand operation that showed innovative
tactics to infiltrate and liberate the town without the significant death and destruction of similar places across the Western Front.
“To be able to stand where the soldiers placed ladders to scale the wall was an incredibly surreal experience and brings life to the remarkable part of New Zealand military history which happened here.
“The dedication of Le Quesnoy’s residents to the achievements of New Zealanders and their ongoing appreciation, especially with the addition of the new museum, is remark-
able. In my roles with the Army, I spent lots of time in various capabilities on the Western Front and the contribution of New Zealand at that time for a small nation at the end of the world was immense, so it’s only right we remember it to this day.”
Former Deputy PM and regular Marlborough visitor Sir Don McKinnon attended commemorations first in 1995 – during his tenure as the Commonwealth’s Secretary General – and is pleased the story has found a permanent home as at the time of his first visit, New Zealand didn’t have a specific visitor centre on the Western Front.
“My sister Kate attended the [brass band’s Anzac] concert, spoke very highly of it to me and mentioned Le Quesnoy, knowing how I’d been previously. It struck my wife and I how knowledgeable and thankful the town and its people were for the efforts of a country from the far-flung end of the earth.
“The story of young Averill finding the only ledge where borrowed apple orchard ladders were able to reach the top of the wall is a real Kiwi ingenuity, number 8 wire kind of story.
“I carry the place with me each Anzac Day and always encourage New Zealanders to go and support those historical connections as much as Le Quesnoy supports them.”
Catching the Bug
WILLIAM WOODWORTH
Volkswagens of all ages and stages, with their owners in tow, gathered in Marlborough for the brand’s annual National weekend.
Saturday saw Lansdowne Park host the Volkswagen Show and Shine with over 120 cars and the public voting for their favourite, while Sunday saw a group convoy to St Arnaud. Boomtown Dubbers’ Peter Morey and Aaryn Nicholson were over-the-moon with the turnout of vehicles and guests for the celebration weekend.
“We had a plan to set up before the gates open, but we had a bit of a mad scramble of parking as the public was wanting to come in early,” says Aaryn.
“I wasn’t quite expecting this many people,
if I’m honest with you, and think the weather odds were in our favour,” adds Peter. “Coming in the door we had 119 registered and another dozen or so come in the gate this morning with a huge variety of VW vehicles. There’s such dedication behind many of these cars – there’s one Beetle with a full Altezza engine and floor pan swap where they cut the whole car in half to make it wide enough.
“The amount of time and effort that’s gone that into many of these vehicles is absolutely unbelievable”.
Volkswagen national sales manager Scott Duggan says that events like the Nationals “shows the passion of Volkswagen people, their love for their cars, and their love for their history.
“Every year Nationals just keeps getting better and better, but this feels like the biggest one yet, and everyone we’ve spoken to is just happy to be here”.
John Boswell, left, and a friend outside the Le Quesnoy NZ Liberation Museum.
Plastic posts stand alone at Enviro Awards
Projects making an environmental impact across the region were celebrated last week, with a revolutionary plastic recycling option winning the overall award.
The 2024/25 Port Marlborough Marlborough Environment Awards were hosted at the ASB Theatre on Wednesday, with almost 30 local organisations taking part.
FuturePost scooped the 2025 Supreme Award, as well as winning their specific wine section, for their efforts in turning soft plastics into fence posts and landscaping materials.
“It was fantastic to be a part of the Environment Awards process and humbling to be a finalist - everyone nominated is a winner as there’s many significant contributions with environmental impact going on so it’s difficult to pick a specific winner because everyone is,” said FuturePost’s sales and marketing manager Alistair Kirk. FuturePost’s business model contributes to waste minimization by recycling soft plastic from Marlborough vineyards, businesses and the public to produce fencing posts, which impressed the judges for its scale, circular economy set-up and technological innova-
tion. “It’s a difficult process. We’re combining low and high-density polyethylene and polypropylene and carbon which a lot of people, including plastics experts, just said couldn’t be done”, said Alistair.
“Jerome Wenzlick [FuturePost founder] is a very entrepreneurial, clever guy who came up with workarounds, persevered, and ended up with a system and strong IP which enables our environmental efforts.
ple that deserve the acknowledgement at the core of FuturePost, in our factories in Blenheim and Waiuku.”
