huge success. Edward Davidson and Winston Hutchinson proved outstanding leaders in getting bike polo underway and in helping with coaching the junior boys. College has continued to practice at two polo schools: Waireka Polo Farm in Sefton, under the watchful eye of Charlie Wood, and Blue Springs Polo School with coach Mark Donald. At this tournament College had teams competing in the A, C and D grades. The D grade team – Beau Armstrong, Freddy Backhouse, Charlie Burdon and Charlie Somerville – played matches against Medbury Blue, Christchurch Combined, Medbury Red, Christchurch Girls’ High School Red and Rangiora A. College played really well, with Freddy and Beau scoring for the team. The team had one loss to CGHS and finished 2nd in the grade – a fantastic result, as in the last tournament they had competed in the E grade. The C grade boys – Jonti Bellaney, Henry Bowmar, George Cochrane and Hayden Goodwin – played matches against Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, Medbury White and St Andrew’s College B. These young College players really gelled as a team, taking every match to win the grade – an outstanding achievement for such a young team. Henry, Hayden and George all scored goals.
The final game of the tournament saw the College team of Edward Davidson, George Hutchinson, Winston Hutchinson, Conner Jenkins and Chloe Wheelans (a substitute for George, following injury) against a very capable Canterbury Combined team, made up of the top players from every school. The first two minutes were very competitive and it was clearly going to be a very equal match. Unfortunately, early in the match George took a ball to his elbow and was no longer able to play. The game stopped while a substitute player was found, and thankfully Chloe Wheelans volunteered to step up. As a young player, this was the first time Chloe had ever competed in the A grade, and in a hard and fast match she
needs to be congratulated for the courage she displayed. With College losing its top player, however, the team struggled to keep control of the ball. Pressure mounted and mistakes kept being made, which led to penalties being given and goals being scored. The match ended in a 4–9 win for Christchurch Combined. We were very honoured to be awarded both awards for the major contribution to the yard, which is given to students who help on the day. Well done to Conner Jenkins and Henry Bowmar.
Monique Ellis-Martin MiC Polo
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Register 2019 Sport
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