North Canterbury News: March 07, 2024

RangioraHighSchool
Rangiora High School Senior Touch Team
Rangiora High School hascontinued to show
hugegrowthinthe sportofTouch.After 2022
theteamsaidgoodbyeto7year 13 players,
andwelcomedanumber of new playerstothe
team for2023. The squadconsisted of 3year
12players with the restbeing madeofyear11s
with 1year10.
In August,the squadhad itsfirsttrial
following thewinterseasonand sawanumber
of newplayers welcomed who were relatively
new to touch. As agroup wefocused on
building up core skillsand learning plays we
coulduse forour future games. The team’s
growth wasimmense!
We were fortunatetohaveacoaching
groupconsistingofScott Reid,a Canterbury
andNew Zealandplayerinthe Mastersgrade
andMichael McQuarriewho playsfor the
CanterburyMen’s 30s andNew Zealand35s
team. MitchellBailey’ssupport to theteam
with mentorship andguidancewas immensely
beneficial too. We were roundedoffbyChrissie
Wrigley, aparentinthe team whotirelessly
worked as manager.
The National tournament wasanother
incredibleevent run by TouchNew Zealand
andwehad agreatdealofsuccess.
We foundourselves inthe largest mixed
competitioninthe tournaments’ recent history,
41 teamsintotal.Rangiorawas in apoolwith
5other schools, theonlypoolwith6teams
andwerefortunate to finishtop of thetable
with 4winsand 1loss. The pool itself was
incredibly well contestedwitheventualfinalists
Manukura.
The teammanaged some fantasticwins
againstQueen ElizabethCollege on Day1
winning 9-7inafantastic battle that went try
fortry throughout thefullcontest. Our best
performance came againstTaieriCollege on
Day 2where theteammanaged to overcome
some logistical mixups to lead 5-2athalftime.
To theircredit, Taierifoughtbackand brought
thegametolevel scores untilafantastic
attackingplaybyCarterMcKenzieand Abby
Prattley sawthe team pull away to be eventual
winners 7-5.
Throughout thetournamentthe team had
some incredible improvements from anumber
of players; JontyMaddenfor hisexceptional
defensive readsand some wonderfultries in
crucialmoments, sounddefense by both Lexi
Wilson andLukas Muir on theiredgeand some
incredible leadership by Abby Prattley.
On Attack theteam wasled by thepair
HarryThompson andJordanvan Schalkwyk,
whowerequite thedominantattacking duo
either scoringorsetting up 28 of theteams
triesacrossthe weekend. HarryThompson
managedtoscore 11 ofthose andJordanscored
6himself.They were complimentedbyAmy
Willett-Hall whoshowedincrediblehands to
scoresomebeautiful tries andevenset up her
wings, Phoebe Chattertonand Indy Stringer.
Newplayers to theteamJames Garteryand
JonasaBradburgplayedimportant roles
leadingthe team with theiryards andexcellent
communication.
The team were sadtoloseakeyplayer, due
to adevastating wristinjury, leadinguptothe
competitionbut Levi Fletcher’s dedication to
hissquad,and thegame, wasincredible.His
abilitytoreadthe play from thesidelinehelped
theteamthrough acoupleoftight playsand his
ownpersonalgrowthwas apleasure to watch.
Hisleadershipand enthusiasm wasoutstanding
at nationalsand he wasawarded theYoung
Leadersaward at thetournamentand we
couldn’t have been prouder.
As acoachinggroup we were exceptionally
proudofthisgroup andare thrilled to know
that thefull team is allavailable to continue
their efforts forthe 2024 season.Wewould like
to acknowledgeJohnMcDonaldtoo.Macca,
thanks so much forbeingour Teacher in
Charge andsharing this experiencewiththe
team,
We look forwardtobuildingtowards
thenextseasonstartingwithSouth Island
SecondarySchools in March.
Ourthankstothe businesseswho
sponsoredour athletes. We couldnot have
attended nationalswithout your support.
Thank youtoall of ourgeneroussponsors
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