Awards co-ordinator Julia Brown said the diversity of entrants and impacts from across all different sectors in Marlborough was engaging throughout the selection process.
everyone’s achievements.
“I love working on this event, it’s so interesting to see the diversity of the entries that come in and it’s great to see so many people and new faces here tonight as the event keeps growing.
of their aspirations to be a good community partner is to celebrate the commitments Marlborough makes to its environment.
“Environmentally, success is celebrated differently, but all of the entrants are making a commitment to Marlborough, leading sustainability as a region.
“As a port, we understand and take our role as a kaitiaki seriously by leading the way and being environmentally positive and restorative in these fragile ecosystems which we coexist with by being the only port to track our sustainability to a global standard.”
Marlborough Environment Awards winners: Wine Industry & Supreme Winner: Future Post Landscape & Habitat Enhancement: Wild Waikawa Marine: Waikawa Boating Club
“We’re really pleased for the peo-
“The vibes are all really positive and I think everyone really enjoys a good story to celebrate so it’s one of those evenings where we’re here to share and celebrate
“There’s something in each entry that someone can take home with them and maybe implement themselves in their own business or on their own property.”
As the awards’ sponsor for the first time, Port Marlborough CEO Rhys Welbourn said part
Farming: Glentoi FarmWillie & Millie Milton Business Innovation: Kinzett Tomatoes & MG Contracting Community innovation: Envirohub Marlborough Forestry: TOTSWC - Te Hoiere Forestry Projects Electrification & Energy Efficiency: TRS Wholesale Ltd
FuturePost’s Alistair Kirk receiving the Marlborough Environment Supreme Award. Photo: Supplied.
KiwiRail to compensate customers for cancelled ferry sailings
JENÉE TIBSHRAENY
NZ HERALD
More people whose travel plans are derailed by Interislander ferry cancellations will now be eligible for compensation.
Interislander – which is owned by the state-owned enterprise
KiwiRail – is loosening its approach towards compensating customers affected by mechanical breakdowns to ensure it complies with the law.
It is compensating customers affected by a raft of cancellations in early 2023.
It is also opening itself up to considering reimbursing customers affected by other cancellations in the past and using a more consumer-friendly compensation policy going forward. Interislander’s move follows a Commerce Commission investigation, which prompted it to admit its approach towards compensation may have breached the law.
Legally, Interislander needs to compensate customers affected by cancellations caused by factors within its control.
Whether or not a particular mechanical breakdown is in its
control can take time to get to the bottom of, with the ferry operator in the past concluding a breakdown wasn’t in its control, when in fact it was.
This misdiagnosis led to it wrongly telling customers they were ineligible for compensation.
Interislander admits the error and is remediating those affected by three breakdowns in early-2023 – the Kaitaki losing power between January 28 and
March 4, a heat exchanger problem with the Kaiarahi in February, and a gearbox issue affecting the Kaitaki between March 4 and April 12.
People affected by other cancelled sailings due to breakdowns, who believe they might be eligible for compensation, will need to contact Interislander themselves.
The costs Interislander may compensate customers for could include ferry tickets, flights, ac-
commodation or car hire.
Going forward, Interislander will treat a breakdown as being within its control, unless it’s clear from the get-go that it isn’t.
Commerce Commission general manager Vanessa Horne said Interislander’s commitment would “put money back in the pockets of affected consumers, and crucially, set out a more straightforward path for getting a refund going forward when a ferry trip is cancelled.”
She noted Interislander’s commitments to the commission were legally binding and enforceable by the courts.
KiwiRail couldn’t put a figure on how much its remediation efforts would cost.
Its chief customer and growth officer Adele Wilson said: “We have fully cooperated with the commission and acknowledge that we could have done better by our customers in the early part of 2023 and need to do better by our customers going forward.”
Wilson said KiwiRail had revamped its maintenance regime since 2023, with ferry sailings becoming more reliable since then.
Digging in Picton: The Waitohi Picton Community Garden at the end of Huia Street is hosting its first working bee on Wednesday April 23 from 10am in preparations for the spring opening of the new community facility. There are a variety of jobs available for all ages to be a part of the building a new community initiative. Please bring your own hat, drink bottle, snacks and gloves, and there are no toilets on site. Check the Waitohi Picton Community Garden Facebook page for updates or postponements and send all enquiries to communitygarden@envirohub.co.nz.
