Every year, our school forms a combined sports team with Matamata Christian School to participate in the Town & Country Sports Camp, held at Totara Springs, in Matamata. Our combined team, called 'Combined' participated with 11 other schools in this years camp, traveling from as far away as Auckland (Westminster) and Taranaki (Kaponga).
Our students participated in more than 35 different sports, ranging from mainstream sports like rugby, football, and netball; to sports that few have heard of or played before, like human foosball (pictured below), scramball, and spikeball.
Our students worked hard, learning new skills and applying a range of strategies to score points and demonstrated strong teamwork and determination throughout camp. With a reduced number of students participating on our team this year, it was always going to be hard to compete against teams that were nearly double in size, both in number and stature. Despite that, Combined displayed a 'never give up' attitude even when the score wasn't in their favour.
Our team made the semi-finals in the following sports (Semi-final results):
- Soccer (lost to Horsham Downs 3-1)
- Human Foosball (beat Westminster 2-1)
- Girls Table Tennis(lost to Te Kowhai 2-1)
- Boys Volleyball (lost to Paeroa 2-0)
- Girls Volleyball (lost to Paeroa 2-1)
- Petanque (lost to Pirongia 2-1)
- Girls Basketball (lost to Paeroa 6-0)
Our team made the following final:
- Human Foosball
In the final, Te Kowhai won the first set 5-3 and then went on to win the final set 5-2. Our team put in a spirited effort, but just couldn't put the ball past their goal keeper, who kept Te Kowhai in the game.
The highlight of Sports Camp was watching our very inexperienced rugby players take on teams with players that have played rugby for local clubs. The difference in the way our team played their first game and their last game was enormous. They went from 'easy beats' to 'you've gotta work hard to get past us'. This was beautifully illustrated when a player from Te Kowhai picked up the ball and charged straight at our defensive line, only to be met by Ratu, who flattened him, much to the delight of his teammates and his Principal! He then helped the player up and both players rejoined the game.
It was that gesture that didn't go unnoticed, and was repeated across a range of different sports, resulting in our team winning the trophy for Sportsmanship (nominated by the other schools).
Despite winning only two trophies (Sportsmanship and Kayaking), our team exceeded our expectations and went away from Sports Camp with new skills, new stories to tell, and new friends.
Well done team, we are proud of your effort and leadership throughout camp!
