The Ashburton College A netball team that will this week contest the South Island Secondary Schools’ tournament in Nelson. Absent is Billy Surridge. Photo Erin TaskerThey’ve already ticked one massive goal off their to-do list, but the season is far from over for Ashburton College’s A netballers.

They’re off to Nelson this week for the annual South Island Secondary Schools’ Championships, and they couldn’t have asked for a much better build-up than winning the Mid Canterbury Netball premier one title last Saturday.

But that win over Celtic A, which saw them crowned Mid Canterbury’s best for the first time since 2010, has already been put behind them as they prepare to take on some of the South Island’s best.

Ashburton College A head to Nelson eyeing up a top 16 finish, but know that make that a reality they’ll have to be on top of their game from game one, because they’ve drawn a tough pool.

Thirty-two teams will contest the championships’ A grade section and Ashburton College are in a pool with last year’s runners-up Southland Girls’ High School, a strong Marlborough Girls’ High School team, and Nayland College.

Even Nayland, the team promoted to A grade from B grade this season, could pose a tough challenge, Ashburton College A coach Kaye Kennedy said.

But she, and her team, were looking forward to the week ahead.

“There’s nothing like heading away on a tourament with your team, with your team-mates and playing against your peers.

“It’s a really exciting week and the pinnacle of our season,” Kennedy said.

Teams really needed to take at least two wins in pool play to make the top half of the draw come play-offs.

“It’s going to be tough so you really just need to take it one game at a time,” Kennedy said.

“We got 15th last year so we are hoping to better that by one or two places, and anything over and above that is a bonus.”

The win in the local premier competition had given College A a big boost, but they knew that when it came to secondary school netball, it was a whole different picture.

Each week during the netball season, College A has travelled north to play in the top tier of the Christchurch secondary schools’ netball competition, SuperNet.

They played their final SuperNet game of the season last week and went down to Cashmere by one, leaving them a disappointing eighth in the eight-team A grade, meaning they’d start next season needing to win promotion/relegation games if they wanted to stay in the top grade.

While they will lose a few players from this year’s squad – as happened with school netball sides – they’d be ready for any challenge that came their way, just as they will be this week.

The College A team that will take to the court in Nelson is the same as that which took the court in the Mid Canterbury Netball premier competition, with one addition.

Billy Surridge has joined the team from the Ashburton College Year 10 A side.

They won’t be the only Mid Canterbury team in action either, with a team from Mount Hutt College also featuring in the B grade tournament.

A basketball tournament also being played in Nelson next week means that teams taking part in the netball tournament will have the added challenge of both indoor and outdoor games.

Kennedy said the first two days will be inside, and the next two outside.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 31 August 2019

Madison Trusler-Clark (left) and Aidan Elvines have made this year’s Hanan Shield secondary school girls’ rugby team. Photo Erin TaskerTheir team’s season may have come to a heartbreaking early end, but two members of the AshHutt girls’ rugby team still have plenty to play for.

Madison Trusler-Clark and Aidan Elvines have been named in the Hanan Shield girls’ team to contest the South Island Under-18 tournament, which is this year being hosted by Methven in the next school holidays.

For Elvines – a 17-year-old number eight – it’s a return to a team she’s been a firm fixture in over recent seasons, but for Trusler-Clark it’s the first time she’s made the cut, and she’s over the moon.

“I definitely didn’t think I would make it because I’m still only under-15, and it’s an under-18 team,” Trusler-Clark said.

But the 15-year-old caught the selectors’ eyes, and although she’s played most of the season at flanker, she’s set to play at second-five or halfback for the Hanan Shield side.

She’s not too worried where she plays on the field though, she’s just happy to be playing.

Trusler-Clark plays rugby, hockey, basketball and, in the summer, softball.

But rugby is the one that is top of the pack, and the one she really sees her playing future in.

“I just want to go as far as I can, if that eventually means dropping everything else, I would definitely do that,” Trusler-Clark said.

