Student Sport

Term 3 began with renewed energy and lots of excitement as momentum was building towards the business ends of the various sporting competitions. In our local competition we had lots to be proud of with teams playing well above expectation.

Badminton

Over the last couple of years Badminton has been building momentum in the College. After working their way through the local round of BOP matches our senior girls took on the rest of the Bay of Plenty schools, playing some fantastic games and finishing in 3rd overall.

Girls’ Senior Badminton Team

Hockey

Hockey has always had a strong backing at our college. Our Junior A girls’ team took on all to make their final and it was no surprise that their opponents were our very own 2nd XI team! After a hard-fought final our Junior A’s won a close and competitive match. The 1st XI girls were humming this year with the introduction of two new coaches. The final was held on a cold and wet Wednesday night and finished with the scores tied. When the resulting penalty stroke hit out, our girls went down 3 - 2. This final set them up well to compete in the Mary Clinton Cup during the Winter Tournament. After winning all pool games, the Quarter and Semifinals, they were primed for the final. The girls had played some outstanding hockey but fell at the last hurdle, going down 5-4 to St Peters. Congratulations girls, you had a wonderful season and we enjoyed watching your games.

Junior Girls Hockey Winter Tournament Sport

As well as the hockey our Football, Basketball, Netball and Rock-Climbing teams also competed in the Winter Tournament in week 6 of the term. Congratulations to our Rock-Climbers, 1st XI Girls’ Hockey and our Junior Boys’ Basketball teams who all brought home silverware.

Netball

We had nine netball teams compete in the Friday night competitions with a number of our teachers putting their hand up to coach. Thanks to all that helped our own Chris Matheson to deliver a great programme. Congratulations to our Yr 10 Development team who were runners up in their division and to our 9B team that won their division.

Year 9 Netball Team

Prem 1 UNISS Netball during Winter Tournament

Rugby

Our u14 team worked hard all season and showed what great spirit they had in winning the Chris Grinter Cup for U14 boys. Our 1st XV also played in the BOP Secondary school Division 1 final against Mount Maunganui College. Having beaten Mount Maunganui College earlier in the season to win the inaugural Peter Blackwell cup, our 1st XV were well placed to compete at the highest levels. The final was a well contested affair with our 1st XV losing a tight match. Rugby was definitely the winner on the day.

Our rugby committee is also to be congratulated for a well organised fundraiser that has raised much needed funds for the school. Thank you to Bryce Lawrence, Peter Blackwell, Richard Brown and the rugby committee who worked so hard to make this event a great success.

Underwater Hockey

Edie Jackson and Ameerah Wilson in Year 12 have both been selected for the Mid Northern U18 Underwater Hockey Team. They will be playing in the U18 NZ Zonal Tournament in Wellington 21 - 24 of October.

Squash

This year our girls’ team of six players took on all the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand. In the senior BOP individual Champs our girls were placed 1st, 2nd and 4th. In the BOP team event our players (Erin Wyllie, Grace Spencer, Gen Kennerley, Kayla Bowles, Hope Kennerley, Mia Bowles) had another successful campaign to claim their second title.

This competition was but a stepping stone to the New Zealand Secondary School champs where we were the team to beat, having won this event in 2021. The girls were excited and ready for the challenge. They all played brilliantly and brought home the trophy for the second straight year.

Congratulations to the team for again being the number one NZ Senior Secondary School Squash champions. The team should be very proud of themselves especially as 3 players were then selected in the NZ Schools team to take on Australia.

Thank you to all students that made the choice to represent our College on the sporting platform this year. Your effort, skills, teamwork and leadership is appreciated and enjoyed by us all!

Junior and Senior Squash team

The Caltex Good Sport Award 2022

Congratulations to Edie Jackson (Year 9) who won the Caltex Good Sport Award at the NZSS Swimming Champs in August.

Edie was the only person out of 1000 swimmers over the entire weekend to receive this award. She was nominated by the NZ Olympic Gold Medalist, Rob Waddell for her thoughtfulness and kindness. If you click here you can see the presentation and the background for why Edie was awarded this medal. We are so proud of you Edie!

