One of the real feelgood stories from last week’s South Island Secondary School (SISS) Netball Tournament was the bounce back by Waimea College.
The team finished 31st in the A Grade section last year, and was relegated, but it is heading straight back to the big league after going unbeaten at the SISS tournament in Nelson last week.
Waimea started the campaign on the outside courts at the Saxton complex.
“It was windy, there was sun in your eyes and a bit of rain early in the week, so it was really amazing to get inside for the final. Saxton Stadium is our home court,” says captain Hailey Mueller.
And the side sure deserved to be there after winning seven straight games outside, starting with a 37-16 victory over Garin College in a derby match on the opening day.
Four of the players were backing up from last year’s SISS event in Dunedin where they only won one game.
“That was a bad tournament for us so we all wanted it so badly this time,” declares Hailey.
Waimea also knocked over three West Coast schools on its way to the B Grade showdown with equally unbeaten Lincoln High School.
The southerners edged ahead at the end of the first quarter, in the final, but the hosts were in for the fight.
“We knew from the start Lincoln was very good, so we just had to come in with a positive mind set. All or nothing and stick with it the whole game,” says Hailey.
Cheered on by a rousing home crowd, Waimea fought back and prevailed 28-23, setting off emotional scenes on the No.1 court.
The bounce back meant a lot to the coach and manager running the team, sisters Kirsten Powick and Janita Numa who were both Waimea “old girls”.
“It really hurt last year so we knew we had to bring our A game against Lincoln which was a strong side all through the court. It was a really solid team performance from the middies, to the shooters to the defence. I am so proud of them,” enthuses Kirsten.
Meanwhile at the same time, three courts over, Nelson College for Girls (NCG) was feeling the frustration of finishing sixth in the A Grade section, one place short of qualifying for the national secondary school champs in Auckland next month.
NCG, Ashburton College and Cashmere High School had all tied for eight points in their play-off section, but a superior goal advantage saw Ashburton advance to the match to decide third and fourth which assured the Mid Canterbury side of a trip to the nationals.
NCG, which had lost 47-40 to Ashburton, still had a chance to qualify if it upset Columba College for the fifth and final spot.
However, the Dunedin outfit, coached by former Silver Fern Jodi Brown, got off to a flier and led 19-9 by the end of the first quarter.
The southerners went on to beat the young NCG side 50-29 whose sixth-place finish was one better than last year.
