With the term half over, our teams are often competing for Auckland honours across many grades.

Last Wednesday night our Premier Netball Team competing in the Prem 2 Grade competition played off for a spot in the final against Howick College.  It was a tense game and the team pulled out a great second and third quarter to lead by 9 goals.  However, keeping the lead always requires a change in thinking.  With two breaks in the fourth quarter, Howick came back at the girls to make them work hard for the win.  They played some stunning netball and came away with a place in the final, after some tense moments for the many fans who supported them.

The final was against Mount Albert Grammar School on Saturday.  The game see-sawed with frequent changes of lead. Just when Dio pulled ahead, the MAGs team came back at them.  It came down to the final three minutes with Dio down by a point.  A turnover by MAGs in those final few plays gave us the opportunity to break and score with seconds on the clock to take out the win 32 to 31.  Congratulations to the Dio Prem Team.  This is the first time our Dio name appears on the Prem 2 Cup and we are delighted with this outcome.  Special thanks to the coaches, managers, parents and staff who were ecstatic about the win.

We wish all our teams a great week ahead at the various venues around New Zealand as they participate in Winter Tournament in week 6 – the national competitions for sport.  Last year our First XI Hockey team were national champions which will be a hard act to follow when everyone will be out to defeat the Dio Team. Regardless of winning and losing, sport builds character, toughness and respect and we have seen plenty of that from the sidelines this year.