New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Division 1 Championships

We had Premier and Senior A water polo teams competing in these championships held in Auckland during the last week of the school holidays. Senior A had a fantastic tournament, playing against premier teams from all over the country, however as they were a second team, they placed fourth automatically in their pool, meaning they couldn’t progress into playoffs above 13th place. In their pool play the girls lost by one goal to St Cuthbert’s Premier, and also drew against Westlake Girls and Rangi Ruru from Christchurch. The girls played outstanding water polo for the rest of the week, earning the bowl at the end of the tournament.

Our Premier team played some top quality water polo during the tournament, where their high standard of play meant that all their opposing teams needed to bring their best game. The girls were dominant throughout the tournament and got through to play in the final vs Rangitoto College – in a finals position for the third time this year. The girls were excited to be defending their national title here in their own pool, and after four quarters of play they were crowned victorious, taking their fourth back-to-back title. Congratulations also to Sophie Shorter-Robinson for being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Senior A Water Polo: Sydney Bell, Tyler Butler, Neve Cobham, Isabella Dalton, Ava Darbyshire, Arabella Duncan, Billie Frecker Netten, Sophia Jackson, Louise Masefield, Ellie Millard, Lucia Partigliani, Jenna Veal and Vita Yarrell-Stevenson.

Premier Water Polo: Lauren Batchelor, Hannah Bell, Isabella Broadmore, Isabella Dalton, Georgia Daly, Isobella Francis, Sophie Gardiner, Emma Gilleece, Ruby Helm, Isabelle Jackson, Lara Johns, Kasey McDowall, Millie Quin and Sophie Shorter-Robinson.