Junior School sport

from Dio Today June 2021

Milestones

2021 has started out as a year of renewed enthusiasm for our young sportsgirls.

The Ministry of Health recently reported that children aged 5-14 years usually watch screens outside of school (including TV) for two or more hours every day. With the increase in access to devices and media, we know the temptation is there for our youngsters to sit and watch screens for entertainment instead of being active with their friends. In light of this, we are delighted that our sport participation rates at the Junior School remain very

Our flippa ball and mini polo programme continues to deliver for our Years 3 - 6 girls, and is as popular as ever with both our student coaches and junior players. Having missed a lot of development time last year due to the restrictions on training and playing during the COVID pandemic, the girls are now in full swing. The Dio Otters, Penguins, Dolphins, Seahorses, Starfish and Mermaids are competing throughout the year in the Epsom Flippa Ball League.

We are very proud of our structure, processes and people. Hannah Ngare, our head coach and Dio Old Girl, facilitates a fully developed curriculum. She is supported by Charlotte Worth, our mini polo specialist. This term Charlotte is training our Year 6 Mermaids and our Year 5 Starfish transitioning into deep water polo. Our student coaches are alongside, taking personal ownership of their teams, delivering skills-based modules, knowledge modules and cultivating the behavioural elements that contribute to our fantastic water polo culture here at Dio. high, with over 80% of our girls involved in some form of sport.

The benefits of sports are well documented and wide ranging. Primary school years are the perfect time for our girls to be exploring a range of activities and giving them a go. Our after-school sports programme provides the opportunity to take a break from the classroom or screen, meet a new friend, discover a new passion, learn a new skill, grow strong, become fit, develop physical co-ordination and have a whole lot of fun.

Our Junior School winter programme is well underway now with the following codes: netball (12 teams), hockey (11 teams), futsal (6 teams), flippa ball (5 teams), ski racing, artistic gymnastics (4 teams) and playball.

FLIPPA BALL / MINI POLO

Year 3 flippa ball - Naledi Mhuka

FUTSAL

Futsal is a popular option for our youngsters from Years 1 - 6. Auckland Futsal provides a relaxed, fun environment for Saturday games and coaches for our training sessions at Dio during the week. Our Dio Dynamites, Dashers, Red Dragons, White Dragons, Dazzlers and Delights are underway in the Auckland Futsal Central League. We are delighted to see many of our junior girls going on to join our intermediate teams when they transition into the Junior High School.

Yr 5 and 6 netball - pre season training with Mila Reulu-Buchanan and Amorangi Malesala

Netball

Our girls have benefitted from a great pre-season programme that included sessions delivered by netball superstars Courtney Tairi (ex-Silver Fern), Gina Crampton (current Silver Fern), Vika Koloto and Greer Sinclair (both NZ U-21 players), Mila Reuelu-Buchanan and Amorangi Malesala (ANZ Premier Northern Stars players). Twelve junior teams, comprised of girls from Years 1- 6, have since settled into their winter season with training underway and games starting on 20 May. There was an excited buzz in the air as the girls started their competition leagues.

SKI RACING / ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS AND PLAYBALL

At the time of going to print, our ski racing girls are training with their families. They have the option to attend Dio training sessions at SnowPlanet as they prepare for their time trials and selection into the Dio ski teams for the NIPS Ski Championships at Mt Ruapehu in late August.

Our artistic gymnasts (Years 3-6) are busy practising their routines in preparation for the TriStar School Festivals competition in June. They are learning floor, beam and vault routines.

Our playball coaches have been providing the most fantastic programme for our young Foundation Class - Year 2 girls. The coaches are specially trained to deliver a range of exciting, fun and challenging games using equipment such as balls, hoops, ropes, cones, hack sacks and more. There is plenty of laughter and delighted squealing on the turf as the girls’ chase, catch, jump, run and play. The programme will continue throughout the year by popular demand.

Vika Koloto coaching at pre-season netball

HOCKEY

This year our hockey programme is in the hands of Jasmin McQuinn, ex Black Stick and coach extraordinaire. She is working closely with Jason Butcher, our Dio hockey manager, to refine our development programme and mentor our coaches. Jasmin has plenty of coaching experience and she is ably supported by a raft of senior student hockey coaches, Aprill Anderson (Dio teacher and junior hockey coach for the past eight years or more), Val Vergara, Sirac Adams and Annabel Marshall (Dio Old Girl). The pre-season was fully subscribed, valuable and lots of fun. Eleven teams of junior girls from Years 1- 6 are now underway in the Auckland Hockey League.