Times: Like many young men in New Zealand, Josiah and Sione Maama grew up believing that the only sport worth playing was rugby. In fact, the two former Pakuranga College students came across basketball purely by chance. As Josiah recalls, “One day, in Year 9, rugby training got cancelled as it was hailing so I went into the basketball gym to find shelter until my mum picked me up. To kill time I watched the basketball trials. Coach Reg Matenga thought I was a trialist and put me on the…
Read MoreAuthor: College Sport Auckland
Auckland teen doesn’t let wheelchair hold her back from umpiring her favourite sport – netball
1 NEWS: Pakuranga College student Gabby Wright has umpired her first ever netball competition from a wheelchair. The 15-year-old is believed to be New Zealand Netball’s first ever wheelchair umpire. “It was really good, I was smiling the whole time apparently,” said Wright. Three years ago Wright was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an in inflammation of the spinal cord which has left her paralysed from the waist down and only a 30 per cent chance of walking again. But that hasn’t stopped the Auckland teen from being a part of…
Read MoreAuckland Grammar & Epsom Girls win Indoor Ultimate Championships
The frisbee action moved indoors in Term 2 with the College Sport Auckland Indoor Ultimate Championships held at Pulman Arena. Eighteen teams from ten schools competed across the Open and Girls divisions with first-time entries from Birkenhead College and Rosmini College. The games were played in a fun, competitive atmosphere – as befits the self-refereed sport of Ultimate. The last round saw many close games as the teams sorted themselves out into groups that matched their abilities. In the Open final, Westlake Boys High School took on Auckland Grammar with…
Read MoreMeet the new legspin whiz New Zealand Cricket will unleash on Australia
Stuff: He’s a familiar recent cricketing tale, Adithya Ashok. Born in India, the family moved from Chennai to New Zealand when young Adithya was four and he started bowling some seriously good legspin. So good that he was promoted into Mt Albert Grammar School’s first XI in year nine, and took the remarkable figures of 6-12 for Auckland against Northern Districts at the national under-17 tournament in January. Click here to read more…
Read MoreTalented Kiwi basketballers increasingly thriving in US system
1 NEWS: Like our junior footballers, a new young wave of basketballers is leading the charge, as a pathway to America now becomes clearer. There’s over 100 young Kiwi men and women on lucrative scholarships with top US universities, and a lot more to follow, as booming basketball numbers and college educations combine. One of those is six-foot-10 former Westlake Boys’ High School student Yanni Wetzell, from Auckland’s North Shore. He has one year left in the American college system, studying for a master’s in business and playing ball for…
Read MoreTwo Westlake volleyballers preparing for test series against Australia
College Sport Media: Westlake Girls’ High School defended their NZSS Senior Girls Volleyball crown earlier this year. Following that success, two of their students, Tam Otene and Kaila Ru have been selected to represent the Senior New Zealand Women’s team. The year 13 Westlake GHS pair will join their New Zealand teammates for the three-match international series against Australia on 5-7 June in Lower Hutt, Porirua and Wellington. Tam plays outside hitter and Kaila is a middle blocker. They earned selection following a combined camp for the U23/Senior Women’s players…
Read MoreTouch and netball keeping Jaymie Kolose busy
College Sport Media: Jaymie Kolose has recently returned from the Touch World Cup in Malaysia, where the Touch Blacks Women’s side made the final against Australia, and she is in the Warriors Women’s squad for the new NRL Touch competition. She has also been selected in the New Zealand Secondary School Netball Team that is preparing to take on England U19 in July in Auckland. [College Sport Media] caught up with year 13 Saint Kentigern College’s Jaymie to find out more about her busy sporting life. Click here to read…
Read MoreDalton’s many paths merge towards US basketball
Newsroom: For someone who is just 17, Tayla Dalton has already travelled many roads. They’ve led to elite netball courts, surf-lifesaving beaches and gymnasiums. The teenager has taken many steps in many different guises. Some have been tinged with sadness following the sudden loss of her mother, former Silver Fern Tania Dalton, in early 2017. As head girl of North Shore’s Carmel College, Dalton is a leader among her peers. In her role at the Tania Dalton Foundation, she’s likened herself to a receptionist, helping to coordinate interviews for scholarship…
Read MoreCollege Sport Auckland Squash Season Preview
Squash Auckland: A new season of inter-school competition for hundreds of teenage squash players begins on the 13th May with the start of the 2019 College Sport Auckland Squash competition. 82 teams from 25 schools will compete across seven different grades throughout Term 2 on Monday and Wednesday afternoons at various clubs, public facilities, and schools. For the first time in seven years, team numbers have shown an increase from the previous season in what College Sport Auckland and Squash Auckland hope is the start of a new trend of…
Read MoreBaradene and Epsom Girls’ split cricket victories
Auckland Cricket: Auckland’s Secondary Schoolgirls’ finals ended up with Baradene College and Epsom Girls’ Grammar School splitting victories – Baradene took out the College Sport Auckland Premier Season while EGGS won the Gillette Venus Regional title. In the first final between the two schools; Baradene won the toss and put EGGS in to bat. EGGS initially started well, reaching 30 without loss. However, when openers Annie Ewart and Gemma Adams were dismissed within three balls, things started to go downhill. Petra Beuvink took two wickets in her over and EGGS…
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