Newlands-based marchers win NZ title

By Frank Neill

The SWIS Marching team, which trains at Newlands Intermediate School, is the New Zealand Champion Team.

SWIS was competing in the senior grade for the first time.

As well as winning the national title, SWIS was first in the Senior Champion Technical category and second in the Senior Champion Display category.

The team was “really thrilled with this result, both for themselves and for the community that supports them, says first time Coach Ema Wihapi-Solia, who lives in Johnsonville.

“This win is not just for us, it’s also for our wh nau, our sponsors and our many supporters.

“Our team represents Wellington and although the core of team members live in Wellington, others travel from Palmerston North, Wairarapa and Christchurch,” she says.

Four team members live in the northern suburbs – one from Newlands and three from Tawa.

The fact that team members are widely dispersed “means the team can’t always train together and there is a lot of onus on each girl to train individually at home.

“It is a measure of their discipline that when we come together as a team the work they have done means they are able to gel and march together without too many hiccups,” Ema says.

As well as winning the national title, SWIS also won this year’s

North Island Championship.

The SWIS Marching Drill Team was established in 2022.

The marchers have mostly come back to the sport after hanging up their boots a few years ago.

“It is exciting for Wellington overall that five teams from our