Hi everyone,

We are now at the heart of the winter sports season and I spent yesterday organising the photos. The variety of activities the boys of 2009 are involved in may be of interest ....  Basketball (15 teams), Soccer (12), Rugby (11), Hockey (8) & lesser numbers in Cross Country, Badminton, Indoor Bowls, Motocross, Clay Target Shooting, Rock Climbing, Inline Hockey, Small-bore Rifle Shooting, Canoe Slalom, Jiu Jitsu & Water Polo.

An innovation brought to the College by new Principal Robert Mangan this year has been the reintroduction of the House system which had not existed in the school since the mid 1970’s. The original Freyberg & Rutherford remain while new Houses Halberg, Ngata, Hillary & Ngarimu have been added. Of interest perhaps is the fact that Willy Apiata, our latest VC winner, turned down the offer of being recognised in this way. At present Halberg lead the contest followed by Ngata with Halberg’s winning performance in the Haka competition currently featuring on the TBC website. www.tbc.school.nz

Our last weekend of sport was blessed with great weather & our teams performed very well. PNBHS 1st XV was unbeaten in the Super 8 and in a fine team performance our team emerged victors 25-10. The unbeaten 2nd XV  continued on their winning way with a bonus point 28-11 victory. After the match about 30 Old Boys enjoyed a drink at Mayfield House in the company of 2 of our All Blacks in Adrian Cashmore & Royce Willis while current Steamer & NZ 7’s rep Lance McDonald also joined us. There is no official function organised for this weekend but rugby powerhouse Hamilton BHS are on Nicholson Field for the 1sts fixture @ midday so the opportunity is there again to support the boys.

The second hockey quadrangular was held last weekend with 3 Rankin Cup (top 16 teams) in attendance. Our XI beat Rangitoto College 5-1 to begin the weekend in fine fashion and then followed that up with a 2-0 win against Lindisfarne College in the afternoon. This set up a very good final for the Sunday morning with TBC & the Auckland champions Kings College both unbeaten. In a fine display of hockey the Kings XI were victorious however our team showed they were in good touch and should perform very strongly at the India Shield in North Harbour at the end of August.

Other results in recent weeks are as follows ....

• Super 8 football was held in Hamilton during the recent holidays and our XI were beaten by Palmerston North BHS in the final.
• The school squash team contested the BOP champs recently and in a close final edged out a strong TE Puke team to retain the title.
• Ryan Hayes and Mitchell Harris have both been playing successfully for the NZ Under 16 Water Polo team against Australian interstate Under 18 teams over the last holidays. Mitchell has been invited to the NZ secondary school trials while the whole team has a tour to Canada at the end of the year as a build-up to the Junior world champs. in 2011.
• Daniel Earwaker won gold at the North Island Taekwondo championships

Old Boy performances in recent times include ....

• Relatively recent Old Boy Sam Meech has just returned from Brazil where he claimed the Laser Radial yachting title. He is only the 6th Kiwi to do so since 1973 and those previous winners include Dean Barker & Russell Coutts. Olympian Peter Burling has also been on a steep learning curve in Europe as he looks to master the  49er class which is new to him, before Worlds later in the year.
• Mahe Drysdale leads a very successful European campaign for our rowers in the build up to the World Champs and is currently unbeaten in the single sculls.
• Daniel Heads (Under 19) & Ash Hough (Under 23) have both qualified for the UCI world Championships in Canberra in September. Daniel will contest the Downhill event while Ash is competing in the Cross Country event.
• Kane Williamson is currently in Australia with the NZ Emerging Players cricket team where they are playing similar sides from Sri Lanka, South Africa & Australia. The side has been struggling to get the results they would want at this point.
• Old Boy & current Staff Member Steve Graham has been selected for the NZ Men’s Hockey team to compete in the Oceania World Cup Qualifying Series in Malaysia later in the year.

The Old Boys Association launched in May will have its AGM at TBC on August 17th with all Old Boys invited to attend. All interim committee members are willing to stand again however we are keen to have others involved who are keen to contribute. We would like as many Old Boys to come along for the meeting as we intend to recognise previous Principals Garth Sim, Norman Morris & Graham Young as Honorary Life Members of the Association. More details will follow. Thank you to all of you who have paid your subscription and I would invite as many others as possible to do the same to improve what we can do for the school. Check out our developing website for details on how to sign up.... www.tbcoba.org.nz

Events coming up shortly include Super 8 Rugby against Hastings BHS in Hastings which is being played on Saturday, August 8th with the match at midday. Principal Robert Mangan will be there and is keen to catch up with any Hawkes Bay Old Boys in the area at the Corn Exchange, Stortford Lodge in Hastings between 3-4 p.m on that Saturday.

Saturday, August 15th will see the last of our Old Boy hosted Super 8 rugby matches at TBC with the opposition being Gisborne BHS. The Titans (TBC’s sports club) are hosting their sponsors in the Health Rooms in the gymnasium overlooking the number 1 field and it is envisaged that we will combine this event with the last of our Old Boy get togethers. Come along for a beer & nibbles while watching the midday match with an elevated view of the game.

For those keen on seeing some excellent hockey we will be hosting the last of our Quad tournaments the same weekend with teams competing being Westlake BHS (national champions), Auckland GS & Hamilton BHS all of whom are likely to be in the top 8 teams in the country this year so some top class sport to be seen.

All the best for now,

Rob Leslie