Mounting up: Endurance horse riding enthusiasts are gearing up for a thrilling weekend at the Radincon ESNZ Endurance & CTR National Championships, set to take place in Marlborough from 25-27 April. This prestigious event returns to the region for the first time since 2004, hosted by the Marlborough Endurance & Trail Riding Club. The event caters to riders of all levels, with distances ranging from beginner-friendly 5km rides to the ultimate endurance test: the 160km pinnacle race. This year’s 160km event also serves as a vital qualifier for the 2026 Endurance World Championships in Saudi Arabia. Among the 20 entries for the pinnacle race are riders from across New Zealand, along with two Australians.
The Kaitaki Ferry at Picton earlier this year. Photo: William Woodworth.
Council’s Blenheim office will close on Friday 25 April for Anzac Day. If you have an urgent issue during this time, phone 03 520 7400.
WASTE SERVICES
All Council waste facilities including Transfer Stations, the Recycling Centre, Hazardous Waste Centre and the Dump Shop will be closed until 1pm.
LANDFILL
The Bluegums landfill will operate from 12 noon to 5pm.
KERBSIDE COLLECTIONS
There will be no kerbside collection on Anzac Day. If your collection day is Friday, please place your wheelie bin out for a 7am Saturday collection. To download the Wheelie Bin Collection Schedule, go to: links.marlborough.govt.nz/collection-day
MARLBOROUGH DISTRICT LIBRARIES
Marlborough Library (Blenheim) and Picton Library and Service Centre will be closed.
BUS SERVICES
Bus services will not operate on Anzac Day.
Power aplenty from local lifters
WILLIAM WOODWORTH
Blenheim’s powerlifters continued their ongoing battle to defy gravity when the Great South Grand Slam came to town on Saturday.
Ascension Gym in Springlands hosted the event, with 12 lifters competing in their bench press, squat and deadlift throughout the day.
Among those turning on the power were Cyril Heywood, who came just 10kg short of a 1000kg total lift across the three disciplines, 18-year-old Izayah Drayton, who scored a 640kg total, plus 17-year-old Nikita Watson who remained stoic despite deadlifting 127.5kg.
Among the field was Special Olympian Benn Thomas, who lives with down syndrome and put on a show for the gathered crowd with personal bests in his bench press, squat and deadlifts.
“The weights were heavy, but I felt so good when I got them up”, said Benn.
“I heard everyone yelling and felt them wanting me to lift it, but I didn’t really listen. I just lift the bar up, it’s what I do.”
Special Olympics Marlborough coach Bob Tate said he was, “super, super proud of the boy”.
“He hasn’t even been doing powerlifting for a year, and we train three times a week at the Stadium, so working with Richard [de Reeper] once a week to improve his technique and lift with the Ascension team gives Ben more impetus,” says Bob. “Benn really puts the effort with training
and again in the show today with personal bests across all his lifts, but Richard has helped Ben tremendously.”
Benn now has a couple of months off now before training for the Special Olympics National Summer Games in December and will be looking to take the competition by storm. “From being pretty new to powerlifting, Benn’s gone really well and put in some great effort in the lead up and today,” commented Richard, the Ascension Gym owner. “I’ve been working with Benn and Bob for five or six weeks to get used to the equipment and technique tips, but they’ve been brilliant, and it’s shown in the results today.
“He missed a command on the squat and dipped the bar a little bit to one side on one, but that’s something that comes with more time and practise.”
Richard says the impetus behind local powerlifting competitions is keen gym members and volunteers willing to spend their Saturday loading bars and protecting lifters. “The whole South Island Grand Slam event has been great to bring back again this year with eager local lifters and competitors from further abroad travelling to compete at a Global Powerlifting Committee [GPC] competition.
“There’s been a bit of stress in training up a new spotting crew and throwing them in the deep end on competition day, but we’ll hopefully have more referees’ qualified shortly and run more GPC events in Blenheim,” added Richard.
Virtual After-hours
Wairau Pharmacy’s Rebecca Anderson and Lynda Butt accompanied Zara Bunny – a relative of the Easter Bunny - to share the Easter spirit over the weekend.
