Charlotte Hadfield;
Thank you for all your support and effort to pay for us to compete in the
Interprovincials!
It was great to start the trip off by flying to Palmerston North and then driving to Inglewood.
When we arrived at the hostel I thought the accommodation was amazing.
The food we had when we were competing was fantastic.
I thought it was a good idea for the team to visit the museum and go sight seeing on the second day so we could get to know each another.
I really enjoyed competing and I felt that I had really contributed to
the team by getting three throws and three jumps in the discus and long jump
and getting two PBs.
The highlights of my trip would definitely be the chanting against the other teams and
dance !
Libby and Jordan - the team captains were very good at leading Canterbury.
Thank you to Steph, the 12 year captain and the Canterbury managers.
Thank you to Marilyn, the Christchurch Avon manager for preparing me for this competition.
I am really thankful for this opportunity to represent Canterbury.
Thank you to the CHAV club for all your support and effort to pay for us to compete in the
Interprovincials!
From Charlotte Hadfield
Georgia Freeman;
Inter-Provincials
I woke up on Thursday the 21st of April and was raring to go. I couldn’t wait to jump in the car and drive to the airport. I had to get up at 6:30am so that we could leave at 7am.
When we got to the airport all I could see was red and black polos, jackets and fleeces. Everyone checked in and then we all went and sat in the new lounge before we boarded at about 8:30. About 15 minutes later we were off to Palmerston North.
The plane trip was really fun once we were allowed to turn our cameras and things on we took some really awesome pictures and had heaps of fun. I was sitting next to Rebecca (Gillett).
When we arrived in Palmerston North we got our bags and took them out to the bus that was there waiting for us. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough storage under the bus so we had to pile up the bags all down the aisle and spare seats, luckily where I was sitting the bags stopped just one seat behind me. When we stopped everyone had to climb over all the seats to get out.
We finally arrived at the boarding school about 3 hours and 15 minutes later. We all lugged our bags into the common room where we were given our rooms. I was in a room with Larissa from Port Hills. Later on we had a relay practice and then tea. When we were having tea the Otago team arrived as they were staying there as well. We went to bed at about 9:30pm.
I was woken up the next morning at about 7:30 and went and got my breakfast. At 9ish the bus came and got us and we drove somewhere about 30minutes and arrived at a museum. The museum was quite fun, it was about the history of New Zealand. We took heaps of pictures with all the mannequins and then we went on this mini boat ride thing at the museum as well. After that we drove to Inglewood where the track is and had our team photo and got the chance to practice one or two of our events and then we did some relay practice too. We then drove to New Plymouth and went to their cricket grounds and had a look around before driving back to Stratford where we were staying. We went to bed early that night.
I was woken up early on Saturday morning asked to get up and go and have some breakfast and do other sorts of things that you do in the morning before leaving to head to the track.
When we arrived we all got in a bunch and walked in and started doing our chanting. It was really fun and very loud. My only event for the day was the 100m. I had a pretty good race with very strong head-winds and for the rest of the day I was around and about cheering everyone on.
On Sunday I woke up, got ready, had breakfast and then headed for the bus. We drove up to Inglewood and all filed out of the bus. We walked in chanting and then I headed for warm-up.
I had Long Jump up first and then had to go straight to 800m, I then had about 15 minutes until I had to go warm-up for the 200m. My events were quite close but overall I think I did pretty well and got as many points as I could for the team.
The rest of the day it was all on everyone chanting cheering and most of all trying their best for their team to get the top spot. I was cheering so hard for everyone and couldn’t wait for the relays. My relay team did pretty well, we all tried our best to get as many points as we could.
When the managers relay was on everyone went into the middle and had a bit of “chant off” which was awesome. After that we all headed back to the bus and had some freetime and afternoon tea. After tea everyone got ready for the dance/prizegiving.
