Hi all

With the winter term now upon us (those in the southern hemisphere that is!!) there has been quite a large amount going on at the school. For me, teaching in Kent, the Spring term has begun in glorious sunshine but a week late as we were stranded by the Icelandic ash cloud on the Portuguese Algarve.......

Summer Sports rounded off with varying degrees of success with their tournaments ...

* The tennis team was at Nationals and after good pool results ended up with a semi final against top seeds St. Peters. Hopes of a national title were dashed by defeat in that tie, however the team picked themselves up and were able to beat Christchurch BHS for 3rd. The team had also come 2nd in the Super 8 competition.

* Volleyball has been at the forefront of TBC summer sport success through the decades however, comparatively speaking, this was not to be our year. A loss to Kelston BHS in the quarter finals meant 5th was the best the team could achieve and this was achieved beating cross town rivals Otumoetai College in the process.

* Whitewater Kayaking continues to hold a stranglehold on the National title completing a 13th consecutive Top School placing. At Waipori in Dunedin the squad won the K1  teams event in all 3 age categories and in the Premier U 18 K1 Carl Whitehead held out team mate Callum Gibb for the gold. All told the team won 9 team medals and 32 individual medals in what was a hugely successful campaign.

* The cricket 1st  XI is quite a young combination in comparison with some of the very successful sides of recent times. The team has continued a high level of performance however with 2nd in the Super 8 as well as the same placing in the Round Robin of the Baywide Williams Cup which is a superb effort. Captain Joe Carter scored a century in the Baywide and alongside Sean Davey & Campobell Thomas played for Northern Districts in the Under 17 national tournament. Sean was selected in the NZ team as a result of his performances there. Francois Potgeiter (2nd XI) played for ND at Under 15 level.

* The 2nd XI has also had a very successful season under the tutelage of Old Boy Charles Williams, contesting the finals of their competition. A season's highlight was Cameron Neal's 165 * - some of you will remember father Robin who graced the cricket & hockey fields' of Tauranga in the 80s & 90s !!!

* Cross country/athletics at TBC is undergoing something of a renaissance under coaches Brad Smith & Scott Furness. They took a squad of 29 runners to the Australian Institute of Sort in Canberra for a week of training in the Easter holidays and the base group of runners is greatly improved. Three TBC athletes competed for Waikato at the North Island Champs with Michael Sutton the best performed in winning the Intermediate 3000 m. He followed that up with a fantastic bronze medal at the Secondary Schools Cross Country champs in Slovakia in the 5500 m. BOP Cross country champs have just been completed and TBC dominated winning all 3 of the 3-man team events - in fact there was only a bronze medal of the 9 at stake not won by a TBC athlete ...........

* Water polo is another sport that has had an increased profile at the College in recent years and an increasing amount of success. The Senior team were placed 5th in the North Island Champs and followed that up with a best ever 7th in the Nationals.

* Rowing had 6 crews in finals at the national Champs including the Springbok 4 but were unable to secure any medals.

* Wakeboarding brothers James & Daniel Tingey have enjoyed success at the recent NZ Champs with James placing first in the Junior Men & U 19 divisions while Daniel was 3rd in the Junior Boys.

* In surf life saving the school had 27 students performing at the Nationals in Ohope and they picked up a good number of medals.

* The TBC Touch team has qualified for Nationals placing third in the zonal competition having been pipped by Rotorua BHS for the final. Whakakauika Ririnui has been selected in the NZ Under 17 team.

*Waka Ama had 20 paddlers at the Secondary School nationals and despite winning no medals performed creditably for a group without great experience.  There were some good results in the younger ranks in particular which augers well for the future.

* In Taekwondo 2 TBC students medalled in the NZ Open competition which also included fighters from Tonga, Samoa & several Australian states. Daniel Earwaker won silver in the U65 kg category while Louis Delves emulated this feat in the U 75 kg grade.

* Defending Champs TBC were beaten into 2nd at the Yachting nationals but have qualified for the Interdominion championships which feature the top 3 NZ & Australian schools. In further sailing news Thomas Saunders performance at the Youth Laser RAdial Champs saw him selected for the ISAF Worlds in Turkey in July while Trent Rippey placed 6th Kiwi out of 198 competitors @ the Optimist nationals. This qualified him for the North American Optimist champs in Canada later in the year.

* Winter Sports season is now well under way and will be highlighted next edition however I can report that the first XV had a very satisfying 12-11 victory over Auckland GS but then were defeated by Gisborne BHS who were last year's national champions.


On the ARTS side things have been gathering momentum as the year progresses .....

* Eric Begley won the title of Most Outstanding Clarinetist at the annual Tauranga Jazz festival

* Jeremy Tomkins won 1st place in the Rotary Speech competition with his speech entitled 'Count Your Blessings'

* 6 students from the College are working extremely hard as cast members of the Tauranga Musical Theatre production of 'Miss Saigon'

* The Senior drama group won the regional Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival event which means they will represent the BOP in the national festival in Wellington in June.

* From June 16th the Visual Arts of the school will be showcased in an exhibition in the Graham Young Youth Theatre - the third such exhibition. Work is for sale with a range of paintings, mixed media and photographs on offer. Contact the school office for further details.

OLD  BOYS - with me being on the other side of the world it has been more difficult to keep up with the myriad of things that various Old Boys are doing but here are a few things that I know about. If there are contributions from others out there please send on to me. Contact details are on the tbcoba website .....

* Old Boy golfers have had considerable success recently with 18 year old Brad Kendall, who led the TBC team last year, winning the national men's amateur strokeplay championships with a 10 under par 278 score, to emulate the feat achieved by his father Owen in 1974. He followed that effort with a commendable 2nd in the matchplay where he lost to Australian Matt Jager who became the first player in 19 years to win the title on both sides of the Tasman.

* Tauranga based professional Jared Pender scraped into the last rounds of the $35,000 Carrus Tauranga Open earlier in the month but with scores of 63 & 64 charged up the leader board to finish a creditable 4th. Old Boy amateurs Kieran Muir & Nic Meyer both performed well sharing 9th position.

* An Old Boy of another era continues to astound with his achievements in sport. Larry Seales gave a 40 year head start to his opponent in the Gate Pa tennis club singles championship and emerged victorious in a tough 3 setter adding that title to the doubles and mixed titles that he had already won.

* Tony Lochhead, a regular in Ricki Herbert's All Whites in recent years, has made the final 23 for the World Cup squad and will be off to South Africa after lead up matches in Europe.

*The success of TBC cricket in recent year's was reflected in a number of awards to Old Boys in functions at the end of last season. Kane Williamson was named Bay of Plenty & Northern Districts Player of the Year as well as Batsman of the Year for ND all before his 20th birthday. At BOP Development level TeVita Levao was named Batsman of the Year while Steven Rae was Bowler of the Year. Brett Hampton who was in the 1st XI last year was named BOP Most Promising Player.

London Old Boys Function ....  Principal Robert Mangan will be hosting a function for all Old Boys, ex-staff & Gappies on the evening of Thursday July 15th in London. Please note that this is a day later than previously suggested but would allow for a long weekend for anyone travelling a longer distance. Venue will be confirmed shortly but if you are in Europe it would be fantastic to see you there ......

That is all for now but please if any of you have Old Boys news to share pass it on to me via the email on the Old Boys website ie. www.tbcoba.org.nz

Rob Leslie