Photo: William Woodworth
Main image: Benn Thomas gets his personal best deadlift off the ground. Left: Cyril Heywood with his 375kg deadlift. Middle: Nikita Watson stoic during a heavy lift.
Right: Benn is greeted with a hug from coach Bob Tate. Photos: William Woodworth.
Wearing support on our sleeves
WILLIAM
WOODWORTH
Young local artists have been set the task to promote kindness and consent for a May community event designed to prevent sexual harm in Marlborough.
Maataa Waka Ki Te Tau Ihu is running a T-shirt design competition aimed at raising awareness and preventing sexual harm in our community.
The competition is an opportunity for young artists to showcase their talents while contributing to a vital cause. The winning design will be printed for the ‘Whakatika i tō Mana’ event on May 24 at the Marlborough Events Centre where they will receive their prize, be interviewed, and have their shirt spread the important message of the day to end the silence and stop sexual harm.
Each submission must include a brief statement explaining the message behind the design, with the theme of “working together to raise awareness and prevent sexual harm in our community.”
Participants are encouraged to express their creativity through hand-drawn or digitally-designed artwork that is respectful, avoids inappropriate content, and should fit within the dimensions of an A4 sheet of paper.
The deadline for submissions is April 28, 2025, at 5pm - designs can be emailed to manawamai@maataawaka.co.nz or hand-delivered to Maataa Waka at 56 Main Street.
‘Bumper’ salt volumes signal cyclone recovery
MONIQUE STEELE, RNZ
The wrath of Cyclone Gabrielle sent strong winds and heavy rainfall from the North Island’s East Coast down to the top of the South Island in February 2023. The storm smashed parts of Marlborough, including the country’s only solar evaporative salt field at Lake Grassmere, south of Blen-
heim, right before harvest was about to begin. Happening just four times in its 77-year history, producer and refiner Dominion Salt’s chief executive Euan Mcleish said its 2023 harvest produced nothing, after being disrupted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
“Two years ago, we had a no har vest, nothing at all, which was a challenge.”
But a drought in early 2024, as well as this summer, meant good conditions for the salt fields.
“Last year, we had a good harvest, so we got some reserves back and this year we had an above average harvest which is pleasing also,” Mcleish said.
for Dominion Salt
our salt reserves on the stack got completely depleted, but another reasonable harvest next year and we will be back into a comfortable position.”
Mount Maunganui, uses its salt made at the lake in food, pharmaceuticals, animal health and other products.
Mcleish said brine went out in late September before harvest began in early March.
“But we’re still playing catchup from a few years back where
Salt has been produced from evaporated sea water at Lake Grassmere since about the 1940s and covered around 1400 hectares.
Dominion Salt, headquartered in
He said early tallies saw the longterm average of 60,000 tonnes exceeded by another 15,000 tonnes this year.
Blenheim’s Musical Theatre about to get Footloose
What makes this theatre group so special isn’t just the talent on stage, but the spirit that fuels every performance. Everyone in volved, from actors to backstage
ment to the strength of the Blenheim arts community. Despite being a small town, Blenheim Musical Theatre continues to attract attention from across the
The Maataa Waka crew at the Relay for Life. Photo: William Woodworth.
McLuckie and Tyler Hune
5. D avid Day and Chris Mitchell
6. M urray Turbitt and Chris Pidgeon
7. A lan Sprouse, Ruth Satherley and Len Paris
8. S ue Creighton and Jane Scull
9. L etitia Gately and Ryan Lynch
Photos: William Woodworth
Rotorua, Ohakune, Napier, Wellington & more!
Rotorua, Taranaki Garden
Napier, Wairarapa
Opinion
Community Comments
GYM OWNER RISES FROM THE CANVAS
Great article, always in your corner my box on whanau could say a whole lot more but it’s behind us now lessons learnt, to the haters you may have tried to take us down but we are a strong team and will fight to the end for what we believe in
– Nomez Nic
Awesome Lee you’re a good guy and a lot of people respect you keep up the hard work bro
- Alousha Taylor
PROVINCIAL BANTER BATTLE
You talk some smack, Lippy
- David van der Velden
Picton is actually the home of winners. The Nelson hippies have been eating to many mushrooms, go back to your pottery wheels and wash your hair
- Max George
STREET TALK
It’s Anzac Day on Friday –how do you commemorate the day?