We all hopped back on the bus to go to New Plymouth Boys High School. When we got there we started chanting and then that got everyone else started to. When they started to announce the team placings it was very exciting but it took for ages but once they announced Auckland as second we were all over the moon. Once we all had our trophies and had done a couple of chants the dance began it was so much fun. Once it was over we headed home and we all stayed up for ages I didn’t manage an all-nighter though.
On Monday everyone was very tired. Luckily there was a minivan this time for some of our bags and the aisle wasn’t piled up. We stopped somewhere for lunch and most people headed for McDonalds, including me! (Sorry Marilyn) Then we went back to the bus and continued south for Palmerston North. We got there and checked in to find out the plane was late so we just sat around until it arrived. We boarded and then took off once we landed everyone was there waiting for us and we did a few chants as we walked into the arrivals lounge all the parents cheered and clapped for us. I then got my big bag said goodbye to a few people and went home.
It was such a great trip and I had heaps of fun I hope I get the opportunity to do it next year.
A big thanks to Marilyn for all the help and support that you gave us and to all the coaches who put a lot of work into us, particularly Jill, Fi and Kelsey who helped me in my events.
I would also like to thank CHAV for their very generous subsidy towards the trip!!
By Georgia Freeman
Georgia Sherlock;
This year the Interprovincial competition was different to last years as we were defending champs and Otago was staying at our accommodation .
On the 1st day of competition the war of chants began - coming from all directions in the stand and heard from afar as the atmosphere buzzed wildly. That night as we sat down to have our supper the Otago manager came in to say a few words "haha we beat you "! We all laughed wondering what he was on about until the next day down at the track he announced on the speaker "CANTERBURY, we beat you "! We had lost the rugby. But our hopes were still high.
That night at prize giving we all waited attentively to find out the results. "And in 2nd place is " . . . . . . .it took forever . . . . . ."AUCKLAND". We jumped up screaming champs again .I had so much fun this year.
I would like to thank the coaches , Marilyn and the committee for making this trip possible for me .
Thank-you
Georgia Sherlock
Kate Meynall;
INTER PROVINCIALS 2011
All my hard work throughout the season had paid off when I had been named as part of the Inter Provincial team for the second year.
I woke up early and excited so I could be at the airport on time. The plane trip began and we arrived in Palmerston North an hour later. We all then piled on the bus for the long 3 hour ride and we were all excited when we arrived in Stratford where we were staying. We all climbed off the bus, found our rooms and started to unpack. Later on we had a team relay practice and some chanting practice before we started to settle in for the night.
On Friday we went to a local museum and a huge park in New Plymouth. We also went to the athletics track in Inglewood where we had a team photo and had a chance to practice some of our events. We then went back to Stratford for dinner, a team meeting and an early night.
On Saturday morning, our first competition day, we all woke up early, excited and nervous. As soon as we arrived in Inglewood at the athletics track, we all started chanting and so did the other teams. After we finally stopped chanting the competition began. The weather was not terrible but it was windy and cold. My first event was the 1500m. I was really nervous. I didn’t do a PB but I was happy with my time. After having a rest for a while, I had the 400m. I didn’t do a PB there either, but there was a big head wind the last 100m. Later on in the day I had long jump where I did a PB of 4.12m, so I was happy with that. After one big day I was glad when it was time to go back to Stratford for dinner and another early night.
On Sunday morning, the second competition day, it was another early morning. The weather hadn’t changed so we were stuck with the wind and the cold. My first event of the day was the 800m. I ran in the medley relay where I ran the 100m and our team got 3rd. After all the competition was over we drove back to our accommodation in Stratford to get ready for prize giving. All the girls ran to get the showers first before anyone else, so we had heaps of time to get organised. After we were all ready we drove to New Plymouth where the prize giving and disco was. To start us off Canterbury had 3 Top 3 individual placings. When he started to call out the overall team placings the nerves started to kick in. In the end it was between us and Auckland. It was really exciting when he read out Auckland in 2nd leaving us to take the win. We were all really excited and after we had the disco which was really fun. Afterwards we went back to Stratford. Most of us celebrated by staying up until about 1am. Most of the boys even did an undie run haha.
