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There is much to look forward to over the final two months of 2018 in secondary school sport in New Zealand.  With Winter Tournament Week now behind us, summer sports are getting underway. The NZSS basketball and netball nationals in October are followed by several other national events such as athletics, cricket, rugby sevens and touch. 

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​Congratulations to…

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New Zealand Under 18 sevens team has won a historic gold at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina this morning.

The team went through pool play undefeated with wins against Tunisia, Colombia, France, Canada and Kazakhstan to qualify in top spot for the gold medal match against France.

The gold medal Final was a tense encounter with Montessa Tairakena and Iritana Hohaia giving the New Zealand team a 10-0 lead before France scored on the stroke of halftime for a 10-7 scoreline at the break.

The French took the lead in the second spell 12-10, setting up a grandstand finish, with Mahina Paul scoring for New Zealand to seal the 15-12 victory.

College Sport Media Featured team: 

The New Zealand Junior Surfing Team 

The NZ Junior Surfing Team has used the most recent National Scholastic Surfing Championships as the textbook preparation for the World Junior Championship taking place next week. 

The 12-surfer team competes at the 2018 VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship being held at Huntington Beach, California from the 27th October through until the 4th November.

Nine surfers in the NZ Team were competing in Gisborne at the Scholastic Championships with three of those surfers taking home titles – Caleb Cutmore, Brie Bennett and Kora Cooper all of Raglan. 

The scholastic event mirrors that of the World Junior Championship with a focus on the team aspect and also the long duration of the event, surfers having to pace themselves over five days of competition.

For the past two years the team has finished tenth overall and they will be aiming to push into the top eight to gain qualification for the Aloha Cup.  USA won the 2017 event.

Next week’s championship is the largest junior surfing event in the world playing host to over 350 surfers from 44 nations.  2018 marks the first year that all divisions are gender equal at the event with three surfers in each of the four divisions contested. 

The 2018 New Zealand Junior Surfing Team is:

Under 18 Boys Division
Caleb Cutmore (Hamilton)
Conor McLennan (Christchurch)
Shane Kraus (Piha)

Under 18 Girls Division
Kea Smith (Mount Maunganui)
Saffi Vette (Gisborne)
Tiana – Breeze de Mooij (Mount Maunganui)

Under 16 Boys Division
Kora Cooper (Raglan)
Myka Black (Christchurch)
Tom Robinson (Whangarei)

Under 16 Girls Division
Ariana Shewry (Oakura)
Brie Bennett (Raglan)
Estella Hungerford (Christchurch)

Saffi Vette. Image courtesy of Cory / NZ Surfing Magazine