Selwyn_Times: February 14, 2024

Wednesday February 14 2024 Selwyn Times
Club marking major milestone
• By Sam Coughlan
PREBBLETON IS celebrating
the 20th anniversary of the
football club’s founding this year.
The club was originally
established in 2002 as a Gaelic
football team, but two years
later it was decided that football
would be the path they would
choose.
President Shannon Gilmore
was one of the founding
members and remembers the
club’s early years.
“We started with just nine
guys, and nine sky-blue rugby
jerseys, as well as a few ring-ins.”
The team originally started out
in Sunday League but a series
of partnerships with clubs in
Mainland Football’s Saturday
competition allowed them to
enter the lower divisions in
Christchurch.
“Mainland have an objective
that they don’t want any
new clubs. So that’s great
in Auckland, but here in
Canterbury, people like to play
for their town,” Gilmore said.
“We partnered initially with
Hornby United, and then with
Christchurch United, and now
we’re with Old Boys just to make
sure we can register kids on a
Saturday.”
The focus has shifted to junior
teams as well over the years.
“Initially I saw kids getting
pushed around in Prebbleton for
playing football.
“So we’d give them an avenue
to play, and that’s sort of what
was the inspiration behind it all.
It’s been awesome to see it grow.”
Gilmore said the club has
celebrations planned for the
anniversary.
“We’ve got a club day on the
24th of March, we’ve got an end
of year prize-giving, sort of a
gala dinner in September.
“We’ll have a couple of social
events throughout the season,
two fundraising nights, which
is like a quiz night and a bingo
night.”
MILESTONE: Prebbleton football club will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.
PHOTO: PREBBLETON FOOTBALL
YOUTH: Prebbleton’s focus
is their junior teams - like
the U10 girls pictured here.
PHOTO: LUKAS SPORTS
PHOTOGRAPHY
Gilmore said the highlight of
the last 20 years was the club’s
trip to Japan in 2013.
“David Smith was the
founder of the Sunday League
competition, so I got to know
him quite well.
“He is on the sister city
committee with Kurashiki, so
they were looking for a social
side to take to Kurashiki, so we
put together a senior squad and
took them to Japan.
Highlights from the last 20 years
2004 - Club founded after previous iteration as a Gaelic
football team.
2005 - Prebbleton adopts its now-standard colours of
green and white for the first time.
2008 - The club acquires grounds at Prebbleton
Reserve, their first ever designated home ground.
2012 - Junior teams are affiliated with Mainland
Football for the first time and play in the Saturday
competition.
2013 - Club trip to Kurashiki, Japan, where the team
plays several games.
2014 - Prebbleton hosts the football portion of the Koru
Games for the first time at Prebbleton Reserve.
2023 - New football fields at Kakaha Park are opened,
becoming the new home of the club.
“That was a pretty special
moment to get over there
and have that, from a club
perspective, you know, getting a
team to Japan was pretty epic.”
Gilmore said Prebbleton
intends to enter the nationwide
Chatham Cup competition this
year as a part of the celebrations.
The cup encompasses teams of
all abilities across New Zealand
from national powerhouses
Auckland City and Christchurch
United to social and even Sunday
League sides.
Gilmore said the club will look
to enter a team to celebrate the
occasion.
“We might be competitive up
until about the car park, but we’ll
try and put a team out for the
sake of having a crack,” he said.
“I don’t think we stand a
chance, frankly, but it’s all about
just going through that process,
isn’t it?”
SPORT 27
In Brief
BROWN APPOINTED
SELWYN UNITED COACH
Selwyn United have named Chris
Brown as their new head coach
ahead of the upcoming Southern
League season. Brown previously
led the club from 2019-2021
and was assistant under former
coach Lee Padmore for the last
two seasons, in addition to being
director of football at Selwyn.
The ‘Stallions’ finished 9th in last
season’s Southern League and will
hope to improve on that placing
under Brown. The new season
starts on March 30.
SISTERS DOMINATE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Two sisters at Selwyn Athletics
club have claimed a combined
seven medals in the Canterbury
track and field championships
at Ngā Puna Wai. Kirsty
McCarthy-Dempsey, competing
in the U20 age bracket, and sister
Jody, U18, together won four
gold medals and three silvers.
Kirsty won the shot put and
hammer throw events and was
second in the discus and javelin
for her age bracket, while Jody
took out her shot put and long
jump competitions and claimed
silver in the high jump. Cooper
Wightman, 17, also won the
senior 800m men’s race to go
with his U20 title in the 1500m
competition. Ciaran Dunnion
won the senior 400m and took
bronze in the 800m.
SOFTBALLERS STILL
‘BEST OF THE REST’
Rolleston’s premier men’s softball
team has continued a season
where they’re the ‘best of the
rest.’ The ‘Raptors’ are third in
the Canterbury competition but
sit nine wins behind Parklands
in second, and six wins ahead of
fourth-placed Kaiapoi. Rolleston
lost heavily to league leaders
Papanui, 7-0, and lost 9-2 to
Parklands in their two games
on Saturday. They regrouped
on Sunday to beat Kaiapoi and
Albion 2-1 and 6-1 respectively,
before losing 6-3 to Richmond to
end the weekend. They next face
Papanui on February 24 at Foster
Park to celebrate their club day.
Confidence high for Darfield cricketers
• By Sam Coughlan
DARFIELD CRICKET are
aiming high after moving
back into the top-four of the
Canterbury Country 45-over
competition with a win over
Leeston-Southbridge on
Saturday.
The win took them to 23 points
from 10 games – one point ahead
of fifth-placed Weedons with two
rounds to go.
The top-four finishers at the
end of the competition qualify
for the semi-finals, and Darfield
all-rounder Robbie Foulkes said
that was their aim.
“We’re pretty confident. We’re
starting to have a couple guys
come back from injury, which is
nice but, yeah, we definitely back
BIG GOALS: Darfield want to make the finals in the 45-over
and T20 competitions. PHOTO: SHANNON MCALEER
our team to go well,” he said.
Foulkes took three wickets to
bowl Leeston out for just 164 and
scored 53 as Darfield chased it
down with five overs to spare.
He said it was good to contribute
to the team in his first game
back after representing New
Zealand at the U19 World Cup
in South Africa.
“It was quite a tricky wee pitch,
so happy to get a few runs in the
second innings there.
“I was definitely just trying to
bowl as straight at the stumps as
I can to bring in a bowled or an
LBW and, yeah, it definitely was
doing a bit.”
Lincoln were the only other
Selwyn team in action, losing to
Peninsula-Harbour to stay seventh,
while Weedons had a bye.
On Saturday Darfield switch
their attention to the T20 competition
and two massive games
against second-placed Weedons
and third-placed Ohoka.
Darfield are fourth but two
wins this weekend would see
them push up to second in a
competition where only the top
two make the final.
Foulkes is confident they can
pull it off.
“T20s is probably not our
favourite format, but it’s just
cricket at the end of the day, so
I think if we can just play our
best game. I’m pretty confident
to make it into that top two,” he
said.
Weedons take on Leeston-
Southbridge on Saturday
morning before their clash with
Darfield in the afternoon.
Leeston visit Peninsula-
Harbour in the afternoon while
Lincoln play twice at home,
against Oxford-Southbrook and
Cheviot.