Student Sport

It has been another busy term for the Sports Department and the students who are involved in our various clubs and initiatives. We endeavour to cater for all our students and help them all reach their own Olympics.

Cricket Development Programme

New to Term 3 was the introduction of the Cricket Development Programme. The main focus was to encourage new and enthustiastic players to the game of cricket and prepare our current squad for the upcoming season.

The sessions were run by expert coach Sam Owen, who guided all involved through an eight-week training programme focussed on developing the fundamental skills within batting, fielding and bowling. The students also had two 90-minute training sessions at The Athlete Factory utilising the facility’s world class cricket nets and bowling machine.

The entire squad showed clear development in all areas and are now well placed for the upcoming season.

Student Sport

Not So Sports Club

This amazing club continues to offer a pathway to sport and physical activity to those female students who are disengaged in sport for various reasons. The aim is still to have fun, to build strong relationships within the club and to make lasting postive memories around being active.

The club is growing and strengthening each passing week. This is thanks to the positivity the girls bring to each session on a Wednesday after school and also to its coordinator, Kathy Miller and her assistant Rachel Young.

This term the fun and adventures have continued. The girls have experienced a number of new activities including Roller Skating, Ultimate Athlete Adventure Racing, Archery and Orienteering.

Student Sport

Ōtūmoetai Intermediate School - Sports Academy Visit

Just over the fence from Ōtūmoetai College is our neighbour and friend, Ōtūmoetai Intermediate School. At the start of the year I was made aware of the fantastic work this school, and in particular one amazing teacher, Mrs Duncan, was doing for its students who were passionate about sport. The Year 8 Sports Academy offers an holistic approach to the development of athletic competency skills as well as helping the students understand the importance of a balanced life to promote sporting longevity and mental well-being. I have had the pleasure of working with all 39 students alongside Mrs Duncan throughout Term 3.

We spent many a Friday morning going through RAMP warm ups, developing our ability to accelerate and generate power, learning how to apply the breaks and decelerate before changing direction. We even looked at the ‘false step’...it’s not a dance move!

Towards the end of Term 3 the Sports Academy students were invited to Ōtūmoetai College for a taster day. This visit provided the students with a chance to experience some of the sporting facilities and opportunities here at Ōtūmoetai College as well as being introduced to our sports leaders. The day was organised and led by the students of our Sports Committee and included erg machine and bodyweight workout, multi sport activities, ultimate frisbee and the people’s favourite...speed ball.

These Year 8 students are fantastic and a credit not only to the school but to Mrs Duncan.

Student Sport

Mental Toughness Journal – Review & Findings

To be happy and productive can sometimes not be easy regardless of your age or life experiences. This is true for both our performance in sport and the tasks required of us in everyday life.

Mental Health is an area we are addressing within our sports programme here at Ōtūmoetai College and in Terms 2 and 3 we introduced the Male and Female Hockey 1st XI and Football 1st XI teams to an incredible resource, The Mental Toughness Journal.

The teams were involved in numerous workshops to cover the content within Zane Winslade’s journal which is written specifically for today’s rangatahi in order to help them understand what being resilient is, why we wear the masks we do and how we can develop coping strategies when life, and sport, gets a little difficult.

Towards the end of Term 3 we reviewed the Mental Toughness Journal to find out if this resource had been beneficial to those who had used it. 68% stated that they had continued to use the journal on a regular basis, 66% of these students used the journal for sport and 34% used it to help guide them through school and everyday challenges.

When asked what was the most useful learning from the journal and the accompanying workshops, one student wrote, “the value of mental toughness and how much of an impact it can have on your sports and everyday life. The way we portray ourselves is important and has an effect on how we act. We all wear personality masks in different situations where it is beneficial for ourselves and others”

The students involved were open to new ideas, they listened and were open to finding out the importance of mental health and how we can control those dark times to see the light again.

Mā te rongo, ka mōhi; Mā te mōhio, ka mārama; Mā te mārama, ka mātua; Mā te mātua, ka ora.

From listening comes knowledge; From knowledge comes understanding; From understanding come wisdom; From wisdom comes well-being.