On Monday we all woke up rather tired and got back on the bus for the journey to Palmerston North. On the way we stopped for lunch and most of us got McDonalds. We then arrived at Palmerston North Airport where we had to wait a while because the plane was delayed. When we finally got on the plane, we enjoyed some rest before we arrived back in Christchurch airport, chanting our way back to our parents.
I would like to thank Marilyn for organising all the training sessions and coaches to help me. Thank you to all the coaches for helping me over the season and helping me prepare for this competition. Also I would like to say a big thank you to the CHAV club for their subsidy towards the trip.
By Kate Meynell
Laura;
Inglewood 2011
Interprovincial track meet
Thursday 21st April
We had to be at the airport early, no later than 7:30am. When we arrived I saw all the really excited smiles of the team. You could just tell it was going to be a fun trip. Wow, the plane was really tiny!!! It was really fun on the plane but it was quite quiet because not everyone knew each other. The view from the plane was so cool. We arrived in Palmerston North ready for our long bus ride. The bus was really fun because we just talked and took pictures and I really got to know a lot of people.
We stayed at St Mary's in Stratford and I roomed with Christina Ryan from South Canterbury. The hostel had a ping pong table and a TV in one big lounge with about twelve couches that we could shift to where ever we liked. We got to chill until 4pm then we had to have a relay practice it was a good session. After that we got to do what ever until dinner time at 6pm.
Dinner was really yummy it felt just like we were eating at home all the usual food with roast potatoes, veges and meat. Dessert was really yummy too it was strawberry moose. Just as we finished our dinner we saw the Otago team arrive, some of us huddled against the window to see them drive in.
After dinner we were told to just chill. We watched TV and played ping pong if there was not a massive line! It was really funny because we were all terrible at ping pong.
9pm time for bed.
Friday 22nd April
7:30 breakfast it was just the usual toast, rice bubbles, weet bix, fruit and yoghurt. There was quite a selection and they catered well for gluten free people like me, with gluten free bread. Every morning after breakfast we made rolls or sandwiches for the day with the fillings we wanted.
Soon after breakfast we got on the bus to go sightseeing and to have training at the track in Inglewood. First we went to the museum it was really cool. The twelve year old boys and girls went round together, there heaps of funny manikins everywhere. We just wandered round taking pictures of everything. We moved on to the cave part of the museum, it seemed like it was underground but it was just in a building. In the building we got to go on a boat ride, we saw heaps of displays of New Zealand history. Once we were finished we went and had lunch in the picnic area. They took fruit for us, muffins and juice. Jordan Pinnock came and sat with us twelve year old girls and he drank the juice that we didn’t want.
After the museum we went to the track in Inglewood to train and take our team photo. There were a few other clubs but they were all really quiet. Once the pictures were finished we went to do some light training for some of our events. I did hurdles they were going great but the track didn’t help that much because it was quite old and worn out. After hurdles I went and did some discus with Larissa, I was going terrible most of them were going out! I got quite worried that I would do badly. It didn’t help that the discus’ were metal and I never do well with metal ones. After we were all finished we went back to our bags to get ready for relay practice, when the Auckland team arrived chanting. As Auckland made there way round the bend to the home strait we got together in a group and chanted towards them. Eventually we were about 3 metres away from Auckland and we were screaming our chants as loud as we could at them. When I found out what relay team I was in I was really excited. I was in the composite relay team, it has a twelve boy and girl and a thirteen boy and girl in it. I had never tried anything like it but it sounded really cool. Our teams practice went really well.
Before we went back to the hostel we went to New Plymouth and visited to Pukekura Park it was amazing! It had a huge cricket oval with the stands built into the side of the banks going around it. They went really high and it was so tiring climbing up them. We kept walking round the park and there was a huge water fountain that sprayed water really high in the air. Further on there was a really cool waterfall it looked amazing. We found a gazebo so we started to practice our chanting under it. On the way back to the hostel we went for a drive round the beach water front.
