Hi everyone,
Another school year is rapidly coming to a close and it is always a busy time with senior students gearing up for external exams. The Old Boys Dinner went extremely well and there are now many of the photographs taken at the dinner and with the sports posted on our website (www.tbcoba.org.nz).
Wellington Function
This will happen again at the Blend Bar on Wakefield Street from 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9th. Some finger food and your first drink will be provided so I look forward to a good turn out.
Old Boys Cricket
This was one of our best supported functions of the year and the date has been set for the next series, which is Sunday, January 18th. There were many promises made about turning up at the next event and to date only Richard Brown & Peter Emmett are confirmed. Make sure you get back to me ASAP to ensure a start!
Winter Tournament Results
Football
The NZSS Tournament featured the top 32 teams in the country and with a 2 win, 2 draw and 2 loss record the 1st XI team finished 12th. The Development Team played in a 16 team tournament in Whangarei against other 1st XIs and were placed 8th after 2 wins, a draw and 2 losses.
Hockey
The 1st XI were at Rankin Cup again and started off with 2 losses, but both were against the 2 teams that contested the final. All games after that were won and the team placed 9th. The 2nd XI contested the Galletly Cup, which is for the top 2nd XIs in the country and placed 3rd with a 4 win, 2 loss record.
Rugby
The Under 15 side played against top teams from throughout the country and beat Hastings BHS in the playoff for 3rd. The Under 14 side upheld the schools fine record in the Colquhoun Tournament as joint winners with Hamilton BHS after the sides drew the final, including a kick-off competition.
Basketball
The Senior A basketballers contested the Zone 2 Regional Premiership and their only loss was in the semi-final against St Johns College. They beat Rotorua BHS in the playoff for 3rd, which seeded them 14th for Nationals. The Junior A team placed in the top 8 of their Zone 1 & Zone 2 tournament.
Underwater Hockey
This team worked superbly at the Secondary Schools Nationals to come 3rd with only one loss. Team members Ben Richards and Keegan Thomson were selected in the Tournament Team but NZUWH wants the whole team to trial for the NZ Under 18 team next year.
Staff News
There are to be several TBC staff members moving on at the end of the year including 2 of our Old Boys. Deputy Principal Richard Hall (Otago BHS Old Boy) will return to his alma mater as Rector after several years with us and previously Napier BHS. Old Boy Peter Stevens who has recently returned to the staff after teaching internationally in both Singapore and Indonesia has been appointed to the new ACG Tauranga school, which is being built at Pyes Pa. Peter will teach years 7 to 9 science, while wife Alison will teach in the Junior school. A more recent Old Boy Nathan Fry has been appointed Head of the English Department at Rotorua BHS to begin in 2015.
Another significant staff milestone is the 100th birthday of Principal Garth Sim, who graced us with his presence at the Old Boys dinner. There was a significant turn out of Old Boys from Garth’s era, who thoroughly enjoyed the special occasion.
In recognising Nigel Brown as our Old Boy of the Year I tracked down one of his art teachers in 86 year old Fred Graham who, as well as teaching at TBC in the 1960s, had been a Maori All Black in 1955. Fred was very disappointed he couldn’t get to the dinner but had a very good excuse as his biography “Fred Graham – Creator of Forms” was being launched the same night. Garth was also honoured at the last full school assembly of the year – grandson Jamie Troughton recorded the occasion as follows: http://vimeo.com/110552293.
TBC Sport
Clay Target Shooting
TBC shooters travelled to Christchurch for the Nationals during the holidays and returned as National Champions. The 5 man team competed against 53 other schools to take out the event in tough conditions. Year 10 shooter Devin Holland also took out the top shooter prize beating a highly fancied Palmerston North BHS student, winning the High Gun Award and a $4000 shotgun from BerettaNZ for his efforts.
Water Polo
A Bay of Plenty Under 16 team including TBC students Sean McKenzie & Todd Reardon has just returned from Nationals, where they won the title.
Yachting
Two of our Year 13 students appear to be well on the way to emulating some of their illustrious predecessors by their nomination as recipients of Yachting New Zealand Youth Performance Awards. Sam Barnett with Zak Merton for his efforts in the 420 class while Trent Rippey was 8th in the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships.
Surfing
Jordan Griffin captained the BOP team that won the NZSS Scholastic Surf Championships. He won the Under 18 title in the competition.
Sports Awards
The Annual Sports Awards dinner has recognised the achievements of our athletes in 2014. Kane Williamson’s change of departure time to Dubai by NZ Cricket meant his speech was pre-recorded, but the crowd of around 400 thoroughly enjoyed his address. Recipients of the major awards were :
- Best Performance by an Individual – Trent Rippey –8th ISAF Youth Worlds Portugal, 10th Radial Youth Worlds Oman, Yachting NZ Youth Performance Award
- Best All-Rounder – Caleb Aperahama – NZSS 50 man rugby squad + Chiefs Under 18 team, New Zealand Under 19 & NZSS Beach Volleyball champion, MVP of NZSS Championship Tournament Team
- Pergo et Perago – Best all-rounder – Hamish McGeorge – Junior Blacksticks, Head Boy and Physical Education Scholarship 2013
- Sports Team of the Year – Squash – NZSS Champions for the third consecutive year, Waikato/BOP Champions
- Sportsman of the Year - CALEB APERAHAMA
Ngarimu Challenge
Four Year 9 students - Wiremu Leef, Tahuriwakanui Durie, Anaru Palmer and Ryan Collier entered the Ngarimu Challenge recently. It is a nationwide competition that asked students to create a multi-media presentation that explored what it would have been like for the Maori Battalion students involved in the Battle of Cassino.
