Ashburton College 1st XI skipper Will Graham in action. Photo supplied.A five-wicket bag and an unbeaten 60 were highlights of the Ashburton College First XI’s win over Shirley Boys High School on Saturday.

The win has given Ashcoll its first points in the division one secondary schools competition pre-Christmas and sets up a playoff clash with Shirley Boys on Saturday, but this time in Ashburton.

Captain Will Graham won the toss and elected to bowl.

Harry McMillan picked up the first wicket in the 10th over thanks to one of two diving one-handed catches in the game by Tom Ravenscroft.

Young spinner Angus Jemmett then picked up the first of his five wickets, finishing with figures of 5 for 22 off his 10 overs.

Shirley Boys still looked capable, but AshColl chipped away and the hosts were all out for 110.

In reply, AshColl lost George Chapman and Jemmett early, but Ravenscoft and Graham combined for a 60-run partnership before Graham was out for 23.

Ravenscoft (60 not out) and Tom Middleton (16 not out) achieved the target in the 26th over.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 20 November 2017

Principal Ross Preece. Photo supplied.Commercial sponsorship will become an increasingly big player in the business plans of many schools, says Ashburton College principal Ross Preece.

While schools were granted a pool of money each year from the Ministry of Education, there was a growing disconnect between the money granted and a school’s needs, he said, and bridging that shortfall means looking to other funding sources.

For the college, this is likely to be greater financial commitment from the community.

This has already started and from next year the school will offer an outdoor education programme for senior students and this is being funded through the support of local outdoor business Hunting and Fishing.

The course will include modules in fishing, marksmanship, firearm safety as well as skiing and a range of other outdoor activities.

Students will be able to gain NCEA credits from the course.

The new course is just the tip of the iceberg.

Like most schools, the college also needed to look at how it funded many other activities already offered to students.

This could include staples such as the Phoenix Chorus, Phoenix Rising, kapa haka and the strings group, Preece said.

“They all cost money and we’ll be looking for someone who might come on board to support and sponsor one of these.”

Sponsorship will come with branding.

The pot of money granted by the ministry was already stretched very, very thinly, he said and that forced schools to take a long, hard look at where they could maximise impact from the money they spent.

And that, unfortunately meant looking at options that might see it paying for a tutor in a specialist area and for a small group of students.

“If we can’t get sponsorship we will struggle because we’re looking at a shortfall in funding so when we do our budget we have to ask ourselves, is it important for kids to have the opportunity to take part in Phoenix Chorus or to go on trips.

“We need to find sponsors to ensure that things are available to all kids, free.”

The last thing the college wanted was to levy charges on students to take part in those activities as that would put pressure on families, he said.

“I’m looking to create relationships with the community, not just sporting but cultural too.”

McIntosh Builders sponsors the college’s first XV and with Hunting and Fishing coming on board with the new outdoor education course, the framework had been established to bring in more commercial sponsors for other extra curricula activities, Preece said.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 20 November 2017

Hayley Whiting will be wearing the silver fern once again when she competes at the Mini Pacific Games in December. Photo supplied.Mid Canterbury’s Hayley Whiting is looking forward to getting the chance to prove herself in her second international event when the Mini Pacific Games come around at the start of December.

The weightlifter is coming off a busy winter of competitions, which included a trip to Melbourne, as well as competing at the South Island Championships, the North Island Championships and the National Championships.

After winning the South Island Championships for her weight class (under 75), and putting in a strong performance at the North Island Championships as a guest competitor, the national championships did not quite go to plan.

Whiting missed all three of her snatches, ending her competition there and then.

“Sadly it is that kind of sport where you only get three chances and I missed three and that was my competition over,” she said.

The trip to Vanuatu will be her second international event, and she has her eyes set on hitting the New Zealand international grade, which will see her needing to hit 192kg combined across all the disciplines.

“Any chance you get to represent your country is a massive honour,” she said.

While next year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast are out of the question, Whiting said that the Commonwealth Games in 2022 are a long-term goal.

“Realistically I am not at an Olympic level and that is something you have to be honest about, but I haven’t been doing this for very long and to already be involved with several New Zealand teams is really special,” she said.

Only 24 years old, Whiting regularly finds herself competing against women older than herself, and hopes to have plenty more years left competing.

Getting to the top of the weightlifting scene does not come easy.

“I train five or six times a week and that is on top of working a full time job and trying to get some sleep in there somewhere,” she said.

“It is pretty focused work, doing a lot of stuff to work on technique and stuff like squats, so I guess it is pretty specific.”

By Jaime Pitt-MacKay © The Ashburton Guardian - 16 November 2017