When we got back to the hostel we just chilled and had dinner at 6pm with the Otago team!!. We had a nice roast again and pineapple for dessert. After dinner were given our packs with our program, ribbons and brochures in it. We got everything ready for Saturday. Once we finished we played ping pong and watched TV.
9pm time for bed!
Saturday 23rd April
We woke up at 7am and got our bags ready for the day. We had breakfast at 7:30am and got on the bus at 8:15am. When we drove to Inglewood some were very nervous. When we arrived we chanted as we entered the stadium and made lots of noise. We put our bags down and we did more chanting in the stands. About five other teams were also chanting. We next had the march pass but there was practically no one in the stands. After the opening ceremony we traded ribbons with other teams we went to most of the small teams first. I ended up with about three left over. Until my first event we chanted and we used the metal roof of the stands to bang on and we cheered for the runners and field event people from Canterbury.
My first event was shot put at 11:00am and I had a great first throw, a PB. My second throw was a PB too and I finished with a half a metre PB of 7.50m.
While I wasn’t busy I watched the 12 girls high jump, Canterbury did well.
My next event was discus. I went to warm up and my practice throws were not going well either. But I kept trying and I did get some good throws. Charlotte, Christina, Alice I reported to the marshalling tent.. 15 minutes later we were off to the discus circle. My first throw was solid and it went right up the middle. Now I could try the spin. And I threw 21 metres and my next spin was 21 metres again.
After discus my events were all done for the day so I could just watch everyone else. Waikato Bay-of-Plenty were singing a jigalo song, it was really entertaining and funny.
At 5pm we headed back to the hostel. At the hostel we were painting everyone’s nails with my nail polish. Jack Bryant kept refusing to have his nails done but we eventually got him to let us. But later that evening he scratched them off.
Later in the evening we had dinner. And for the rest of the night we played ping pong and lounged on the couch playing on iPods and stuff.
9pm bed time.
Sunday 24th April
This morning we had to be at the stadium earlier for hurdles. When we got there the hurdlers went strait to warm up. It was really hard to get a good warm up because there were so many people using the hurdles. Some of the people looked really good. Twelve girls were one of the last races.
When it was time for marshalling we went to the tent and checked in, I was in the first division. When we got to the 80 metre mark I set my blocks and practiced over the first two hurdles, I then felt like I was ready. When the whistle blew I was really pumped and ready to go. Bang went the gun I had a fantastic start but then the false start gun went, I was so annoyed because I had a really good start. The starter said the next false start will be a disqualification. I was so nervous that I would false start. I was shaking in the blocks. Bang went the gun for the final time. I had a bad start it was slow and the first hurdle was really bad. But the rest of my hurdles were great and I ended up winning!! And it was a .59 second PB!! I ran 14.55sec.
I didn’t have long before I had to go to my 800 metre race. So I went off to re warm up. At marshalling time I was so nervous. I was the last division with Georgia and Hannah. My 800 was super slow I felt terrible in the race my quads felt heavy and they wouldn’t lift when I was running it must have been my worst 800 of the season.
For the rest of the day I sat in the stands and watched races and played on my iPod and a group of us played on Maddie’s iPad. And at times we did chanting for Canterbury!
When it was time for relay warming up and practicing it wasn’t that great. Once we had finished our relay practice we went and watched the relays. They were so awesome to watch everyone was so into it, screaming and yelling for their teams. When it was time for marshalling we went to the tent and we saw our competition. I was running the third leg and then they called us to go. When we got to the bend I set up my marks and got ready. Then the gun went and Chelsea was off starting for us. She was going really fast. She then pasted to Mac on the back strait then he pasted it to me, our change was great. I ran round the bend as fast as I could and passed it to Caleb. It was a great change as well and he sprinted off and we won!!! It was so exciting winning.
