SPORT Polo
MARCH TOURNAMENT This year, the South Island Polo Committee ran the end-of-season tournament during summer tournament week and included two days of skills with different coaches, which was brilliant for the boys. It finished with a North Island team flying south to play. The weather was perfect on day one but by the end of day two, the rain had arrived and with heavy rain forecast, the March tournament was cancelled. NOVEMBER TOURNAMENT Sunday 26 November 2023 Students gathered at Warieka Polo farm for the last polo tournament of the year, bringing together two mixed teams to play in the A and B grades. College B Elliot Lee Loch Alexander Wilde Brabazon-Fleming Honor Forbes The College B team joined with two other teams to make a competitive group, playing against Rangiora high School and Combined Schools before going into a play-off. In the first game, College was hard on defence as Rangiora showed speed and strong ball skills to win, 2–0. College played a better game against Combined Schools and fought back, but the opposition took the honours, 3–0. In the first play-off against Rangiora, it all came together for College, with the match decided on a run down. Beautiful stick and ball skills by Elliot and Loch resulted in a College win, 1–0. In the final game against Combined Schools, College marked harder and
MiC: Monique Ellis-Martin Managers: Monique Ellis-Martin, Kirsty Howatson Coach: Charlie Wood Teams: A Grade: Sam Cochrane, Max Dormer, Matthew Geddes, Freddy Scott C Grade: Loch Alexander, Ben Donaldson, Elliot Lee, Arthur Meares, Wilfie Wells, James Whitaker Polo had a good uptake of boys, with 10 choosing to play. This year, all polo was moved to the Waireka Polo farm, under the watchful eye of international coach Charlie Wood. Term 4 is always a tough term because of the weather. However, the boys were fortunate to miss the rain on training days. While the boys were prepared for the November tournament, it was cancelled because of the weather. It was a new year and we welcomed Year 9 player Wilfie Wells to the team. Each Wednesday, the boys would travel to Sefton to practice. The boys’ skills were developing, and College was fortunate to have so many chosen for selection teams. FEBRUARY TOURNAMENT Sunday 26 February 2023 Students gathered at Waireka Polo for the first tournament of the season. First up was the Christ’s College B team, playing against SUPA Red. College was quick to pick up the ball, and great play from Arthur put points on the board. The boys were playing well, and Loch soon picked up a loose ball, taking it down the field to score. Another goal from Arthur delivered a 3–0 win. Next, the boys played Rangiora
High School. It was a harder game, with the strong opposition having played and practiced a great deal. College struggled with marking and let Rangiora High School take opportunities, leading to a 0–3 loss. In the last game against Christchurch Combined, College’s lack of practice started to show. Again, the boys struggled with their marking and their shots on goal went wide, resulting in a 0–3 loss. College B
Ben Donaldson Loch Alexander Arthur Meares Elliot Lee In A Grade, College faced
Christchurch Boys’ High School (CBHS), with both teams packed with talented players. As the rain set in, both teams were warned that the game would be stopped if there was any unsafe play. In the first chukka, College dominated play, putting up a strong defence before CBHS finally put points on the board. However, in an exciting restart, Matthew Geddes took control from the halfway mark to run the ball down the field and score to finish the chukka 1–1. In the second chukka, College was outplayed, with CBHS scoring to lead 2–1. In the final two chukkas, there was tight teamwork from CBHS while College struggled with accuracy and passing. CBHS eventually won, 4–1. College A Matthew Geddes Freddy Scott Max Dormer Sam Cochrane Elliot Lee was awarded the prize for Most Helpful to SUPA on tournament day.
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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