Malo ni, Kia Ora and greetings from Solway College Sports. As we begin to wind down from a jam-packed term of sports, here is the second part of sports updates to share with you.

Competition Sport

Touch Rugby, Volleyball, Cricket, Tennis and 3v3 Basketball are winding down as we enter the last week of summer sports. We entered three touch rugby teams in the YMCA competition, and thanks to Abel Rimene from WBA who provided two solid touch training sessions for the girls before the competition - they are very competitive and the results have shown that. Thanks to Whaea Jordy who has been there to support and supervise our teams this season. 

Volleyball always proves to be a popular summer sport with two senior teams, and one junior competing at Makoura College each Monday and Tuesday night. With thanks to Georgina Lologo as a new coach for our senior girls, the team has developed immensely throughout the season with some fantastic results. Thanks to our parent help Melanie Cottle and our teachers Mr Schot and Mr Tauveli for their support and supervision on game days for our teams.

This year we fielded two cricket teams. Our first XI girls had a steady start to the season after a few injuries took out some players, but they finished off with a great result at the Aimee Watkins Cricket Tournament in Palmerston North coming 2nd to Wairarapa College. The girls said the day was an amazing experience and they really came together as a team to bring out their best cricket. Our 2nd XI team had a pretty bumpy start as we tried to encourage some new players to the game. This very young side proved to be determined to see the season through and had their first win against St Matts Development side which was a testament to their positive attitude, and support of each other. A huge thanks must go out to Doug Bracewell and Georgia Atkinson who helped coach all the girls so we saw the season out, and to parent help Barbs Christensen for her support of the 2nd XI girls team. 

We had two individual tennis players in the Wairarapa comp, Grace McPartland for the social grade and Jessica McWilliam in the competitive grade. The Junior Interclub girls team of Peyton Hautler, Phoebe Wilkie, Bonnie Griffiths and Aleah Mitchell played each Friday afternoon with support from senior team manager Elisa Dao Thanh. With a few wins, they are now placed to play out in the finals for 3rd and 4th place after Easter. 

Waka Ama Regional Regatta

This year, we have a large group of students keen to learn and participate in Waka Ama. We are one of only three schools in the Wairarapa that participate in this program. Training with Kath and Paddy Rimene each Monday afternoon at Henley Lake, the girls are learning to work together in crews of six. Learning water safety, capsize training skills and timing. Out of our group, we entered two teams into the Hoe Tonga Waka Ama Secondary Schools Regional Regatta last Saturday at Henley Lake with 21 other schools in the Wellington Region. A J16s team comprising Macy Sargent, Pounamu Abbot, Harper Isaac, Isabella Ngatai & Lila Holen. A J19s team comprising Briella Tupaea, Keri-Kima Lumukana, Sarah-Jane Bond, Yara Eriquat & Ellie Rameka. This was an opportunity for our young new paddlers to get a sense of what a Waka Ama regatta is about. The J16s competed in the 250m dash, coming 3rd in their heat - but unfortunately did not progress to bowl finals. With tricky conditions and a first-ever race, the girls did an amazing job of staying in their lane and crossing the finish line. The J19s were in two events, the 250m dash and the 500m race which required a turn around a buoy at the top of the lane. The girls did well in the 250m coming 2nd in their heat and progressing to the bowl final, where they came 4th. The 500m was a great race where the girls did their first-ever race turn, and did an amazing job! Coming in 3rd for their heat, they progressed again to the bowl finals. Unfortunately, the regatta was running too far behind schedule, and all bowl finals were scratched. Lots of promising talent for this group and we look forward to continuing their development throughout the year. 

Wairarapa Primary School Swimming Champs

Last Wednesday we had a team of six Year 7 & 8 swimmers competing in this event. Solway College has some talented primary swimmers with fantastic results across the board from these students.

Kiwa Williams (12yr old) - 1st Flying Squadron, 1st Girls 100m Free, 1st 50m Free, 1st 50m Back, 1st 50 Breast, 1st 100m IM

Lily Childs (12yr old) - 2nd 100m Free, 3rd 50m Free, 1st equal Butterfly, 2nd 50m Back, 3rd 50m Breast

Hannah Fenwick (11yr old)  - 1st Flying Squadron, 1st 50m Free,1st 50m Back, 4th 50m Breast

Chelsea Grant (11yr old) - 2nd 50m Free, 2nd 50m Back, 1st 50 Breast, 3rd 100m IM

Lydia Kane (12yr old) - 1st Equal 50m Butterfly

Breanna Butler (10yr old) - 6th Equal 50m Free, 10th 25m Back, 4th 25m Breast

Congratulations to each of these girls, they showed great sportsmanship and encouragement for each other and a big thanks to those senior girls who helped time keep. 

Wairarapa Inter School Tennis Tournament

Jessica McWilliam and Gabby Nicholson were our Solway College entrants in this competition last Thursday. For her first time entering this competition, Jessica proved to gain more confidence and came away with a win for her last game in the Social Girls grade. 

Gabby Nicholson entered the Girls Championship grade, playing some impressive tennis to take out the grade as Girls Tournament Champion. Congratulations Gabby!

Wellington Regional Athletics

Promising young athletes Violet Fisher (left above) and Saoirse Doyle (right above) competed in the regional athletics at Newtown Park in Wellington this Tuesday.

Saoirse, in the Junior grade,  placed 13th in 200m and 12th in 100m amongst some tough competition.

Violet, running as an intermediate, placed 3rd in both her 400m and 800m.  Violet has one more year in this age bracket, and with 1st and 2nd takers in both of these events being a year older, she has a promising year for 2025.

Congratulations and well done to these girls who now preparing for North Island Athletics next weekend, where Renee Mensen will also join them to compete in Long Jump and Triple Jump

Winter Sport Trials

This week we concluded our summer Tuesday Sports time options to make way for winter sports trials. Netball, Football, Hockey and Badminton are now underway, as we begin to enter teams into our local competitions for Terms 2 and 3. 

Rugby 7s

A keen group of rugby players are preparing to play in a one-day Wairarapa Bush 7s Tournament on Wednesday 10th April. Wairarapa Bush officers Cameron Hayton and Thomas Ralls took the girls through a training session on Monday afternoon, focusing on safe tackling practice, ball skills and running drills. The girls had a great time even with the grounds being so dry and hard!

Solway College Athletics:  Award Winners:7&8 - Kiwa Williams          Phoebe WilkieU14 - Poppy Tuckwell         Saoirse DoyleU15 - Violet Fisher         Renee Mensen (both bottom right)U16 - Molly Gilhooly (bottom left)          Jessica FordU17 - Stella Smurthwaite          Madeline Reddish-McDonald (both top right)U18 - Nevaeh Greenlees          Aimee Ford (both top left)Congratulations  - we're so proud of you all!

Annelise ScottDirector of Sportsannelise.scott@solway college.school.nz

Article added: Thursday 23 May 2024