The boys made a film where they created a range of challenges that recreated certain aspects of the Battle of Cassino. These included carrying equipment, traversing similar terrain and trying to function under extreme conditions.
The boys’ entry was well received and they were awarded 1st place. Part of their award is a cash prize of $800. Each boy will use this towards their 2015 tour costs. They are part of a larger group of over thirty students who are following in the footsteps of the 28th Maori Battalion. This tour will go through Greece, Italy and Tunisia. They depart in June 2015 and boys are busy fundraising extensively to help meet the costs required. The group are hoping to secure some sponsorship for this tour also. Anyone amongst the TBC Old Boys network who is interested in finding out more about this tour and the sponsorship options that are available please feel free to contact Pere Durie who is leading the tour. His e-mail address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Old Boys Sport
Football
For the first time 3 TBC Old Boys have been selected to represent the All Whites in the upcoming international matches against Thailand and China. Ryan Thomas, Tyler Boyd and debutante Jesse Edge are all part of a young squad with a view to the next World Cup. Thomas’s season with Dutch club PEC Zwolle is going well and he is attracting interest from big clubs in Germany and Italy.
Rugby Sevens
The Rangataua Rugby Club won the Middlesex Sevens in February and have recently contested the Central Coast tournament in Gosford, Australia and will head to Fiji for the Coral Coast tournament this month. Old Boys involved include Alex Jessop, Adam McGarvey and veteran Nathaniel Walker.
Kayaking
Michael Dawson has shrugged off a frustrating time with injury by defending his European extreme racing championships on the Grade 5 Devil’s Extreme section on the Vltava River in the Czech Republic. He followed that up with his best results in the World Canoe Slalom championships with a 12th position.
Rugby League
Bodene Thompson became TBCs first rugby league international when he came off the bench in the Kiwis’ win against Samoa in the current 4 Nations Series. Bodene (2002-2004) left for the Gold Coast with his family after Year 11. He debuted for the GC Titans in 2009 before switching to the Wests Tigers last year.
Rugby
Nathan Harris, after making a debut for the All Blacks in Argentina off the bench, has joined Sam Kane on the annual November northern tour. He was named in his first All Black start for the historic match against the American Eagles and scored a try before going off injured.
Cricket
Daniel Flynn captained the Northern Districts team including Kane Williamson to qualify for the T20 Champions League in India. Both performed strongly with Flynn scoring one half century while Williamson showed his wide ranging skills with 2 50s as well as his maiden T20 century, scoring 101* in 49 balls.
Yachting
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have defended their 49er World Championship title with a win with a day to spare in Santander, Spain. Others performing well were Jason Saunders with Gemma Jones, who were 5th in the Nacra World Championships, while Sam Meech was 9th in the Laser division.
Motocross
World class freestyle motocross stunt rider Luke Price is looking to resurrect his career. After performing with the world renowned Crusty Demons he retired 4 years ago to concentrate on his career and raising a family. At 33, and with encouragement from a number of American friends, he has decided to have another crack at the top level.
Surf Lifesaving
Sam Shergold has been named University of Waikato Wallace Corporation Sportsman of the Year, recognising his National Open men’s board rescue + the board relay and Taplin Relay titles in 2013. He was selected for the ISA paddleboarding World Championships in Nicaragua, where he gained second place in the prone paddle board event.
Athletics
Julian Oakley, whose younger brothers are part of our Championship winning squash team, is on an athletics scholarship to Providence College in New Jersey. He has recently joined the list of Kiwis who have broken the 4 minute mile with a third place in the time of 3 minutes 58 seconds.
Other Old Boys News
Politics
Tauranga Boys’ College has its second Member of Parliament after Tuariki (John) Delamere, with Todd Muller winning the Bay of Plenty seat vacated by Tony Ryall with a majority of 15,096 votes. Todd has been a National Party member for 25 years, displaying his political inclinations from University days when he was President of the Massey Student Association.
Theatre
Jeremy Redmore has shown some of his diverse talents, starring in the Q Theatre production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which plays in Auckland through until the middle of December. After the release of his first solo album (“Clouds are Alive”) after leaving Midnight Youth, he has been involved with some TV work as a presenter on the filming of the NZ Rockquest.
Film
James Rolleston (who had his first 2 years of high school @ TBC) has shown his dramatic first movie role in Boy could be the start of an impressive career, with backup performances in The Dark Horse and more recently The Deadlands in 2014.
University Competition
Blair Shepherd was one of a four man Otago University Business School team that beat the competition from 5 other New Zealand Universities and international teams from Canada, the United States, Singapore, Norway and Australia in the 5th Student Development Society 2014 International Business Case Competition in Queenstown. Blair is currently completing a double Law, BA (Philosophy, Politics, Economics) degree.
Television
Jamie Fitzgerald is back on our television screens, alongside Kevin Biggar, in a new series entitled Intrepid NZ. The pair of adventurers retrace a number of different historical expeditions and the show screens on TV One on Wednesday evenings.
Design Success
Simon Crane has been successful in achieving a Bronze Award in the recent BEST design awards: http://bestawards.co.nz/entries/product/c5-aid-brace/.
Photo Exhibition
2013 Old Boy Neco Wieringa has continued his significant interest in photography while completing his 1st year of engineering at the University of Auckland. His inaugural exhibition will be held at Somerset Cottage in Bethlehem from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, November 16th. Neco’s next photo assignment is later his month, when he will spend a month living in a small Philippean village on Panay Island with mission worker Linda Cruse. He will capture the community’s recovery from a devastating typhoon.
All the best for now,
Rob Leslie
TBC Old Boys Coordinator
