KIDS’ HOCKEY CARNIVAL ON HORN ISLAND By GLEN HUSSEY Regional Coordinator, Active After School Communities, Australian Sports Commission Photos by AARON SMITH
TAGAI KUBIN
TAGAI MER
BADU
TAGAI T.I. TEAM 1 Page 12 Torres News
24 - 30 March 2014
HORN Island Tagai campus hosted this year’s MIGI Kokan Hockey carnival, on Friday, March 14. The carnival was a huge success, with a record-breaking 10 teams. Teams from all over Cape York and the Torres Strait, players from Badu, Kubin, Mer, Mabuaig, Bamaga, Thursday Island and Horn Island. It was the culmination of months of preparation by all those involved and from the hockey that had been played and enjoyed for all of term 1, which assured the children came prepared for the rigours of competition. The children had been honing their hockey skills through the Active After School Communities program, within their own communities throughout the school term, before putting those skills to the test at Horn Island for the carnival. The biggest winner on the day was off course hockey, community spirit and fun, but when it came to the results, the final saw the teams from Badu Island and Our Lady of Sacred Heart go to battle for the top spot, with Badu winning the final 1-0. The weather god shined down, keeping the rain at bay, but the temperatures were right up there. The community support throughout the Torres Strait for the carnival was fantastic and the carnival would have not taken part without it. Tagai College Sports Coordinator Dave Bell, coupled with all the school Principals, were fantastic when it came to organising and driving the event. Essential planning and funding bodies such as Remote and Indigenous Hockey Program, Australian Sports Commission, Torres Strait Youth Recreation and Sport Association, Kombat Chronic Diseases Program, Tagai State College, and NPA College can definitely hang their hats on the success of this carnival, and planning for the 2015 event is already in place. Julie McNeil, the Hockey Program Manager from Hockey Queensland, was very proud of the results, after the lengthy planning process she has undertaken since the completion of the 2013 carnival. “We sincerely appreciate the AASC partnership and recognise that this is an integral element that supports the regional success. Lastly, I would like to recognise Wes Ferns and the RIHP Hockey team, who provide ongoing support to the active communities within the Torres Strait Islands, “ she said
PAPOU, HORN ISLAND
OUR LADY of SACRED HEART teams 1 & 2
NPA
HORN ISLAND STINGERS
TAGAI T.I. TEAM 2