The second of my updates for the year and I am pleased to be able to give dates for some of the Old Boys events that we have scheduled:
Spamalot - Friday June 26th
The TBCOBA will host drinks and nibbles in the staffroom at the school before we walk across to the Graham Young Youth Theatre to watch this year's production of Spamalot – a take off of the movie Monty Python & the Holy Grail. I have 40 tickets put aside and at just $20 it should be a great cheap night out !! If you would like to book yours with me get in quick.
Auckland event - Monday June 29th
Our annual Auckland event will be held at the Bluestone Room in Durham Lane from 5.30p.m. Your first drink and nibbles are on the Association and it would be great to see a good turn out again at what is always a good event.
Annual Dinner - Friday September 11th
This very successful event will be held at the school again this year, catered for by our magnificent Food Technology Department. Those who have been before will be putting this date in their diaries now, while those who haven’t attended should. It is always a great night so book the date now. More details will follow later…
Our Wellington & London functions will occur again in the next 12 months however specific dates for these are yet to be set.
Another way to follow what is happening around school and with some of our Old Boys is by signing up to the TBC Old Boys Group on Facebook. We have some new construction going on around the place (Stage 2 of the Technology Block) that I have posted photos of. Join the group for more about the old school.
TBC Sport
The Summer sports season was rounded out with large numbers of our boys competing in a range of different tournaments during Tournament Week. Results were as follows:
Kayaking
TBC retained its position as top kayaking school in New Zealand and took out 25 individual and 21 team medals of which 34 were gold at the Nationals. Additionally:
Year 12 student Daniel Tuiraviavi has been in Brazil recently competing at the Junior World Slalom Championships for Fiji. Other TBC students at the same competition competing for NZ were James Thwaite, Dan Munro & Luke Robinson.
Volleyball
After winning the Super 8 title our volleyballers set out to Palmerston North to defend their national title. In their quarter final they were beaten by the top Australian school, which knocked them out of the competition and they duly came 5th, which was the best they could then do. At the end of the tournament Thomas Reid was named in the NZ mens’ white team, Daniel Kilpatrick & Josh Dumper in the NZ under 19 team while Kyle Hamilton was selected in the NZ youth side.
Beach Volleyball
A large number of our boys have been selected to compete for New Zealand at a range of different levels:
Under 21 Thomas Reid
Under 19 Daniel Kilpatrick, Luke Carter, Ryan Forlong
Under 17 Callum Philpot, Bryn Fredheim, Maka Ohia, Shi Jie Yong & Hoani Lawrence
Tennis
Having qualified for the Nationals at the central qualifiers our team went on to place 7th in the country in 2015.
Softball
After winning the WBOP College grade our team competed at the North Island Secondary schools Division 2 competition where they beat Hamilton BHS for the bronze medal.
Sailing
Our sailors qualified for the annual national competitions and, like the tennis team, were also placed 7th best team in the country.
Rowing
Our Under 18 Lightweight 4 won silver medals at the Maadi regatta on Karapiro where 2 other crews made A finals and 6 competed in B finals. Our medalists were Nathan Oakley, Isaac Crocket-Powell, Jack Burges,Matthew Shaw with cox Ryan Dixon.
Waka Ama
At the nationals the J16 team placed 3rd in the 250m. Bowl final while the J19 Crew were 2nd in the 250m Plate Final. Head Prefect Te Purihi Moana was 3rd in the 250m Singles Plate final.
Athletics
A number of our athletes medalled in the recent North Island Secondary School Championships. Daniel Hintz won silver medals in both the 800 & 1500m Senior Boys, Ethan Holman bronze in the 100/200m double Intermediate Boys while Johnny O’Donnell won bronze in the Senior Boys 100m. Our long jumpers also performed well with Arapeta Ormsby and Thomas Rawston both getting bronze in the Intermediate and Senior Long Jump respectively.
Gymnastics
Year 9 Gymnasts Hamish Craven & David Smyth finished first and second in the recent BOP Secondary Schools competition and thus qualified for Nationals. Hamish placed 1st on 3 of the 4 apparatus while David gained top marks on the 4th.
Rugby
The 1st XV has begun its season and upcoming matches are as follows:
16/5 versus St Peters @ Home
4/6 versus Rotorua BHS Away
13/6 versus New Plymouth BHS Away
20/6 versus Napier BHS @ Home
27/6 versus Palmerston North BHS @ Home
30/6 versus Westlake BHS Away
4/7 versus Hamilton BHS @ Home
Please note that the teams games usually feature a midday start.
TBC Arts
BOP Sheila Winn Shakespeare Festival
TBCs’ entries into this annual competition were entirely student initiated and directed in 2015 which makes the impressive results even better. Adam Herbert won direct entry into Nationals based on his performance as Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet while the TBC 5 minute scene (Macbeth, Act 1 scene 3) was selected to represent the BOP region in Wellington.