For the rest of the afternoon we watched the other relays. I was standing along side the finish line next to some big Auckland boys, they were really nice, they asked me if my house was ok after the earthquake. That made me feel really nice. We had some really good relay races and got in the top three for most races.
When we got home we just chilled on the couch and talked about our day. Dinner was so good we had wedges and other stuff and we got to have ice cream and jelly. After dinner we got ready for the prize giving and the dance. The room was massive full of teams. When the places were being announced we were really excited because we knew that we would at least be in the top three. When Auckland was announced for second place Canterbury let out a massive roar. It was so exciting winning.
The dance was really fun the music was loud and everyone was having fun dancing. We were aloud to stay up till 1:30am then we had to go to bed.
Monday 25th April
It was a really quiet morning everyone was so tired. The bus ride back was so quiet because people were catching up on sleep and some were trying to stay awake. For lunch we stopped at Bulls a McDonalds and ice cream. We got to the airport to find that our flight was delayed. So we just bought food from the cafe but mostly lollies.
The flight was also quiet everyone was resting. When we arrived Will was the only one to throw up, it was gross. We entered in the airport chanting. Then we found our parents and went home, very happy but tired.
I would like to thank The Christchurch Avon club for assisting me with funds to travel to the Interprovincials in Inglewood and to the coaches who prepared us with wonderful coaching and Marilyn for organizing training sessions.
Matt;
Inter-Provincials Inglewood 2011
I arrived at the airport half asleep to meet the rest of the team at the group check-in. We were a few minutes early I could have done with that extra sleep in but I was too awake then to go back to sleep. Soon enough the whole team was there and we had checked in and dropped our bags off. We still had a good half hour before we needed to board so we all sat around in the new section of the airport talking and catching up. The plane was small with 4 seats per row (2 on either side) carrying only just enough passengers for the whole plus the managers. We arrived in Palmerston North and hopped on the bus straight away. I sat at the back of the bus which seemed to be lacking some much needed suspension. The bus ride was 3 and a half hours long including stops. By the time we arrived at the hostel I was getting pretty tired of sitting in a suspensionless bus on a bumpy road.
The hostel was luxurious with 2 common rooms, TVs, and showers between every 2 of us. Before dinner we had a relay practice on the track on the field. I’m not sure how long the track was but I doubt it was 400m or even flat for that matter but it was fine for a simple relay practice. Dinner on the first night was delicious. I can’t remember what it was I just remember that I ate a lot of it. I struggled to get to sleep on the first night but I didn’t matter much as there wasn’t any competition the next day.
I woke up early and managed to get first shower before breakfast. I remember what was for breakfast that day as it was my favourite spaghetti on toast. First up we went to a museum to brush up on some local history. We then packed our bags and set off to the track for our team photo and a little training session. Hi year I’m proud to say that I wasn’t the 2nd shortest boy in the team this year. The trainings went ok my hurdles felt average but my high jump felt really good. We then left to go have afternoon tea at a cricket ground. By the time we got back I was feeling pretty tired and ready for a big dinner. After dinner I watched TV for a while then had a shower and went to sleep. This time I had a really good sleep.
I woke up early and feeling good and managed to get first shower again. This time I had marmite on toast as there was no spaghetti but it filled me up enough. When we arrived the chanting began. There were people yelling from all parts of the track not a single team was silent it was the most yelling I’ve ever done in my life. After the march past and some more chanting we sat back in the stands to watch some events. My first event was a 1500m at 1:10 so I still had a while before I had to warm up. At 12.25 I went to warm up. I was in the first heat with 1 other person from Canterbury. My goal for the race was to stick in the top 5 of my heat and then go all out on the last lap. I settled down behind someone and I was sitting in 4th for most of the race until the last lap when 2 people came up on the side I then sat behind them until 150m to go where I managed to sprint passed both of them to finish 4th in my heat and 9th overall. The time wasn’t that fast but it was quite windy so I was still happy.
