Last weekend Napier Boys’ High School won their 14th consecutive NZSS Orienteering title in the 30th edition of the event held in rural Wairarapa.

The early events had as few as 60 or 70 competitors but now over 350 athletes assemble to contest the races. There are three disciplines run over as many days.

First up is the sprint course, which is 2–3.5 km long. It requires speed of leg and thought, where a hesitation or poor decision can cost a few seconds and several places. This year, Rathkeale College’s 60 hectare campus made for very fast times.

Long races can be up to 6 km for senior boys, with nearly 300 metres of climb by the optimal route. A different athlete often wins – one with stamina who is more subtly in touch with map and terrain. Running up the wrong gully can cost irreplaceable minutes. The Ngaumu Forest map, Mingimingi, provided deep stream gullies, tangled undergrowth and steep hills to supplement the mud underfoot.
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The final day are the relays, which invariably decide the champions. Teams of three run branching courses in spectator friendly races. After all the rain, soft underfoot conditions made every step a slog on the rolling farm of the Riverlands map, near Opaki.

Napier’s dominance can be traced to the arrival of Derek Morrison’s children at the Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools around the turn of the millennium. While success was not instant, as coach Derek built a sustained programme with a competitive culture at both schools – NGHS has nine titles of their own.

Even now, with his last child nearly a decade gone, Derek continues as NGHS coach and, with the two schools’ teams working so closely together, has never really left NBHS either. However, since graduating from Derek’s assistant, Hugh Forlong-Ford has in recent years been the coach of record for NBHS.

The Napier secret is not startling. It depends on the simple principles of recruitment, skill, fitness and enjoyment. While there are certainly members of the team who focus exclusively on orienteering, most see orienteering as one sport among many, often using it to supplement their fitness for other sports. Identical trainings are run on consecutive days so that students can choose which meets their other commitments best. Inclusiveness is crucial to the Napier mind set, with newcomers and old hands equally valued. Thus continuity is maintained, so even passing the coaching baton hasn’t interrupted the streak.

While 14 years of sustained success looks utterly dominant, in reality there have been many close run events, chiefly from Hawke’s Bay rivals Havelock North High School (coached by Steve Armon and Derek’s brother, Geoff).

This year, Napier’s victory wasn’t assured until Bayley Stephens-Ellison crossed the line for Napier ahead of HNHS in the Senior Boys’ relay, the last race of the weekend. In 2015, the two schools were separated by a single relay place. But the closest was in 2006 as, when the points were tallied, the two schools shared the title – Napier’s third and, to date, Havelock North’s only one.

Appropriately, New Zealand sporting legend Brian Lochore presented NBHS captain Jonty Anderson with the trophy.

For full results visit:  https://wellingtonorienteering.org.nz/#results 

Longest National Championship Win Streaks (all sports):
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Boys Basketball: Church College, 1984-1991
Girls Basketball: Church College, 1991-1999
Girls Cricket: New Plymouth Girls’ High School, 2003-2008
Boys Hockey: Christchurch Boys’ High School, 1962-1968
Girls Rowing: Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, 1991-1999
Boys Rowing: Wanganui Collegiate, 1963-1969
Boys Rugby Leauge: St. Paul’s College, 2004-2010
Boys Squash: Auckland Grammar School, 2003-2008
Boys Orienteering: Napier Boys’ High School 2014 -2017

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​New Zealand had never won a game at a Handball World Championships or International Handball competition.

But that all changed over the school holidays when the New Zealand U17 Boys made history by winning four of their eight games at the inaugural Beach Handball U17 World Championships played on the island of Mauritius, off the coast of southeast Africa.
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The 10-strong New Zealand team of mostly Year 12 students featured players from Wellington (eight), Christchurch and Palmerston North and was captained by Paul Ireland of St Pat’s Town (number 8 singlet pictured above).

Paul discussed New Zealand’s maiden win against South Africa. “Before playing this game we had all been told that New Zealand handball teams had been to four world championships and had never won a game, “ he explained. “So going into the game we all pumped and we beat them two sets to nil. That was the best game we played in the whole tournament.”
 
New Zealand also had the support in the stands of the highly ranked Portuguese team who had earlier beaten them, while a rousing pre-game haka was well received by the crowd. 

The trip bodes well for the future development of beach handball in New Zealand, a sport that provides strong pathways overseas with regular tournaments worldwide.
 
All the New Zealand players have a background in indoor handball, with the two being two distinct sports. “Beach handball is a lot different to indoor, it’s really fast-paced and fun to play. It incorporates aspects that make it exciting for the crowd, like different scoring.”
 
There are four players on the sand at any one time, but on attack the goalie becomes a rush goalie and part of the attack.
 
The trip was entirely self-funded, including the coaching staff Tim Rayner and Aaron Huddleston who are current senior New Zealand representative players as well.  
 
Back home, Paul plays for his school St Pat’s Town in indoor handball, who were crowned NZSS Senior champions earlier this year, beating Christchurch’s Cashmere High School in the final.
 
Paul has been playing handball since 2014. “I got into the sport through my brothers, one of whom went to Samoa in 2012 with the New Zealand U20 team, and I thought this is a cool sport and a way to represent my country.”
 