School Production
The annual TBC/TGC production is being run by TBC this year and the show is Monty Python’s SPAMALOT. This comedic musical is a takeoff from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail and will show in the Graham Young Youth Theatre from June 23rd to 27th. Tickets are on sale from TicketDirect now.
Variety Show
This Friday May 15th a Variety Concert will be held in the Graham Young Youth Theatre to raise money for the Sheila Winn group to attend nationals. The show starts at 7 p.m. and costs $5 at the door with the show featuring Theatre Sports, drama, barbershop and a range of other performances. The boys would appreciate your support.
Jazz Festival
The TBC Big Band again competed in the annual Jazz festival at Easter. The Big Band gained a silver award while Joe Stanley was awarded the best guitarist, Andrew Robinson was the best clarinetist & Elijah Taula was the best soloist. Several combos performed with results still to be announced.
TBC Academic
Science Year 13 student Nicholas Adams will join 5 others from around the country in July to take part in a London International Youth Science Forum in Geneva. There will be 300 students from 60 countries attending lectures, visiting universities and taking part in scientific research.
Old Boys Obituary
With sadness I have been asked to report the recent passing of Greg Burgess after a short battle with cancer. Greg was part of a very strong volley-balling family with his achievements including winning the national title in 1982 followed by selection in the New Zealand Under 20 team. He is survived by twin brothers Rob & Tony who continued the fine volleyball tradition of big brother.
Old Boys Sport
Sailing
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke claimed their 18th successive regatta win in the ISAF Sailing World Cup in France in the 49er event. Other TBC sailing Old Boys involved were Jason Saunders who placed 14th in the multihull pair while Thomas Saunders was 12th in the Laser class with Sam Meech a further 2 places back.
Rowing
Mahe Drysdale will represent NZ in the Men’s single scull event at the World Championships in July whilst Adam Ling has been named to row in the Men’s Lightweight scull event. Younger Old Boy Charlie Rogerson and Jordan Parry have been selected to represent New Zealand at Under 21 and Under 23 level respectively.
Kayaking
Tim Taylor, who has circumnavigated New Zealand by kayak, last month attempted to set the World Record for open water kayaking in 24 hours. He set out from Pilot Bay at 8 a.m. one morning and smashed the previous record of 194.1 km. by paddling to Cathedral Cove and back to set a new (as yet unofficial) record of 214 km.
Rugby League
The recent Anzac Day celebrations have often involved trans-Tasman rivalry and this year there was a NZ Defence Force team that took on their Australian counterparts. Old Boy Kael McEnteer was part of the NZ side that will play as a curtain raiser to the Kiwis test.
Still on league, Bodene Thompson has returned to NZ and is playing for the Warriors after several season’s plying his trade in Australian teams.
Touch Rugby
Josh Angell is heading to the World Touch Rugby championships at Coffs Harbour, but is representing England. He has been in the South East of England for a while & qualifies through an Ancestry visa. More recent Old Boy Carlos Savage is in the New Zealand side. There are 17 countries in the competition and England’s pool features NZ, USA & PNG.
Cricket
Michael Shorter was not known for his cricketing skills at school, however a chance meeting at a Cricket World Cup match revealed an international career playing for Peru! He is now back teaching primary school in Tauranga.
The NZ cricket team begins a 2 test tour of England this month with Kane Williamson bound to play a major part in New Zealand’s success or otherwise. In the build-up to the tour Kane has been playing T20 cricket for the Hyderabad Sunrisers in the Indian Premier League.
Surf Lifesaving
Sam Shergold is back at the World Championships again, at present in Mexico, where he is competing in the gruelling 21km prone paddle board event, in which he very nearly won gold in last year.
Golf
Harry Hillier has been selected in the World Cup Junior Golf Team, which will compete in the World Championships in Toyota City, Japan next month.
Hockey
This week I have had the pleasure of showing Sri Lankan Old Boy Sanjeeva Wijesekera around the school. He was hosted by the Akers family in 1986 and is staying with them again during his first visit in 29 years. He remembers the school fondly and was very busy in his time being a member of the 1st XI hockey team that won the Mayhill Cup, a 2nd XI cricket member + on both the library and Hillsdene Reflector staffs. After a career with the Sri Lankan Air Force he is now a pilot with Sri Lankan Airlines based in Colombo.
Old Boys Arts
Ian Gilpin has had a long musical career in Tauranga-based bands and is as busy today as when he was drummer for the Hassles when at TBC in the mid 80s. He has been recording recently and to hear his work you could check out one of Brilleaux 8 albums or Kokomo who have made 15. He is currently drumming for about 6 different bands but it is with Brilleaux that he is touring England next month. On their second English tour the band will play in Brighton, at the Torquay & Chichester Festivals and then in Bedford & Leicester before returning home. If you’d like more specific details to catch them in the UK email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
That wraps it up for this time but as the winter sports season gets into full swing there should be more to report again soon.
All the best for now,
Rob Leslie.
