John Snowden has been selected in the New Zealand team for this year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Photo Ashburton GuardianAshburton sharpshooter, John Snowden, is packing his bags for the Gold Coast and the Commonwealth Games.

The local farmer was one of an 11-strong squad named for the Games, which are held from April 8 to April 14, by Shooting New Zealand yesterday.

After a lengthy selection process and trials, getting the nod that he would be heading to his fourth Commonwealth Games was a big result for the former gold medallist as a couple of years ago he wondered if his top-level shooting days were numbered.

“It’s satisfying because of the amount of time and effort that has gone in to getting there,” Snowden said yesterday.

Snowden has been chosen to compete in the individual fullbore and also the fullbore pairs in which he will turn back the clock 12 years.

The 49-year-old’s pairs partner is Brian Carter from Whakatane who he competed in the same event with at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

The squad includes shooting superstar Natalie Rooney and also comprises of an experienced line up of shooters.

“It’s a good squad, there’s a lot of shooters in there who have been around and know what it’s all about and obviously having someone like Natalie there is great too – she’s going really well.”

While rigorous and time intensive, Snowden said the process to get selected was something he actually enjoyed as it gave him a strong indication of where he was at with his form.

“We’ve been able to put ourselves in a whole lot of different scenarios and get a measure on where we are shooting.

“There’s been training camps in Australia where we have been training next to the Australian shooters so it’s good to be able to compare.”

Not only has the training intensified but Snowden’s had to also deal with himself changing as well.

Shooting at the elite level isn’t as easy as lining up and shooting and in his own words, age is starting to provide a few more challenges.

“The eyesight is constantly changing as I get older it seems, which means using new lenses.

“The insidious part about that though is it’s not something you can actually see change, the only way you know is through your scores.

“If your scores are improving, you know you are using the right lens – it’s not much of a difference, but it can be all the difference.”

Between now and heading to Australia to compete, not much will change for Snowden.

There’s harvest to worry about and then next week he’s off, along with a number of other Ashburton shooters, to the National Championships in Wellington at the same venue where the World Championships will be held in 2019.

“I’ve been pretty busy with the farm that I have really only just started to think about taking some ammo out.

“Nationals is always a big week, but I’m taking it this year as an opportunity to train and try and fine tune things a bit.

“It is still a competition but a few of us are planning to get together on a couple of the days and train together.

“Brian and I have a day blocked out to get together which will be good because obviously there’s not a lot of opportunities in between normal life and everything else.”

Snowden’s appearance on the Gold Coast will be his fourth consecutive games where he will be out to at least equal his best effort of the gold medal he achieved in the pairs in 2010 at the Delhi games.

Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 18 January 2018

Dave Rout and his wife Beckie at Ashburton College’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2015. Photo Ashburton GuardianBasketball Mid Canterbury has acknowledged the passing of Dave Rout, a former teacher and great supporter of the game in Ashburton.

Rout’s death on New Year’s Day was a sad one for the country’s entire basketball community – he was a life member of Basketball New Zealand and credited for bringing miniball to New Zealand.

He devoted himself to coaching the game, particularly at secondary school and junior level in Mid Canterbury, Lower Hutt and Otago.

In 2016 he was inducted into the Basketball New Zealand Hall of Fame. He and his wife Beckie were also great supporters of the Tall Blacks and travelled around the world to watch New Zealand compete.

He was 86 at the time of his death.

Rout was introduced to the game at high school and played the sport in Otago in the early 1950s when he attended Dunedin Teachers’ College.

After a stint teaching in Lower Hutt, he came to teach at Ashburton Technical College in 1959. He joined the Mid Canterbury Basketball Association and played club basketball for the Gannets team.

He was a player and coach of the Mid Canterbury senior men’s team and also coached secondary school teams that played in local competitions and regional tournaments.

Rout was also the association delegate on the Ashburton Sports Hall Management Committee, where he became interested and involved in refereeing.

He returned to Dunedin in 1968 and spent another seven decades giving to the sport he loved, as a coach and administrator. He served the New Zealand Basketball Federation from 1986 to 1990, most of the tenure as president.

It was during this time, along with his friend Cedric Cudby, he introduced miniball to New Zealand – a form of basketball adapted to suit junior players, which continues to be loved by young Kiwis today.

Rout was a fitting guest speaker when Basketball Mid Canterbury celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2005 and is remembered to this day by fellow ballers in Ashburton and students he taught.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 18 January 2018

Ashburton College Rugby Under 16 (Red) 1972

Statistics:

Games played: 12. Won 11

Points for: 790

Points against: 52

Only loss was the Methven High School 1st 15 which included mostly older players.

Taking the Methven College game out of the equation, results of games against "peer" teams would be:

Played: 11. Won 11

Points for: 776

Points against: 22

It's important to remember that in those days a try was worth only 4 points.

A "friendly" game was arranged against the Ashburton College 1st 15. The first 15 won but only after the Under 16 team was ahead at full time however the coaches agreed to play on until the 1st 15 scored (to save face for the highly rated 1st 15).

The team was so far ahead of one team at half time that the coach swapped the forwards and backs around., A little arrogant I guess in today's environment.

Number of College players picked to represent Mid Canterbury in the Under South Island Tournament held in Nelson that year: 11

Team from left to right (* denotes players to represent Mid Canterbury that year):

Back Row: Neil Donaldson. Paul Brand*. Steven Downward*. Robin Jamieson. Mark Walls*. Peter Sinclair

Middle Row: Ken Lynch (Coach). Grant Robinson*. Murray Kerr*. Jimmy Upton. Malvern Galletly*. Ross Sampson*. Lloyd Major

Front Row: Bill Calder*. Donald Campbell*. Richard Denley* (Captain). Jeff Banks* (Vice Captain). Mark Sinclair. Chris Cumpstone.

Kindly submitted by Bill Calder - 12 January 2018