Kate Lloyd, Photo supplied.After a season spent playing with one of the best defenders netball in New Zealand has seen, Kate Lloyd is returning to where it all began in 2019.

And the 21-year-old can’t wait.

After a year in Hamilton playing netball for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic in the national ANZ Premiership, Lloyd has signed on with the Mainland Tactix for 2019.

“I’m pretty excited for the season and new challenges but it’s always a special feeling to be able to play for your home team, and I’ve always admired the way Mainland Netball looks after their players and has always had a strong work ethic,” Lloyd said.

“So I’m looking forward for the season to start with a great bunch of girls.”

The past 12 months had been huge for the girl who just a few years ago was turning out for the Ashburton College netball team.

After making age group national sides, Lloyd was first picked up by the Tactix for the 2017 season, before moving to the Magic for the 2018 season, and it had been a move which had given her career a huge boost.

At the end of the 2018 season she was named in the Silver Ferns development squad, and Lloyd said that was by far the highlight of what was already a huge season.

At the Magic she found herself playing alongside former Silver Ferns captain, and recently recalled Silver Fern, Casey Kopua.

“She has been my idol since I started watching netball, so being alongside her and soaking up as much knowledge and experience I can from her was my biggest takeaway from the Magic,” Kopua said.

Now, her goal for the coming season with the Tactix was to continue to grow and develop as a player and build on the amazing season they’d just had.

“It excites me that we have such a variety of different strengths and ranges of experience within the team, but I have faith that anyone that takes the court will put 100 per cent effort out there,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd was part of the New Zealand Under-21 team that took out the World Youth Cup in Botswana last year and now she’s moved up to the big time, having attended her first Silver Ferns development squad camp.

“It was awesome to reconnect with a lot of the players I went with to the World Cup in Botswana.

“Although you play against them a couple of times a week during the premiership season I get a lot out of training and playing with them,” Lloyd said.

“The camp went really quickly, flying in very early Sunday morning and flying out late Monday night.

“I really enjoy the intensity of it all and interacting with the top-level players and coaches.

“There’s so much to learn and I just try to soak it up.”

Soaking up knowledge and enjoying every moment were her key goals for 2019, too, when she was back a little closer to home.

She’d spend the year living in Christchurch and continuing her part-time study through Lincoln University.

“So between playing for the Tactix and study most of my days will be filled up,” Lloyd said.

With the season bought forward this year due to the World Cup, Lloyd hoped to get away for a holiday at the end of the season, before starting afresh again next season.

With every year that passed, Lloyd was learning.

“I felt I learnt a massive amount playing and training alongside Casey last year and would like to continue to develop my game as much as I possibly can,” Lloyd said.

“I always try to grab any opportunity that comes my way so hopefully the next five years at least will be full of lots of netball and fun.”

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 3 January 2019

Claire Robertshaw is leaving the Ashburton College visual arts department after 18 years. Photo supplied.Ashburton College teacher Claire Robertshaw has signed off and will start the new year at Rolleston College, leaving behind a legacy of strong achievement in the school’s visual art department.

An 18-year stint at one school is a long time in any teacher’s life, but that’s the milestone Ashburton College teacher Claire Robertshaw chalked up before signing off and moving on.

Claire joined the college’s teaching staff in 2000 but come day one of term one 2019, her name will be on the staff list at Rolleston College.

The teacher of art with art history has set high standards for her students and has worked to find motivational ways of engaging and growing each student’s achievements.

Some of those students have achieved scholarship results.

Early in her career, Claire decided to learn the correct language and terminology in te reo and tikanga both the aid her teaching of visual arts and to ensure she was able to participate in Maori cultural events and develop an understanding of protocols.

She has been a strong advocate of the Peer Support Programme and has contributed significantly to the extra-curricular life and work of the college, including such festivities as AshDance, Lip Sync, Pasifika activities, Kapa Haka and Manu Korero, college productions, including sets and props, arts and languages week, field trips, music nights,and promoting the arts through student’s involvement in Mid Canterbury schools’ exhibitions, the college art award, Zonta art award and arts festivals.

Many of the school’s murals are due to the creativity, vision of and planning by Claire and the art department, providing students with ‘real’ art opportunities. These major projects have extended to community murals – also in town.

She has been involved in several college committees including; staff development, eliminating violence, staff social and Maori student achievement committees and she held the staff head of Blue House position from 2004 until the end of 2010.

In 2003 Claire was appointed as head of department – visual arts and was, in 2007, appointed to the position of head of the arts and languages faculty.

During part of term one and all of term two of 2016 claire was appointed to the position of acting deputy principal.

She was successful in gaining a secondary teachers’ study award in 2014, for the topics of visual art education, education issues amongst Pasifika peoples in New Zealand and cultural differences in education.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 2 January 2019

Brentton Donaldson has qualified to defend his Lowry Cup Singles crown. Photo Tetsuro MitomoAshburton Bowling Club’s Brentton Donaldson has qualified to the knockout stage in his defence of one of Mid Canterbury bowls most prized trophies, the Lowry Cup.

The up and coming player will be joined by 10 other players in the knockout stage of the tournament after the qualifying rounds last Sunday at the Ashburton Bowling Club.

The entire tournament was supposed to have been held over the course of last weekend, but Saturday’s weather saw no play get under way with the qualifying stages pushed back to Sunday.

Donaldson did it the hard way to get the required three wins from his four matches.

He began well winning his first match convincingly before losing out in the second round which meant he had to win his final two games in order to make it through to the next stage of the competition.

Playing in Section 1, Donaldson was joined by four others in the post-section stage.

Methven’s Brent Mayson claimed four wins from his four matches to march through unbeaten while Alan Hill, Gavin Eder and Graeme Bishop also picked up the required three wins.

Over in section two of the competition, Richard Kane waltzed his way through with three wins before not having to play his last round match while both Mat Bassett and John Drayton did the same.

Reg McGarry did it the toughest way of anyone after he lost his first-round match to Drayton before claiming wins in his final three matches.

Roger Gutberlet and Jeff Nowell also managed to get the required three wins and will be there when the post-section action begins at a yet to be confirmed date in the New Year.

This weekend will see players back on the Ashburton green for the Cotula Cup holiday tournament which is held over both Saturday and Sunday.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 28 December 2018