Ashburton’s Ryan Muriithi played for the Aoraki Eels at the South Island under-15 rugby league tournament in Greymouth last week. Photo supplied.A young Ashburton rugby league player is in with a shot of making the South Island under-15 league team.

Ryan Muriithi, 14, was part of the Aoraki Eels team at last week’s South Island under-15 rugby league tournament in Greymouth and thanks to his performances was asked to trial for the South Island team.

He was one of three players from the Aoraki team to make the South Island team trials, despite it not being the best week for the young Eels side.

They were well beaten in their first game against West Coast, but Muriithi and his team-mates had a much better outing against Southland, winning 56-6.

In game three against Canterbury Under-14, Muriithi scored a try before having to leave the field injured after getting his leg stood on.

He wasn’t the last one to get injured either, a number of his team-mates followed and it got so bad they had to call the game off early.

The injuries meant they were short on numbers for their last game against Canterbury’s second team at the tournament, the Canterbury under-15 team, but by that stage the two Canterbury teams were well out in front overall so the decision was made that Aoraki could borrow a few players so the game could go ahead.

From there players were selected to trial for the South Island team, and a second trial would be held in August, with a team then picked to head to a tournament in Auckland.

There would be just one South Island team, and five from the North Island teams at the tournament.

Ashburton had a player make the South Island under-15s last year – Mac Kaitao, who had gone on to get a scholarship to St Thomas of Canterbury College.

Whether Muriithi would follow in Kaitao’s footsteps and also play for the South Island though, he’d have to wait and see.

With no junior rugby league competition in Mid Canterbury, Muriithi played rugby for Hampstead’s under 14.5 side as a flanker or lock, but he wasn’t sure whether rugby or rugby league really featured in his future.

He said he mainly played them for fitness and he was thinking of trying his hand at basketball next year.

With a number of players from this year’s Aoraki Eels under-15 team too old for that grade next year, it was hoped Aoraki might also be able to field an under-17 team in 2019.

By Erin Tasker© The Ashburton Guardian - 17 July 2018

Ashburton’s Jacob Gray was called into the Northland under-18 men’s hockey side after an injury to the side’s goalkeeper in Dunedin last week. Photo Erin TaskerOne player’s misfortune turned into Jacob Gray’s good fortune last week.

When the Northland under-18 hockey side’s sole goalkeeper was struck down by injury at the New Zealand Hockey under-18 men’s regional tournament in Dunedin, they put out an SOS which Gray happily answered.

The Ashburton 15-year-old had earlier trialled for the Canterbury side and missed out, but when Northland found themselves in dire straits and started asking around if anyone knew of anyone who could help them out, Canterbury put Gray’s name forward.

Northland’s goalie had a knee injury heading into the tournament – a slight meniscus tear – and there was always a chance he might not make it through the whole tournament, so Gray was put on standby a couple of days before it began.

A couple of games in the goalie’s injury became worse and he could no longer continue.

Goalkeeper was a specialist position – you couldn’t just put someone from the field in the goal, particularly at that level where you were competing as one of the top eight under-18 sides in the country.

So last Wednesday Gray headed south to join the Northland team.

Coming in to a team mid-tournament wasn’t easy, particularly when it was a team from the other end of the country where Gray knew no one.

“Especially when you’re goalkeeper, because your job is to talk and tell everyone what’s happening, and you don’t know everyone’s name so you can’t tell them,” Gray said.

“But by the last game I was pretty good with names.”

Ironically, Gray’s first outing for Northland was against Canterbury and they lost 5-0, and in his second they lost 4-1 to Southern, but on the final day they turned that result around and beat Southern 2-1.

Being a goalkeeper could be a stressful job at times – you were literally the last line of defence – but Gray had loved it ever since he first offered to stand in goal when a young team his mum was coaching was short of a player when he was only about six years old.

Now, he played in goal three times a week, for the Wakanui senior men’s team on a Saturday, for Ashburton College on a Friday night in Christchurch, and for his first-grade side on a Sunday.

But he did play in the field once a week, for his age group team on a Monday night.

With umpiring, training and practices in between times, the hockey turf was pretty much Gray’s second home in the winter and would continue to be for some time yet.

“I’d like to play at a high level, but if that fails I’ve always got umpiring.

“There’s always a game to umpire,” Gray said.

This weekend he’d be back in action at the Ashburton hockey turf for his Wakanui side which was top of the table in the Mid/South Canterbury senior men’s competition with only three games to go until the finals.

But they had second placed Temuka to play on Saturday – a team which featured former Black Stick Hayden Shaw, who was notorious for his drag flick which could challenge even the best of goalkeepers.

But facing a player like that would help Gray to grow his own game and become a better player in the future.

At 15, Gray still had two more years of under-18 hockey ahead of him and was hopeful he’d be back at the national tournament again, although hopefully in the more familiar red and black of Canterbury next time.

By Erin Tasker© The Ashburton Guardian - 17 July 2018

Kate O’Reilly is hosting a free hockey coaching session aimed at girls who were in the year three and four age bracket on Thursday. Photo Erin TaskerDuring the winter months, Ashburton’s hockey turf is Kate O’Reilly’s second home.

Now, the Ashburton College year 13 student is trying to pass on the love she’s had for the game since she first picked up a hockey stick at the age of about six, to young girls.

O’Reilly is an ambassador for the Forward Foundation, a group which aims to increase the rates of participation in a variety of sports by girls.

O’Reilly’s focus is hockey.

A member of the Hampstead/Collegians senior women’s hockey team and the Ashburton College first XI, O’Reilly is hosting a coaching session aimed at year three and four girls this Thursday at the Ashburton hockey turf, where she hopes to help inspire others to keep playing the game as they get older.

“To me it doesn’t matter if they have never picked up a hockey stick, it’s all learning and having fun while you’re doing it, and it’s free,” O’Reilly said.

Mid Canterbury has just two senior women’s hockey teams, and as is the case with many sports, numbers tend to drop off as kids get older.

O’Reilly can’t understand why but is determined to do something about it.

“I just want other people to enjoy it as much as I do.”

O’Reilly applied to become a Forward Foundation ambassador at the end of last year and attended a conference earlier this year where they were given advice on how to plan and run an event, and mentors have since been helping them through the process.

O’Reilly is one of two Forward Foundation ambassadors in Ashburton, with the other being rugby player Kate Donald, who has been running girls’ rugby skills sessions on Friday evenings, and she’s set to help O’Reilly on Thursday along with some of her fellow hockey players who have put their hands up to help.

O’Reilly is no stranger to coaching. She’s coached for about the past two years and has umpired for two years.

“I don’t just love hockey, I love all sports and getting involved, and I thought it would be nice to work with girls and help to increase the participation in sport,” O’Reilly said.

Thursday’s coaching session will include skills and drills, and finish off with a game at the end.

Sign in is at 9.30am and the session will run until midday.

O’Reilly said the girls don’t need to have their own gear, and no previous hockey experience is necessary.

For more information or to register an interest in the coaching session, you can email O’Reilly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 15 July 2018