AND ASKS...
Barbara Vesela
My son is obsessed with Anzac Day so we’ll do something at the house and get the kids along to the service because it’s so important to remember – unfortunately I’ll have to work the day.
Cheryl and Alaska May
It makes me think of all of the stories of brave young men and fallen heroes who risked their lives.
Owen Marfell I go to the Blenheim midday service, and it makes me think of my grandad who went and never came back.
Michael Pycroft I was going to go to the Airshow for a fix of the military machines, but I’ll go to an Anzac Day event for the people.
Blenheim gym club future discussed
PETER JONES
Sophia’s choice pays off
PETER JONES
For Sophia Nicholas, touch is very much a family affair. The 16-year-old Marlborough Girls’ College Year 12 student has recently been chosen to represent New Zealand and will soon join both her parents as proud wearers of the silver fern.
Sophia has been named in the NZ under-18 mixed side which will travel to Queensland in May to participate in the Asia Pacific Youth Touch Cup. Her parents, Todd Nicholas and Katie Bradley, have worn the black singlet as members of various NZ masters sides and competed at two Touch World Cups. Sophia pinpoints her parents’ connection and success with the free-flowing, action-packed sport as a major
motivator. “It is a very cool ‘following in their footsteps’ vibe I guess,” she says. “My other siblings [Mitch and Natalie] are into sport as well, so I hope they can do the same … it’s a very sporty family.”
She describes her parents as, “my rocks”.
“My Dad is such an important part of my life. I train with him every day … and my Mum, she is so good with the mental part of it. They help in different ways, but I am very grateful for both of them.”
To earn selection Sophia took part in a couple of trials. The first, in Christchurch, involved 250 girls, then the numbers were cut to just 30 hopefuls.
She admitted to being a bit apprehensive at the final trial, especially being unfamiliar with mixed touch. “I was very
nervous. I had never played mixed and I had been picked to train with the mixed squad. There were 10 girls [trialling] and only six were to be picked so I was very aware of that. When the email arrived and I saw my name it was like a rush of relief.”
Although she was informed in February of her selection, the teenager had to keep it to herself for around a month, which she described as “so, so hard”.
“Everyone knew that I had made the final trial and they kept asking me whether I knew [if I had been selected], but I said that I couldn’t tell them. That was tough, but I was allowed to tell my parents.”
After initially being unsure how she would adapt to mixed touch, Sophia now prefers it
because, “it’s so much faster and you need a different skill set, plus there are more set plays and moves”.
Also a talented netballer and basketballer, Sophia says touch is the pursuit she prefers. “While [touch] is an individual sport, in that you have to keep your own fitness levels and skills up, it is also very much about team culture. Getting to know your team mates and taking part in touch champs and tournaments, that’s what makes it the sport that it is.
“I also like the structured play and the fact it is very technical, which people might not realise, so having touch IQ is a big factor,” adds Sophia. If she is looking for help in that direction, a glance around the dinner table at home should certainly suffice.
The Blenheim Gymnastics Club have some important decisions to make in the near future and they are seeking community feedback. In the first step of many towards helping create a sustainable future for gymnastics in Marlborough, a feasibility report was commissioned and completed, looking at two possibilities for the future of the club. There were two main parts to the report. The first was a feasibility study into the current building - should the club stay and make major repairs and upgrades or seek out a new building.
Secondly, a business case study into the sustainability of staying fully-volunteer or moving to a paid staff structure was undertaken. Several recommendations arose from the report regarding the building issue.
The current building does not meet the club’s current or future needs and has significant issues such as aging infrastructure, lack of heating and cooling, stormwater and flooding issues, lack of car park, pedestrian access and streetlights. The cost of fixing these issues, along with physical constraints such as available land make any form of renovation untenable. Options for a new facility are limited due to the large floor area size needed and roof height requirements.
The recommended option is a Council-owned building at 18 Kinross St currently leased by Smith City. Other options identified included a new purpose-built facility on Rewi Murray Park or a temporary structure placed alongside the Horton Park Pavilion – both options are both time and cost prohibitive.
