Eleven Raglan Area School senior students bought home the Area Schools Regional Championship Cup from the National Sports Tournament 2018 held in Christchurch last week.
They joined students from other Central North Island Area Schools, taking on the four other zones from around the country in seven different sports and were the overall top region winning in football (girls and boys), rugby, and basketball (girls and boys).
Sporting highfliers Shay Cornes, Karewa Irvin, Te Kaha Broadbent King, Emma Blaikie, Adi-Grace Mooar, Jake Ellison, Sasha Kirkwood, Awatea Dillon, Keylin Walker Pitman, Rudy Regnier, Tommy Ford represented the school in rugby, soccer, netball, volleyball, basketball and golf.
Shay Cornes, Karewa Irvin, Emma Blaikie and Adi-Grace Mooar were selected for the New Zealand Area Schools team, after showing great skills throughout the tournament representing the Central North Island team.
Supported by Matua Quenten and Matua Te Whaiwhaia, the students competing in Area Schools were involved in specialist coaching and then team up with other area school students to compete nationally.
As well as helping with fundraising, the two teachers went to Christchurch to support the young sportspeople in this highly competitive environment.
“It’s a testament to Matua Quenten’s hard work how successful our students have become,” Te Whaiwhaia says.
In the past few years, the school has upped its sporting game with many of the senior students proudly wearing the Raglan colours.
Senior teacher Year 9-10 Joseph Rao says sport can be a motivating factor for learners and can enhance their schooling experience.
Raglan Area School is now fielding strong senior teams in rugby, soccer, basketball and volleyball and a recent survey of Year 9 and 10 students found over 60 percent are playing for at least one of the school teams.
“That’s (Y9 and 10) when kids traditionally drop out of sports,” Joe says.
Due to the size of the school, Raglan Area School teams has students playing in several codes and many of the teams draw on the sporting talents of students from Year 8 up to Year 13 and some teams are mixed boys and girls.
“We think of our teams as community teams.”
Joe says the school is grateful for the support of local sponsor Mark Frost from Baylys Real Estate and to the Whaingaora community for supporting the many young sportspeople representing Raglan.
The school is keen to hear from locals with skills to share with the school teams – either as one-off coaching sessions, managing or coaching a team. Contact Joseph Rao at joseph_rao@raglanarea.school.nz or 07 825 8140.
Janine Jackson