Soon after my 1500m I had high jump. I was looking forward to my high jump as I have been jumping well recently. My practices were all going well and my run up was sorted. I failed once on 1.50m when I hit the bar with my feet but then I got the height the next time. I got 1.53 on my 3rd attempt even though it wasn’t such a great jump but I still got over for a new PB so I was happy. I then got 1.56m on my first attempt with one of the best jumps of my life. I didn’t make 1.59 though I was close on my 2nd and 3rd attempt with only my legs hitting the bar but I was really happy to get a PB and finish 9th overall. When I got home I had a shower and then dinner and by that time I was so tired that I pretty much went to bed straight away.
I woke up even earlier today as I had hurdles early in the morning. There was spaghetti on toast again for breakfast which was good. I made sure I got a good warm up for the hurdles though there wasn’t enough warm up hurdles for everyone which caused chaos on the back straight. I was in the last heat which let me see what competitors from the other heats I was up against. My race went perfectly I felt low and fast over the hurdles and I got 2nd in my heat and 4th overall. My time was very close to my PB but there was a huge head wind so I was really happy still.
Next was my 800m the event I was dreading the most. I had quite a few fast runners in my heat my race didn’t exactly go according to plan but I finished in 2:20 which wasn’t that far off my PB and it was windy so I was still happy. Finally I had my medley. I was doing the first 100m in our medley running the 4th leg. By the time I got the baton Canterbury was winning so all I had to do was sprint. All our baton changes went fine and we won.
Later that night we had the prize giving. Everyone was nervously waiting for the announcement of the winning team. I felt there was more pressure on us this year as we had won last year. Again the announcer took forever to announce who won but when he announced that Auckland was 2nd and Canterbury 1st we all jumped up and cheered we had done it again Canterbury 1st place! After the prize giving we had the disco which was amazing! The music was great and it was an awesome atmosphere everyone was so glad that Canterbury had won. When we got back we played cards for hours on end and then “went to bed” by which I mean stay up all night drinking lift plus and building forts that get attacked by really fast galloping cats. The next morning I was so tired I had lost my voice completely and my muscles were so sore but it was all worth it.
I’d like to thank all the managers and officials who made the event possible as well as the club for giving us a subsidy towards the event. It was an unforgettable experience and I advise anyone who ever is given the opportunity to go should definitely go.
Sean;
I awoke bright and early, Thursday morning. Ready for the big weekend ahead. We arrived at the airport about 7.10am ready to check in and catch our 8.40am flight to Palmerston North. It was a nice day in Palmerston North and as soon as we were out of the airport we were on a bus heading for Stratford.
We would be staying at the St Mary’s Diocesan School, hostel. The Otago team would be staying there also, so it would be a good chance to catch up with some friends (and rivals). Lights out was at 9.00pm, and we were all ready for it. Everyone was rather tired after a long day travelling, even though some tried hard not to show it. Seeing as we had to hand our cell phones in to the managers each night the 13 year olds came up with an idea. We would all set our cell phone alarms for 2.00am and then hand them in. We awoke Friday morning to find some tired looking managers and many of our phones dismantled. As many of the managers could not figure out how to turn the alarms many of them just pulled the batteries out and left the phones lying in bits. To get some payback the managers decided they wouldn’t give our phones back the next morning but wait till lunchtime instead. Most of the kids were quite unhappy about this.