As well as indoor and now beach handball, Paul plays social basketball and football and serious cricket, being a member of the St Pat’s Town First XI and a fast bowler.
 
Paul is back at school now, but next week he’s off to the Cook Islands with the New Zealand U21 indoor handball team to compete in the Oceania Championships. He is the only member of the recent U17 beach handball team to earn selection for this team as well.

The other two current school-aged players in this U21 team are Cassius Papera (Paraparaumu College) and Angus Hazelton (Scots College). 
 
The New Zealand team in Mauritius was:
Paul Ireland (St Pat’s Town)
Max Brookes (Scots College)
Angus   Hamilton (Cashmere High School)
Michan Hunter (Palmerston North Boys’ High School)
Danyah-Lee Skelton-ChongNee (St Pat’s Town)
Miguel  Aizpuru (St Pat’s Town)
Josh Holland (St Pat’s Town)
Joseph Poata (Wellington College)
Ezekiel Fiso (Scots College)
Johnathan English (St Pat’s Town)
Coaches: Tim Rayner and Aaron Huddleston

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About the Commonwealth Youth Games

Dozens of New Zealand’s most promising and exciting young athletes will take on their Commonwealth counterparts at the Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games, held between 18 – 23 July 2017.

The Games will be the largest international sporting event ever hosted in the Bahamas, and the largest ever edition of the Youth Games. Up to 1300 athletes aged 14-18 are set to make the most of an inspiring and immersive mix of impactful sporting competition, personal development and new Commonwealth friendships.

A team of 33 young Kiwi athletes will represent New Zealand at the Games. The team will be made up of eleven swimmers, ten athletics representatives, three cyclists, five boxers and four beach volleyball players. The athletes have been working hard to prepare for the Games and will build on the successes of previous Kiwi teams. The last Commonwealth Youth Games was held in Samoa in 2015 where New Zealand won 20 medals, made up of seven gold, eight silver and five bronze.
 
The Bahama’s first-ever international multi-sport event will see 94 medals contested across Athletics, Aquatics (Swimming), Beach Soccer, Boxing, Cycling (Road), Judo, Rugby Sevens, Tennis and Beach Volleyball. It will be the first time Judo, Beach Soccer and Beach Volleyball have been contested at a Commonwealth Youth Games.

A recent trip to Japan with the New Zealand development surf lifesaving team gave Wellington College Year 11 surf lifesaver and swimmer Atakura Julian a good taste of international competition.
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“It was my first time representing New Zealand and it was great experience and an eye opener for me, to see where every country is at and to get a feel for how we go against others,” Atakura said.

The 16-year old was called up as a rookie in the 10-strong New Zealand team that finished third behind winners Australia at the Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup in Japan in late June.

Australia finished on 854 points to comfortably win the title for the tenth consecutive year with hosts Japan in second with 711 and the Kiwis close behind on 703 points. South Africa finished fourth, USA fifth, Japan B sixth, the Netherlands seventh and Hong Kong eighth.
 
Atakura did well in a number of events, including finishing second in the men’s Tube Rescue and men’s Oceanman Relay team events and seventh overall in the individual men’s Surf Race and fourth in the men’s team Surf Race.
 
Another current secondary school team member, Claudia Kelly from New Plymouth Girls’ High School, earned two silvers, a bronze and gold with the women’s Beach Relay team.

Before they returned home, the athletes spent a morning in a cultural exchange with 150 10 and 11 year-olds at the beach, guiding them through what they do and what they love about surf lifesaving.
 
Previously, Atakura enjoyed success at the the New Zealand Surf Life Saving Championships in Christchurch in March.
 
“I won golds in the U16 Surf Race, the U16 Run Swim Run, the U16 Surf Team and Tube Rescue, so I was really happy with that.”

He currently starts and finishes his day training five days a week with the Capital Swim Club at Freyberg Pool overlooking Wellington’s Oriental Bay.

After returning from Japan, Atakura is preparing for more competition on the other side of winter, starting in the pool.

 “We have the New Zealand Short Course Championships coming up in October in Auckland and the NZSS Swimming Championships before that in Hamilton.”

Wellington College have been one of the dominant schools at the NZSS championships, winning in 2011, 2012 and 2012, finishing third in 2015 and second in 2014 and last year when Westlake Boys’ High School won.

Atakura would love to emulate the success of a few years ago and bring the title back to the school in its 150th year in 2017.

Atakura’s specialist events are 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly.

Looking ahead to the end of the year, he hopes to head to Australia for swimming and surf lifesaving events.
 
Atakura was a keen spectator before he took up surf lifesaving.
 
“I have been doing this four just over four years ago – I’ve been attracted to the water since I was little and I just saw people going out there and I thought I’d go down and see what’s all about.”
 
He joined Wellington’s Lyall Bay club and hasn’t looked back. Competitive swimming came on the back of the surf lifesaving.

School friend Luther Maxwell is another athlete Lyall Bay doing well, winning the U16 Ironman title at the National Championships in Christchurch and Liam Chesney of nearby St Pat’s Town won the U16 Beach Run.