College Sport Media: Dominic Overend is a creature of habit. The Auckland Grammar School sprinter has specific routines he follows before and during major races. “The week before a big race I always have a pie and eat a packet of skittles. The night before I enjoy steak and shave my sideburns. I wear no socks when I compete like Usain Bolt. I don’t know why I do this, but I always have and it seems to work.” Overend explains. At last December’s National Secondary Schools Championships in Auckland the…
Read MoreAuthor: College Sport Auckland
Westlake rowing coach wants to give back to the school
The Waikato Independent: Half a second. Half a second was all that stood between Jordan Stanley and winning the Maadi Cup in 2009. Eight years on he is determined to give back to the school which provided him so many fond memories, and to try again at a piece of Maadi Cup glory. The difference this time is Stanley is the coach. A former Westlake student, Stanley has coached the senior Westlake Maadi squad for the past two years alongside his father Mike. Jordan Stanley is trying again for Maadi glory, this time…
Read MoreSaved By The Dell – Matthew Dell On Shot Stopping
College Sport Media: Sacred Heart College boast the most successful boys’ water polo program in New Zealand. The Senior A team has won the National title three times in the last seven years and are the defending Auckland Champions. The winning attitude is contagious according to Matthew Dell who pays tribute to the water polo academy at the college. “We have sports institutes for select codes and water polo is one of them. I trialled in year six and was lucky enough to get in. We train three times a…
Read MoreSacred Heart College first XI invited to world tournament in Prague
Stuff: Sacred Heart’s top football team will test themselves against the world’s best in the Czech Republic this year. The first XI team will depart on May 15 to contest the International School Sport Federation’s World Schools Championships in Prague. They’re the first New Zealand team to ever compete in the tournament and will take on the best high school sides from football-powerhouse nations like Germany, Brazil, France, and Belgium. Lead by current New Zealand U17 coach Danny Hay, the Sacred Heart boys will match up against 23 other school teams with the hope of…
Read MoreDiocesan School for Girls looking for gold at Maadi Cup
Stuff: A sense of expectation will greet Auckland’s Diocesan School for Girls when they travel to Lake Karapiro for the 2017 Maadi Cup rowing regatta next week. Dio’s under 18 girls eight are the defending national champions and if their recent form is anything to go by, all eyes will be fixed on them as the team to beat. They returned from the North Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro last weekend with their third consecutive North Island gold, cementing their place as one of the country’s best. For head rowing coach Rachel…
Read MoreSaint Kentigern College student claims top awards at Oceania Football Championships
Stuff: Charles Spragg could become a household name in New Zealand football. The 17-year-old Meadowbank resident recently returned from the U17 Oceania Football Confederation Championship in Tahiti where his New Zealand side picked up the top prize and qualification to the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup in India. Spragg was a standout player, finishing as the tournament’s leading goal scorer with seven, and picking up the golden ball as the tournament’s most valuable player. Despite his obvious talent, Spragg, who attends Saint Kentigern College and plays club football for Western Springs,…
Read MoreSt Mary’s sisters both selected for New Zealand U16 basketball team
Stuff: Auckland siblings Jazzmyne and Zaaliyah Kailahi-Fulu do just about everything together, and now playing basketball for New Zealand can be added to the list. Both were selected for representative U16 sides which will tour Australia later this year. Jazzmyne, 14, will lineup for the New Zealand U16 Girls team at the Australian Junior Championships in Perth, while Zaaliyah, 13, will compete with the New Zealand U16 Select team in the Medibank Classic in Melbourne. The two sisters, who both attend St Mary’s College in Ponsonby, have been playing basketball for just five years.…
Read MoreChoosing schools a balancing act
NZ Herald: Meet Libby Murphy. You could say the 12-year-old student is a living example of the age-old adage a healthy body makes a healthy mind. A school age-group high jump champion at ACG Strathallan near Karaka in south Auckland, she also plays netball, tennis, represents the school at swimming and was last year named Strathallan’s junior allrounder of the year. Libby also sings – taking lessons at school – and is preparing to play the lead role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, her school’s musical to be…
Read MoreAmazing Grace thrives on juggling four sports
NZ Herald: There are allrounders, and then there is Grace Lui. The 16-year-old Year 12 Kelston Girls’ College athlete is the epitome of the busy school sports girl. In summer she is full-on with athletics – she is a natural thrower of the discus, shot put and javelin – and waka ama, where she is a key member of the champion Kelston under-19 crew which won the Sport Waitakere sports team of the year. In winter, Lui’s sport diet consists of netball and rugby, but she is often pitching in…
Read MoreTalented athlete takes the family legacy in his stride
NZ Herald: Theo Quax is gunning for the top of the podium. This weekend the 16-year-old Year 12 Macleans College middle distance runner will line up, barring any mishaps, in the New Zealand schools athletics nationals 1500m senior boys’ final at Waitakere’s Trusts Stadium as one of the favourites. Burning in his mind is the memory of last year’s fourth-place finish in the same event. “I’m aiming for top of the podium, hopefully, especially as I took out the under-18 club nationals in March. I’ve built a lot since last…
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