We spent the rest of the morning sightseeing around Taranaki. First we went to a museum near Hawera. It was very interesting. It was all about the European and Maori traders and whalers that used to hide their trade items in caves on small islands along the Taranaki coast. We had lunch at the museum and then drove to Inglewood. We arrived in Inglewood and went to the track where we would be competing over the weekend. We got organised for the team photo and once the picture was taken we all went off to practice our field events. After a while the team re-gathered and relay teams were announced. We got into our teams and were just about to do some practice when Auckland arrived. They poured through the gate and onto the track chanting at the top of their voice. “When I say colour you say what? Colour, blue, colour, blue. When I say number you say what? Number, one, number, one.” This was not on, there was no way they were number one, Canterbury was! Obviously we had to correct this error so we chanted back. Soon enough a chant-off was occurring. It lasted a few minutes until Auckland left to have their picture taken (I’m sure they were just scared). We finished our relay practice and then piled back onto the bus. We drove to New Plymouth to do some more sightseeing and we stopped at Pukekura Park and one of New Plymouth’s beaches. Then we drove back to the hostel in Stratford for dinner. We had a very nice roast and later on we went to bed at 8.30pm and lights out at 9.00pm as we would be competing the next day.
On Saturday morning we woke up, had breakfast and then it was off to the track for the first day of competition. The march past was first and then the opening of the games. As soon as this was finished I left to warm up as I had Long Jump at 10.00am. My Long Jump went well, a good PB into a head wind. Then it was back into the stands for more cheering and chant-offs, this time with Waikato. My 1500m was just before lunch and again I went quite well, getting as many points as I could for Canterbury. At lunchtime they announced the standings so far. Canterbury was in third place with Wellington in second and Auckland in first. We were told that the only score that mattered was the one at the end of the day on Sunday. I had my 400m at the very end of the day and once again pushed right to line to get those, possibly vital, extra points for Canterbury. After the 400m’s we drove back to the hostel and had a very good dinner of Lasagne. Then went off to bed at 8.30pm again, anticipating the next day of competition.
Again we woke early, had breakfast and drove the 20 minute drive to the track in Inglewood. More chanting and cheering for the Canterbury athletes and then it was time to warm up for my 800m. It’s good standing in the marshalling tent for what seems like ages because it gives you a chance to catch up with all your friends from around the country. Again I ran hard and got as many points as I could, then it was back into the stands for lunch. After lunch it was relay time. The medley relays were first and that was me. I was running an 800m. Relays are great fun because it’s the last event of the weekend so you can afford to give it absolutely everything. After my relay we cheered for all the other Canterbury teams, who did extremely well. Afterwards we drove back to Stratford to get ready for the prize giving/disco and the nervous wait to find out if Canterbury had won or not. We arrived at the New Plymouth Boy’s High School hall ready for the prize giving. Soon enough it was time for the results to be announced. They read through the teams in order of their placing from 11th to 1st. The second placed team was about to be announced. There were only two teams left, us and Auckland. “And in second place …….(an extremely long pause to build up suspense)…..Auckland! The Canterbury team went crazy, we had won, again, two years in a row! All our hard work and preparation had paid off. We each received a trophy and a ribbon and the captains got the shield for Canterbury. After all the excitement had died down a bit it was time for the disco. The disco was awesome and it was great to catch up with friends from other provinces and congratulate them on how they went over the weekend.
After the disco we headed back to Stratford for some more celebrating and ‘sleep’ before we drove back to Palmerston North and then flew to Christchurch the next morning. However us 13 boys didn’t need to sleep so we celebrated the whole night and had a great time until everyone else got up the next morning. We left on the bus reasonably early and then caught our plane from Palmerston North back to Christchurch. I must have been extremely tired because I think I slept about half of the bus and plane ride. We got off the plane and as we walked through the gate into the arrival lounge the team was met by a tidal wave of happy parents, carrying banners and congratulating us on our win, it felt really awesome. Eventually we all left to go home and I’m sure, like me everyone had an extra big sleep-in the next day.
I loved the trip and it was a truly fantastic weekend. It was also great experience and yet another opportunity to compete against the best there is in New Zealand. Of course it was made even better by the fact that Canterbury retained the shield. Thank you to everyone who organised trainings, all the coaches who made sure we were very well prepared to compete and especially the club who gave each Christchurch Avon member going a subsidy to make it all a little bit easier and less costly.
No comments:
Post a Comment