The next steps in the process are to present the report to Council, but before then feedback for the community is sought on the report recommendations. Comments and feedback is welcome to blenheimgymnasticsclub@yahoo. co.nz
Youngsters relish adventure racing
PETER JONES
Four Bohally students produced a memorable effort at the recent Kaikoura Adventure Race.
Ethan Spencer, Jack Cutts, Finnbar Duncan and Ewan Parley combined forces across a variety of disciplines to finish second in the South Island Schools Championship race and first champion boys’ team in the three-hour race. They had to rogaine 10 checkpoints, play disc golf, mountain bike, trek, bike again and navigate a huge slip and slide down the side of the hill then bike into the finish line.
The Bohally crew completed the course, which covered 17.09km,
with an elevation of 849m, in three hours 13 minutes and 20 seconds, taking maximum points in the rogaine. They finished fifth overall out of 67 teams.
The 3 Amigos - a combined team of Bohally and Renwick School students (Hugo Feather, Sam Murphy and Oliver Brown) finished fourth in the three-hour open schools’ section.
The Bohally Compass Crushers (Skyla-Rose Large, Poppy Stocker, Honor Mckenzie and Chloe Vallely) finished second in the junior girls’ three-hour championship.
Sixty-seven teams competed in the three-hour race field.
In the schools’ section, where
athletes compete for South Island Secondary Schools Adventure Racing championship titles, there were three, six and 12-hour options.
The MBC Falcons also entered a four-man team and came fifth in the 12-hour race, being pipped at the post when four teams came in together.
The team comprised: James Parley, Hugh Bradley, Lachy Noble and James Crowe. They started on the beach at 7am in the dark and finished in the dark way up the inland Kaikoura Rd, covering 48.87km and climbing to an elevation of 3264m.
The Kaikoura Adventure Race is a traditional adventure race that encompasses multiple disciplines in the stunning terrain of the Kaikoura District with its mountains to sea, hill country, rivers and an abundance of native bush.
Every year the courses change as the race shifts round the district.
The exact location and course details are revealed just prior to the event.
Matt’s crew break tennis drought
PETER JONES
New Zealand, captained by Marlborough-based coach Matt Hair, have broken a 32-year drought by qualifying for the Billie Jean King Cup women’s teams’ tennis World Group playoffs.
The team led by world number 45 Lulu Sun, beat Thailand 2-1 in Pune, India to clinch qualification, claiming four wins from five in the Asia/Oceania group one tournament, and will play off for a world group place later this year.
It was a historic effort – the first time New Zealand has progressed beyond the regional stages since 1993 – and Sun was at the heart of it, unbeaten in singles and doubles.
While the level of her rivals varied across the week, the match play – in tough conditions, with temperatures about 40C at times – was invaluable.
Alongside Sun, the team comprised an in-form Monique
Barry, plus Billie Jean King Cup debutants Aishi Das, Sasha Situe and Renee Zhang who all got game time during the tournament. Several US college players, plus doubles specialist Ering Routliffe, were unavailable for the trip to India.
The Kiwi team beat India 2-1, South Korea 2-1, Chinese Tai-
pei 2-1 and Thailand 2-1 before losing their final match to Hong Kong, when qualification was assured and Matt was able to give the younger players some valuable experience in the international environment.
The forthcoming play-offs are being held during the week of 10 November 2025 at a venue to be
confirmed.
New Zealand is one of 21 nations competing with the format being seven groups of three teams. Only the winner of the group will progress to the qualifiers to be held in 2026.
Competing in the play-offs alongside New Zealand and India will be teams who did not progress to the finals this year from qualifying like Canada, Romania, Australia, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.
The Billie Jean King Cup used to be called the Federation Cup (1963-1995) and Fed Cup (19952020). There are over 140 teams competing in the Billie Jean King Cup, with Italy the current champions.
Matt said the team’s focus on culture had a lot to do with their success.
“The culture within the women’s programme is something we have been working hard to develop over the last few years,” he added.
“Having an inclusive, collabora-
tive culture made the transition smooth for our younger debutants and allowed them to be authentic and contribute right from the get go.
“Our values were key to achieving team objectives and our overall goal of promotion.
“Lulu and Monique were instrumental in the process and led by example. They had a heavy work load and showed grit and determination in testing conditions clinching key matches throughout the week.”