It’s a similar story for Elvines.

A Year 13 student this year, the 2019 season was her last for the AshHutt side – a combination of players from Ashburton College and Mount Hutt College – but she plans to continue playing, wherever life takes her.

“I want to keep playing rugby for as long I can, so long as my body will let me,” Elvines said.

She credits her family for getting her into the sport. She’s a rower too, but having a dad and brother involved in rugby prompted her to give the sport a go in Year 9, and she loved it.

It’s been a real family thing for her.

This year her dad was the AshHutt coach and her mum the manager, but unfortunately the season didn’t go as well as they’d hoped. They took on Timaru Girls’ High School in the semi-finals of the Aoraki secondary schoolgirls’ competition and let a lead, and the game, slip through their fingers.

Timaru Girls’ High School went on to take on Craighead in the final, which Craighead won.

The Hanan Shield team – selected from that competition – is a wide cross-section of players from all teams, and while Elvines is one of the more experienced players when it comes to rugby at that level, Trusler-Clark is one of the youngest.

Elvines was a late starter in the sport, compared to Trusler-Clark.

She’s been playing rugby since she was four, and played in boys’ teams up until a couple of seasons ago, giving many a boy a run for their money.

Trusler-Clark said she plays in headgear, so often it wasn’t until the end of games when she took her headgear off to shake hands with the opposition, that a lot of players realised they’d actually been playing a girl.

Playing in a girls’ team, in a girls’ competition, took some getting used to initially, but she loved it and really saw her future in the game.

First though, both Elvines and Trusler-Clark’s attention is on the job at hand – the South Island tournament.

They had a fun season playing for AshHutt, with great team-mates, great coaching staff and great sponsors who all played a vital role in getting the team on the pitch, and if they can finish the season off with a top showing at South Islands, they’ll be happy.

Elvines said two years ago the Hanan Shield girls came second, and with 2018 having been somewhat of a rebuilding year, it’s hoped the side can step it up a notch in 2019.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 30 August 2019

Photo supplied.Sporting teams from South Island secondary schools are setting off on an annual winter week of fun and games this weekend.

There’s a long list of titles up for grabs around the South Island, as the annual winter tournament week gets under way.

All up, Ashburton College has 10 teams taking part in tournaments across five different sporting codes, while Mount Hutt College has two.

Mount Hutt College’s boys’ first XI football team is off to Nelson to play in the NZSS Jim Wishart Tournament, while the school’s A netball team is off to Nelson to play in the South Island Secondary Schools’ netball tournament.

Mount Hutt College will contest the B grade section, while Ashburton College’s A netballers will contest the A grade at the same tournament.

Ashburton College has three hockey teams in action, too, with their boys’ first XI heading down to Invercargill to play in the Johnson Cup tournament, while their girls’ first XI is off to Cromwell for the Jenny McDonald tournament.

Their other hockey team doesn’t have to travel far at all – the boys’ second XI is playing in the Coaches Cup tournament which is being hosted in Ashburton, and played at the Ashburton hockey turf at the Ashburton Domain.

Ashburton College’s girls’ football first XI isn’t far from home, either. They’re heading to Timaru to play in the Gary Sowden Tournament, while the school’s junior boys’ rugby team is heading an hour in the other direction, playing in the Rural Livestock tournament in Christchurch.

The school’s remaining teams heading away are all basketball teams.

The senior girls are off to the AA Secondary Schools Premiership Zone 4 Tournament in Nelson, while the senior boys will also be in Nelson, playing at the AA Secondary Schools’ Non-Qualifying Tournament.

Ashburton College’s junior girls’ basketball side will also be in action this week.

They’re off to Dunedin for the Junior Secondary Schools’ Premiership for zone four.

That tournament gets under way today and runs through until Tuesday, while most other tournaments start either on Monday or Wednesday.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 30 August 2019