Now, he is looking ahead to the stage of the campaign and a chance to mix it with some of the leading tennis nations.
“We are excited for the next phase … and testing ourselves on the word stage against some real powerhouse tennis countries.
“Hopefully we can pick up a home tie which would give us the opportunity to select the court surface, eliminate long distance travel and have the Kiwi crowd behind us,” added Matt.
Bohally students, from left, Ethan Spencer, Jack Cutts, Finnbar Duncan and Ewan Parley. Photo: Supplied.
Matt Hair and the NZ team. Photo: Supplied.
Memorial tournament a winner
PETER JONES
The weather matched the football when the Marlborough senior football season kicked off at A&P Park on Saturday week.
The skies were clear and the football bright and attractive as the John Columbus Senior Men’s Tournament opened proceedings for 2025. Ten local sides took part, in two separate pools.
The final also provided late entertainment, the match ending in a penalty shootout as Rangers Reserves claimed the title for the first
time.
Their coach, Gareth Pugh, said it was good to get underway.
“The Reserves and Colts sides have been training for 11 weeks and were itching to play. Both teams played some attractive football and it was great to blood a number of youngsters into the men’s division.
“It’s always a good feeling to win a tournament but we are under no illusions that it is only a warm-up and a few teams were light of some players, so there is still plenty of work to do. Newbies to the Reserves squad - Ben Lindfield, Is-
sac Llosa Rowden, Rhys Yockney, Riley Ponder and Alex McLeish - showed their potential and the team was captained well by Cody Stone, while Logan Stone pulled the rabbit out of the hat with three saves in the final penalty shootout,” added Gareth.
Final placings: 1 Rangers Reserves, 2 Trojans AFC, 3 Rangers Colts, 4 Central Buccaneers, 5 Picton Crow Tavern, 6 Rangers City, 7 Central Wolves, 8 BV Masters, 9 Renwick Lonewolves, 10 Trojans Strikers.
The local competition kicks off on Saturday, April 26.
Indoor centre to host big events
PETER JONES
The Blenheim Indoor Sports Centre is preparing to host a couple of exciting, high-profile sporting events over the next few months.
First up is a sport making its debut at the Battys Rd premises –competitive boxing.
The 2025 South Island Golden Gloves championships will be staged in the back hall of the Simcox Stadium on May 31 and June 1. This is the first time the
Golden Gloves, one of the sport’s premier events, will be staged in Marlborough and it was decided to set up a ring and seating at the indoor centre rather than stage it at one of the local boxing gyms.
The fact the event is coming to Blenheim underlines the rising quality of boxers in the region.
The champs are hosted by Box on Boxing and the Reefton Boxing Club.
Later in the year comes a more traditional pursuit for the indoor centre – the New Zealand Mas-
ters over-40 indoor cricket championships, with teams expected to attend from throughout the country.
This will be the biggest indoor cricket tournament staged so far at the Simcox Stadium, Battys Rd facility, although a few other high-profile tournaments have taken place at the Burleigh courts, the previous indoor cricket venue. The NZ champs are scheduled for July 31- August 2 and it is hoped a Marlborough team will take part. The local centre is also planning to send a team to the South Island open men’s champs at King’s Birthday Weekend and maybe a side to the NZ champs in September.
Blenheim Indoor Centre manager Dot Fitzpatrick said, “It’s going to be a big few months for us but we
The indoor complex is already a busy place with indoor cricket, indoor netball, pickleball, table tennis, tenpin bowling, indoor bowls and badminton competitions taking place regularly, plus a steady flow of gym customers and occasional outdoor sport practices when the weather fails to play ball. Dot is looking forward also to the winter leagues beginning in May, and encourages early registration, plus the new addition of a junior [year 6-8] indoor cricket league over the winter months. It begins on May 2. Contact is info@blen heimindoorsports.co.nz.
Blenheim Indoor Centre employees Kaaro Rene and Kayse Holdaway will be involved in the forthcoming champs. Photo: Peter Jones.
The victorious Rangers Reserves crew. Photo: Supplied.
Quality Products Quality Craftmanship
McCraes Blinds & Screens emphasizes their commitment to quality craftsmanship and local production. “We believe in providing the highest quality products. That’s why we produce 90% of our range in our own local factory, ensuring careful attention to detail and total control over the production process.”
